Blackmail (1929)

After an argument with her Scotland Yard detective boyfriend (John Longden), a young girl (Anny Ondra) takes up with a struggling artist (Cyril Ritchard), who invites her to his apartment. When he tries to rape her, she stabs him to death with a knife. Racked with guilt, things get worse when a blackmailer (Donald Calthrop) enters the picture. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, this was his first sound feature film and it was filmed simultaneously with a silent version for theatres not yet equipped for sound. Apparently, it's greatly admired but I found it on the sluggish and crude side. Still, there are some marvelous moments that are pure Hitchcock like the breakfast scene with the knife and the pursuit through the British Museum. Anny Ondra's thick Czech accent wasn't suitable for the sound version so she was dubbed by Joan Barry. The film is hampered by the unappealing leading characters. Ondra's character is a stuipd twit and Longden's detective boyfriend is a dunderhead of a bully. There are a couple of good supporting performances. Notably Phyllis Monkman as a gossip and Hannah Jones as the murdered man's landlady. Also with Sara Allgood and Charles Paton.