The Canadian Premiere of the Hitchcock 9. The Hitchcock 9 are the stunning restorations by the British Film Institute of all of the extant Hitchcock directed silent films. They have traveled the globe and now they are coming to Toronto in an exclusive screening series.

Opening night: Blackmail 1929

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Starring:Anny Ondra, Sara Allgood, John Longden,

Hitchcock’s silent Blackmail is one of the finest examples from the British silent film era. Made in 1929, during the transition to the sound era, it was originally produced as a silent and as a part-talkie. With remarkable skill, Hitchcock managed to produce both a beautifully crafted silent and ground-breaking sound version.

Synopsis: Alice, a young grocer's daughter from London, becomes the victim of a viscous attempted rape. The attempt ends with the death of her attacker. Her boyfriend, a Scotland Yard inspector, conceals the evidence but a petty criminal attempts to blackmail them both. The inspector manipulates the evidence and turns it against the blackmailer ending in a thrilling chase through the British Museum.

The silent version, which will be screened, though little seen, is considered superior to the talkie version as it contains more shots, more camera movement and the fluidity of the cutting conveys the narrative with greater style. The opening eight minutes is a tour de force of montage in which we see the forces of the law hunt down and process a villain from capture to police cell.

Blackmail displays many of the stylistic elements and themes with which Hitchcock would come to be associated: particularly a fascination with mail sexual aggression and female vulnerability.

As with The Ring and The Lodger, this is in a London location using a familiar motive of a famous landmark during the finale. Hitchcock fans will note many of his familiar trademarks: the transference of guilt, wrong man suspect, chase over a public landmark, the blonde, the knife as a murder weapon etc.

This film will have live piano accompaniment: Laura Silberberg

The series runs November 1st-16th.

Single tickets: $15 online in advance or at the door

Royal Cinema Screening Pass (3 films) $40 online in advance or at the door

Full Hitchcock 9 Pass (9 films) $100 online in advance or at the door