"Blackmail" (1929) Hitchcock in Silent Horror Forum

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"Blackmail" (1929) Hitchcock

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Eric Huffstutler

"Blackmail" (1929) Hitchcock

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Nov 6 08 4:26 PM

OK... I know that Hitchcock's "Blackmail" is Britain's very first all talking movie -*EXCEPT*- it seems the first reel is silent, or at least the copies I have and heard about.

Is there a complete dialog copy or one with title cards around on DVD or coming ? If it was shot this way, why the change on the second reel? You watch a bunch of people talking and don't have a clue about what they are saying nor what the storyline setup is.

Eric

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ryanbrennan

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Nov 15 08 7:24 PM

The movie began as a silent film. Hitchcock reshot parts of the movie for sound. There are some scenes that incorporate both the sound footage and the silent footage. The opening sequence mainly establishes that the "boyfriend" is a police officer. Obviously, Hitchock felt the sequence worked visually and the dialogue was unimportant.

Dr Acula

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Jul 9 12 11:00 AM

http://www.empireonline.com/news/feed.asp?NID=34470

Sound testing, the Hitch way

09 July 2012 | Source: Exclusive

With two new Hitchcock films arriving soon, there'll be plenty of chance to revisit the great man's finest moments from a behind-the-scenes perspective. But if you can't wait until then, the BFI's The Genius of Hitchcock season is in full swing. There's also a microsite - 39 Steps To Hitchcock - to whet your appetite.

As a rarely-seen taster, this spot of clip-based sauciness shows him twisting the melons of one of his earlier leading ladies, Anny Ondra, on the set of Blackmail. Here he's taking the opportunity afforded by a sound test to embarrass the petunias off the Czech actress's blouse with bawdy probings about her love life.

Still she got off lightly compared to Tippi Hedren, upon who he unleashed that beaky blitzkrieg in The Birds, and the two also worked together on The Manxman the same year.

My God, what's Bond doing?... I think he's attempting re-entry, sir.
http://www.eccentric-cinema.com/

Cole's Comics: All About Jack Cole
http://colescomics.blogspot.com/

blackbiped

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Jul 9 12 1:15 PM

He was already playing around with sound's potential in this film, as when the old lady is yapping about the murder and all Anny Ondra hears is the word "knife."

Legend, oh legend, the third wheel legend...always in the way.

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Tim Smyth

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Jul 9 12 1:19 PM

There is a complete silent print of this film out there.
In case anyone doesn't know, that is not Anny Ondra's voice in the film, as she was a little too German sounding for the role.

Tim

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studiomanderley

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