Hitchcock

2 Pages 538 Words

Blackmail was Hitchcock’s first film to ever use dialog audio. Hitchcock made two versions of this film, one with and one without sound. The film introduces for the first time many Hitchcock themes, such as the deviant woman, the transfer of guilt, and the perversity of couples’ relationships. It was also quite a shocking film to the audience of the 1930’s to be exposed to sex and violence as we are now.

The film opens with a ten minute sequence that shows the arrest of an anonymous criminal and the police book the criminal at the police station. I don’t see the connection with that sequence and the plot of the film, but it can be there to give the audience an impression of the law which can be brought down on a convicted felon. Also could be for us to keep in mind while we watch the case of the detective, Frank, and his lady friend Alice White, where Alice unintentionally kills an artist under self defense of attempted rape. Ironically, Frank is assigned to the case of the murdering of an artist. A man named Tracy saw Alice leaving the crime scene and attempts to blackmail Frank because he found clues that Alice was actually at the crime scene. Frank turns the tables on Tracy by manufacturing a plan to have him suspected of the murder. Frank becomes successful and has Tracy become a wanted man. Tracy then kills himself when he falls through the roof of the British Museum while fleeing from the police. During this time, a guilty Alice has gone to confess about the murdering of the artist, Frank returns before her to report Tracy’s death and manages to prevent Alice. Tracy is then blamed the murderer and Alice gets away and stays a free woman.

In contrast to Blackmail, which started as a silent film and then finished as an audio dialogue film, Murder! is one of Hitchcock’s first true sound films; had dialog from start to finish. The entire middle of the film is essentially dialogue based set pieces, with virtually not...