In which year did Alfred Hitchcock direct his first sound film? He directed his first sound film in 1929, with Blackmail. The British crime thriller began production as a silent movie, but British International Pictures decided to create a sound version as talkies rapidly transformed cinema. Hitchcock then made both versions available for different theaters.
Blackmail stars Anny Ondra as Alice White, a woman who kills an artist while resisting an attempted sexual assault. John Longden plays her detective boyfriend, and the story develops into a tense blackmail plot before reaching its climax at the British Museum. The film’s sound version used recorded dialogue, music, and effects, while the silent version remained important because many British cinemas lacked sound equipment.
Blackmail is often called the first British talkie or the first successful British all-talkie, although the terminology can be slightly imprecise because portions of the sound version retain silent footage and some scenes contain little or no synchronized dialogue. Even so, 1929 is the standard answer to this quiz question. Hitchcock’s earlier films, including The Lodger and The Manxman, were silent films.