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Blackmail ()

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After killing a man in self-defense, a young woman is blackmailed by a witness to the killing.
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Alice White
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Mrs. White
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Mr. White
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Detective Frank Webber
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Tracy
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The Artist
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The Landlady
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The Chief Inspector (sound version)
Ex-Det. Sergt. Bishop ...
The Detective Sergeant (as Ex-Det. Sergt. Bishop - Late C.I.D. Scotland Yard)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Johnny Ashby ...
Boy (uncredited)
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Alice White (uncredited) (voice)
Johnny Butt ...
Sergeant (uncredited)
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Man on Subway (uncredited)
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Gossiping Neighbour (uncredited)
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The Chief Inspector (silent version) (uncredited)
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Gossip Woman (uncredited)
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Crook (uncredited)

Directed by

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Alfred Hitchcock

Written by

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Charles Bennett ... (from the play by)
 
Alfred Hitchcock ... (adapted by)
 
Benn W. Levy ... (dialogue) (as Benn Levy)
 
Michael Powell ... () (uncredited)

Produced by

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John Maxwell ... producer (uncredited)

Music by

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Jimmy Campbell ... (musical score by) (as Campbell)
Reginald Connelly ... (musical score by) (as Connelly)
Hubert Bath ... (uncredited)

Cinematography by

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Jack E. Cox ... (photography) (as Jack Cox)

Editing by

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Emile de Ruelle ... film editor

Art Direction by

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C. Wilfred Arnold ... (as W.C. Arnold)
Norman G. Arnold ... (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director

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Frank Mills ... assistant director

Sound Department

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Dallas Bower ... sound recordist (uncredited)
Harold V. King ... sound (uncredited)
Harry Miller ... sound editor (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department

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Ronald Neame ... assistant camera (uncredited)
Michael Powell ... assistant camera (uncredited)
Derick Williams ... assistant camera (uncredited)

Music Department

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Hubert Bath ... musical score arranged by / musical score compiled by
John Reynders ... conductor: British International Symphony Orchestra
Harry Stafford ... musical score arranged by / musical score compiled by

Additional Crew

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Joan Barry ... dubbing voice: Anny Ondra (uncredited)
Crew verified as complete

Production Companies

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Special Effects

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Other Companies

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Storyline

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Plot Summary

Alice White, the daughter of a tobacconist, has been dating Frank Webber, a young up and coming detective at Scotland Yard. After successfully ditching Frank one evening on a date, Alice instead meets up with a young male artist who she really wanted to be with that evening. After going up to the artist's studio apartment, he tried to rape her. She ended up stabbing him to death in self defense, after which, she tried to wipe out any evidence of being in his apartment, followed by sneaking out of the apartment and wandering the streets in a shocked daze over what she did. Frank ends up being one of the detectives assigned to the case, he who sees evidence only known to him of Alice having been in the artist's apartment, and recognizing the dead man as the person with whom Alice snuck off after she ditched him the night before. Frank decides to hide the evidence he knows implicates Alice from his fellow detectives, but confronts Alice with it to see what she says. But before she answers, an unsavory type named Tracy implies that he knows what happened, and blackmails the pair in return for his silence. Eventually, Frank learns that Tracy is a wanted criminal. So Frank comes up with an idea of pinning the murder on him. The questions become whether such a move will actually work, and if so, whether Alice's conscience will allow an innocent man, however unsavory, be charged with a crime he didn't commit. Written by Huggo

Plot Keywords
Taglines The Powerful Talking Picture See more »
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Parents Guide View content advisory »
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Additional Details

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Also Known As
  • Chantage (France)
  • Erpressung (Germany)
  • Chantaje (Spain)
  • La muchacha de Londres (Spain)
  • 讹诈 (China, Mandarin title)
  • See more »
Runtime
  • 85 min
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Did You Know?

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Trivia Much of this movie was originally shot silently. When sound became available during the course of shooting, Sir Alfred Hitchcock re-shot certain scenes with sound, thus making it his first talkie. There was one complication with this change, however. Leading lady Anny Ondra had a thick Czech accent which was inappropriate to her character, Alice White. Joan Barry was chosen to provide a different voice for her, but post-production dubbing technology did not exist then. The solution was for Barry to stand just out of shot and read Alice's lines into a microphone as Ondra mouthed them in front of the camera. This is generally acknowledged as the first instance of one actress' voice being dubbed by another, even though the word "dub" is technologically inappropriate in this case. See more »
Goofs When Alice "unlocks" the door to the building where she lives, it starts to open as soon as the key reaches the door. It was clearly not only not locked, but not even latched. However, she goes through with the motion of unlocking it. See more »
Movie Connections Edited into The Squeeker (1931). See more »
Soundtracks Miss Up-to-Date See more »
Quotes Alice White: You and your Scotland Yard. If it weren't for Edgar Wallace, nobody'd ever heard of it.
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