Blackmail (1929)

David

I've been doing a little research on the above movie title as a poster is coming up for auction soon

• There were two versions made and released - a silent one and a sound one, the silent one was released for those theatres that weren't yet equipped for sound.
• The silent version of Blackmail actually ran longer in theaters and proved more popular.
  
• The film is often cited by film historians as the first truly British "all-talkie" feature film
  
• The silent version is with Sam Livesey as the Chief Inspector and the sound version with Harvey Braban in the same role
  
• It was Hitchcock's first sound/talkie movie as a director
• The co-star villain was one Cyril Ritchard born Cyril Trimnell-Ritchard in Surry Hills, Sydney, Australia.
• The Long Daybill up for auction is only one of two believed to be left in existence

Matt

Whoa! interesting 

David

Fuck yeah

Eisenhower

Wow! Dramatic scene! Thats the most of silent movie I've ever seen, good stuff! Makes me want to watch the whole movie-the link on top says "a new score..." Wonder what the original music was-that murder scene is made from the dramatic music. Obviously it looks like a precursor scene for Psycho and the stair shot from Vertigo. Wonder what the posters look like? :-?

David

I know, somewhat Physco-esk wasn't it.

You can see the original poster here and I found this, the sound version which has the original score 

http://videos.criticalcommons.org/transcoded/http/www.criticalcommons.org/Members/kfortmueller/clips/blackmail-1929-the-murder-and-the-aftermath-1/video_file/webm-high/blackmail-m4v.webm

John

Blackmail certainly has great historical significance in British cinema. Its amazing that some film makers in this period still thought "talkies" would never catch on. Hitchcock knew that they were the way to go but he still hedged his bets with the two versions and long periods of silent footage during the talkie version.

Posters and lobby cards are incredibly scarce for this title. Have a look at the history of major auctions and you will see how rare they are. When you look at the pricing the daybill, consider the price that London After Midnight achieved. To me, Blackmail is a far more important film but the price will be a small fraction of London After Midnight. 

David

• Interestingly the 'talkie' version was banned in Australia when first released in October 1929 - this was appealed by the distributors Cinema Arts Films Ltd
• In April 1930 Hitchcock was quoted: "RIDICULOUS," says . Mr.Alfred Hitchcock, British International Pictures producer, commenting on the statements relative to British films in the report of the Commonwealth Chief Censor (Mr. O'Reilly)."It is often complained that British films do not contain sufficient sex appeal. The censor bans scenes in British films which he permits to pass in American films of a similar type." Mr. Hitchcock adds that British films are particularly clean compared with American. He recalls that Australia alone took exception to the talkie "Blackmail," which was accepted throughout the rest of the world.

I believe I have found evidence that the talkie was released in 1930, but I have yet to 100% cross check and confirm this.

John

The ban was lifted after "several months". This may have been in late 1929 or early 1930. Blackmail was definitely screened in Australia in 1930 but its a bit hard to find the actual first release date. It seems likely (to me) that it would have been in early 1930.

[Deleted User]

So the version up for auction would actually be from 1930?

David

It would have been printed for the 1929 release and as yet I have no idea exactly when the launch was, plus there were some showings of the talkie in cinemas when the silent movie was released but these may have been more along the lines of a private showing.

[Deleted User]

Ok...it's just very clear the daybill in question was printed for the Talkie release specifically...

Matt

Looking at JR's website, the other version just has the "hear" blacked out, yes?

[Deleted User]

Matt said:

Looking at JR's website, the other version just has the "hear" blacked out, yes?

Wouldn't it have been great if "see" had been blacked out? 

Matt

I'm not sure a braille film would work.  :-?

David

CSM said:

Ok...it's just very clear the daybill in question was printed for the Talkie release specifically...

Yes I see that but I have no idea as to the actual date the talkie was first seen (and heard), either way it is probably safe to assume they were both printed at the same time - likely mid/early 1929.

HumphreyBogart

The daybill of Blackmail has come up for auction twice, in 1996 and 2010. Possibly the same copy was auctioned twice or there may well be 3 copies left in existence.

HumphreyBogart

Can't seem to attach photos..
:-?

