SILENT BLACKMAIL
Like THE LODGER, Hitchocock,s firstWrong Man film, BLACKMAIL fascinates b ecause it predates so many motifs Hitchcock would deveop later on. In this case, it not a wrong man but a wronged man a crin=minal who is chased to his death through the dome of the British Museum, ,while the woman who killed her would be rapist goes free.
What makes it Hitchcockian is the moral ambiguity. The woman isa engaged to a fairly dul workaholic Scotland Yard detective. Upset with his work habits she goes off with an artist with whom she has previously flirted. He takes her to his apartment to see his etchings. He makes advances, and she stabs him.
Unknown to her, the boyfriend sees her going off with the artist. He gets assigned to the murder case. He finds her torn glove and conceals it, knowing that she was there and possibly thinking she had sex with the artist. When circumstantial evidence points to the criminal who is the would be blackmailer of the title, she wants to confess the truth, but the boyfiend won't let her talk. On her was out of Scotland Yard, she confesses to her boyfirend that she did it. The film ends with a full frame close up of the artist'spaining of a laughing clown opointing at the camera,
Jardly a happy ending, and you can't imagine the couple living happily ever after. This forshadows the "Happy" endings of films like THE 39 STEPS an d REAR WINDOW. But more reevant is the ending of MARNIE, where a "cured" Tippi Hedron walks with her husband (Sean Connery) into the flattened depth of field of the obviously painted Baltimore Harbor.
What makes it Hitchcockian is the moral ambiguity. The woman isa engaged to a fairly dul workaholic Scotland Yard detective. Upset with his work habits she goes off with an artist with whom she has previously flirted. He takes her to his apartment to see his etchings. He makes advances, and she stabs him.
Unknown to her, the boyfriend sees her going off with the artist. He gets assigned to the murder case. He finds her torn glove and conceals it, knowing that she was there and possibly thinking she had sex with the artist. When circumstantial evidence points to the criminal who is the would be blackmailer of the title, she wants to confess the truth, but the boyfiend won't let her talk. On her was out of Scotland Yard, she confesses to her boyfirend that she did it. The film ends with a full frame close up of the artist'spaining of a laughing clown opointing at the camera,
Jardly a happy ending, and you can't imagine the couple living happily ever after. This forshadows the "Happy" endings of films like THE 39 STEPS an d REAR WINDOW. But more reevant is the ending of MARNIE, where a "cured" Tippi Hedron walks with her husband (Sean Connery) into the flattened depth of field of the obviously painted Baltimore Harbor.
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