: Blackmail
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Hitch’s first sound picture, and it’s pretty good, though the dialog in places gets a little expositional. It’s about a Scotland Yard detective who’s girlfriend is cheating on him with an artist. The girl goes to the artist’s studio and when he puts the moves on her, she resists. He insists, and she stabs him with a bread knife. Hitch did a great job with that scene: the guy pulls her onto his bed behind a curtain and when she stabs him, we just see movement of the curtain. When the girl finally emerges, we can tell from her face what happened. Very cool. Later, the boyfriend detective is at the scene and finds his girlfriend’s glove, which he hides. A blackmailer tries to extort the two of them, but the detective ends up turning the tables on him. Some great scenes, with classic Hitch camera work and detail (and let’s not forget the hilarious cameo by Hitch on the train). Certainly not his greatest work, but it shows a lot of potential and there are masterful moments.
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