HumphreyBogart

HumphreyBogart

David

Looks like the same one repaired doesn't it?  Of course one can only state it is 'believed' to be only X many left, until another comes out of the woodwork - and that could be a very very long time, if ever...either way, I believe the uber collectors for this piece will need to bring their wallet - this poster has appeal for movie buffs, Hitchcock fans, film historians, Australiana collectors and much much more - there is so much to this than it just being a poster for a film.

John

David said:

Looks like the same one repaired doesn't it?  Of course one can only state it is 'believed' to be only X many left, until another comes out of the woodwork - and that could be a very very long time, if ever...either way, I believe the uber collectors for this piece will need to bring their wallet - this poster has appeal for movie buffs, Hitchcock fans, film historians, Australiana collectors and much much more - there is so much to this than it just being a poster for a film.

Yes, my understanding is that it is the same poster.

HumphreyBogart

The poster went for $ 4,780 at Heritage. It's gonna be interesting to see what the reserve will be at the coming auction..

David

HumphreyBogart said:

The poster went for $ 4,780 at Heritage. It's gonna be interesting to see what the reserve will be at the coming auction..

Well I haven't been sent the reserve but more than likely anyone who wants it will have to be wearing their big boy pants, because after all the research I have done this poster is far more important than it just being a simple movie poster.

I see no reason why a price north of $10K cannot be expected.

HumphreyBogart

David said:

HumphreyBogart said:

The poster went for $ 4,780 at Heritage. It's gonna be interesting to see what the reserve will be at the coming auction..

Well I haven't been sent the reserve but more than likely anyone who wants it will have to be wearing their big boy pants, because after all the research I have done this poster is far more important than it just being a simple movie poster.

I see no reason why a price north of $10K cannot be expected.

Ah well I'm out now then . HA can't even achieve that price

[Deleted User]

Regardless of its historic importance it is an ugly example of a long daybill - in my opinion of course.  No way it would achieve a Mark of the Vampire-like sale.  There are so many beauteous long daybills out there that have at least some degree of historic cache BUT with fantastic artwork...

David

HumphreyBogart said:

Ah well I'm out now then . HA can't even achieve that price

Who said HA was the B-All and End-All of prices for Aussie paper prices? That's is a loose comment, I know you know that bigger prices have been reached in private sales so again, HA simply doesn't have the market cornered by any stretch, and besides you've said so yourself in the Wonderful Life thread

I understand the price is out of your range but that's not a benchmark, there is/will be a lot of interest in the poster, including from a rather large gathering of Hitchcock fans, the British Film Institute may have a look as will perhaps the National Film and Sound Archive, add to that serious collectors, institutional investors and so on. 

I've got no idea whether it will sell, I'd like to see some bidding on it but I do think it's a valuable piece and probably worth top dollar from a historical perspective.

David

Just for the fun of it...rather than going with emotion go with maths, demand and the growth of the hobby.

The poster purchased in 1996 (as mentioned previously) was bought for USD$1725 which adjusted for inflation to 2010 when it was sold again made it worth just USD$2,397.35 yet it sold for twice that, USD$4,780.00. 

USD$4,780 adjust for inflation today is worth USD$5,176.68, now double it (just as the 2010 price doubled over the 1996 price) and that's $10,352 convert it to AUD = $12,723.70

Dig deep my son, dig deep. 

[Deleted User]

Nothing fun in that analysis

Perhaps when it sold for $4,780 it was believed to be the only one in existence.  But we now know there are at least two...

Who knows...only time will tell when the auction comes.  Hopefully you're not the one setting the reserve

But of course I am biased as I have 0% in it...not my thing at all

David

CSM said:

 Hopefully you're not the one setting the reserve

I have nothing to do with setting reserves, of course I'd like to see low reserves but I have not and will not be having a discussion (unless asked) about what the reserve should for anyone's pieces (and no one has asked as yet).

CSM said:

 it is an ugly example of a long daybill - in my opinion of course.  

And this is an expensive blob, in my opinion of course. Yet someone was willing to pay $75M for it...~X(

~X(

Sven

My son just drew something similar...hooray I'm rich and no longer need to sell him in prep for the Aussie day auction ! )

David

Apparently it's all about the juxtaposition of colour...

WTF?