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Blackmail (play)

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Blackmail
Cover of the 1929 novelisation of the play
Written byCharles Bennett
Date premiered28 February 1928
Place premieredComedy Theatre, London
Original languageEnglish
GenreThriller

Blackmail is a 1928 thriller play by the British writer Charles Bennett.[1] In Chelsea, an artist's model kills an artist when he attempts to assault her.

It ran for 38 performances at the Globe Theatre in London's West End.[2] Directed by Raymond Massey, was the playwright's first West End production, chosen by the impresario Albert H. Woods as a vehicle for the American star Tallulah Bankhead.[3] In the event it was shortest British run Bankhead had been in. It was initially considered a disappointment and Woods never staged the play on Broadway. However, over the following decade it became a popular work on tour in Britain and Ireland.[4]

Adaptation

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The following year it was made into Blackmail, a pioneering early sound film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Anny Ondra.[5] It was also novelised by Ruth Alexander.

References

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  1. ^ Kabatchnik p.161
  2. ^ Wearing p.572
  3. ^ Kabatchnik p.159
  4. ^ Kabatchnik p.162
  5. ^ Goble p.35

Bibliography

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  • Goble, Alan. The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film. Walter de Gruyter, 1999.
  • Kabatchnik, Amnon. Blood on the Stage, 1925-1950: Milestone Plays of Crime, Mystery and Detection. Scarecrow Press, 2010.
  • Wearing, J. P. The London Stage 1920-1929: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel. Rowman & Littlefield, 2014.