Showing posts with label Donald Calthrop. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Donald Calthrop. Show all posts

Friday, February 20, 2026

Alfred Hitchcock Movie Review: **** Blackmail (1929)

 This is Alfred Hitchcock's  first talkie movie.  It is actually very good.  Alice White (Anny Ondra) has an argument with her boyfriend, Detective Frank Webber (John Longden).  She goes home with an artist she met at the coffee shop, Mr. Crewe (Cyril Ritchard).  He gets her into a different dress to model for him, but he forces a kiss on her and she protests and decides to get dressed and go home.  However she takes her dress, and then tries to rape her.  She happens upon a knife in his studio and kills him during the attempted rape.  She tries to erase evidence of herself in the apartment and leaves, walking the streets all night.  Webber is assigned to the case, and find's White's glove.  He takes the glove to her at the store her parents own and she works, wondering what happened.  At which point another person, Tracy (Donald Calthorp) enters the store.  He has the other glove and saw Mr. Crewe with White together and proceeds to blackmail them.  The tables turn when he turns out to have a criminal past, and he is wanted for questioning in the case.  Tracy panics and runs, and ends up falling to his death.  White goes to the police station to confess, but is intercepted by Webber.  The police assume Tracy did the murder.  White confesses to Webber about the attempted rape and the murder.  She is not arrested.

Enjoyable show.  First few minutes there is no sound, and when the sound starts there is lots of laughing as if this was easier to create.  A silent version was released.  This is credited as the first talkie in England, and was considered the best picture of the year.

Saturday, December 6, 2025

Christmas Movie Review:*** Scrooge (1935)

Scrooge (Seymour Hicks) starts out a very scary man with his white unkempt hair and his grouchy attitude.   This movie is shorter than most, so skips some very important parts.  It does have his nephew (Robert Cochrane) inviting him to dinner.  Christmas past shows him his old girl friend (Mary Glynne) and his terrible stinginess.  He put a couple out for shipping to different places.  Christmas present shows him the family of his employee, Bob Cratchit (Donald Calthrop).  They find happiness in Christmas despite being very poor.  It isn't until the Ghost of Christmas Yet-to-be when he finally finds the Christmas spirit.  This ghost shows him how he will not be missed when he dies if he does not change his ways.  And when he does he makes a hearty turnaround.