In Blackmail, Alice White (Anny Ondra), an early Alfred Hitchcock blonde, self-defensively kills a date rapist and then faces extortion – both from the actual blackmailer and, more subtly and insidiously, from her policeman boyfriend. Blackmail was Britain’s inaugural talkie, and Hitch immediately made pioneering use of sound elements – most imaginatively in a breakfast-table sequence – while still demonstrating an absolute mastery of silent-film conventions. In fact, the movie was originally shot as a silent – both versions were released to theaters – and the entire first reel and many of the key dramatic moments unfold without dialogue, with Hitchcock effectively communicating vital information, including Alice’s agitated state of mind, by visual means. Blackmail provocatively expands on some of the themes that Hitchcock introduced in The Lodger (1927) and then persistently explored in his later films (e.g., the suppression of women by a patriarchal society and the corrupt hypocrisy of the law). The screening features a
freshly restored version of Blackmail.

To attend both the film screening and post-screening discussion, please purchase a ticket for the Thursday 1:00 PM screening. Discussions are offered exclusively at this Thursday matinee.

This presentation is part of the film & lectures series Getting Hitched in partnership with St. Louis Oasis. Thursday matinees for six of the films: Blackmail, The 39 Steps, Shadow of a Doubt, Notorious, Rear Window, and Vertigo. will be followed by a discussion of 30 minutes led by Cliff Froehlich, retired executive director of Cinema St. Louis and former film critic for The Riverfront Times.