Night Waves: Landmarks - Blackmail (BBC Radio, 02/Jul/2012)

Matthew Sweet hosts a Landmark edition examining Alfred Hitchcock's drama Blackmail - the 1929 film which many believe was the first to bear the imprint of his mature style. Its subtle examination of a brutal domestic murder, the sleazy milieu of police and criminals and a climactic scene in one of London's landmarks all foreshadow films like Psycho and North by Northwest. There's also evidence of a complex ambivalence towards his characters and an outcome which subverts conventional morality. To discuss this masterpiece, which exists in two versions - one silent and one a pioneering talkie Matthew Sweet is joined by the cultural theorist and lifelong Hitchcock fan, Camille Paglia, the composer Neil Brand, BFI curator Nathalie Morris and the film historian Michael Eaton.

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(c) BBC 2012

Broadcast Details

broadcast on BBC Radio 3
date: 02/Jul/2012
length: approx 45 minutes
web link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01k9thh

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