20th International Festival of Silent Film and Live Music

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, Great Britain 1929, 85 min.

Musical accompaniment: BLACK (SHEEP IN A) Box & GLASWALD

Alice, who is involved with the young policeman Frank Webber, meets another man after an argument. When he gets too close, she stabs him in self-defense and flees, losing one of her gloves in the process.
Frank is assigned to investigate the murder. When he discovers Alice’s glove, he tries to cover his tracks, but the hoodlum Tracy claims to have seen the murder and blackmails the couple.

Blackmail was initially shot as a silent film. However, while production was underway, the film’s producers decided to make it the first British sound film. Some of the scenes were then reshot with sound, while others remained silent in their original version.