TCM screens the 2024 documentary, Becoming Hitchcock — The Legacy of Blackmail, followed by 4 of the director’s earliest films.
Hitchcock is associated with films like 1958’s Vertigo or 1960’s Psycho, he actually began his career 30 years earlier, making silent shorts in the 1920s. Tonight’s program will showcase Hitchcock’s early years, tracking the development of a directing style that would appear elegant and effortless in his later work.
8pm: Becoming Hitchcock — The Legacy of Blackmail (2024)
This documentary, directed by Laurent Bouzereau, makes its TCM premiere tonight. It depicts the birth of the “Hitchcock Touch” and how Blackmail helped develop many of his directing signatures.
9:15pm: Blackmail: Silent (1929)
One of Hitchcock’s first major films, Blackmail tells the story of a woman who kills a man in self-defense during an attempted rape, and runs from the scene of the crime … only to have her police officer boyfriend get assigned to the case.
Voted by critics the best UK film of 1929, Blackmail contains elements that would go on to be associated with Hitchcock, like a blonde woman in danger, and includes one of the director’s trademark cameos.
An encore presentation of the documentary.
12:15 am: Blackmail: Sound Version (1929)
As talkies were becoming popular, Hitchcock’s studio urged him to create two versions of the film, with and without sound, so that it could play both in theaters that had the new sound technology, and older theaters that were only set up to show silent films.
This version is widely viewed as the first British full-length talkie.
2am: Murder! (1930)
Young actress Diana, found guilty of the murder of her rival, is headed to the gallows. However, things change when one jury member thinks there’s more to the story, setting out to trap the real killer. The ensuing plot involves skill, cunning, and a climactic high trapeze set.
4am: The Skin Game (1931)
Two wealthy families feud over land and secrets in this tale of Mr. Hornblower, a wealthy gent who steals land from humble farmers just for the fun of it. Then, the similarly rich Hillcrist family engages in preventing him from building a factory next to their summer home.
