John Longden

A young woman stabs a man in self-defense when he tries to assault her, and a blackmailer who saw her flees the scene begins to prey on her and her detective boyfriend. Alfred Hitchcock began shooting Blackmail as a silent and then, partway through production, was asked to make it Britain's first talkie. The result is a film that straddles both eras, with famous set pieces built around sound: a breakfast table conversation dominated by the word "knife," a chase through the British Museum, and location shooting on the London streets that gives the thriller a documentary texture. Anny Ondra, a Polish actress whose accent was dubbed by Joan Barry, plays the heroine. The film entered the public domain in the United States on January 1, 2025.

Thriller · Crime · Drama

Alfred Hitchcock's wronged-man thriller about Robert Tisdall (Derrick De Marney), a young writer who finds a strangled body on the beach and is promptly accused of the murder. On the run, he picks up an unwilling — then increasingly willing — accomplice in Erica (Nova Pilbeam), the police chief's daughter, and the two hunt for the one man who can prove his innocence. Made at Gaumont-British between The 39 Steps and The Lady Vanishes, it features one of Hitchcock's most celebrated shots: a slow crane across a hotel ballroom that ends on the twitching eyes of the real killer. Released in the US as The Girl Was Young. The film is in the public domain in the United States.

Thriller · Mystery · Romance