Blackmailed (1951 film)

Blackmailed is a 1951 British noir thriller film directed by Marc Allégret and starring Mai Zetterling, Dirk Bogarde, Fay Compton and Robert Flemyng.^[1][2][3] It was adapted by Hugh Mills and Roger Vadim from the 1946 novel Mrs Christopher by Elizabeth Myers.^[4]

Blackmailed
Directed by	Marc Allégret
Written by	Hugh Mills Roger Vadim
Based on	Mrs. Christopher by Elizabeth Myers
Produced by	Harold Huth Norman Spencer
Starring	Mai Zetterling Dirk Bogarde Fay Compton Robert Flemyng
Cinematography	George Stretton
Edited by	John Shirley
Music by	John Wooldridge
Production company	Harold Huth Productions
Distributed by	General Film Distributors
Release date	30 January 1951 (1951-01-30)
Running time	85 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

Plot

When blackmailerr Mr Sine is murdered by Mrs Christopher, several people who witnessed the crime agree to keep quiet. However the murder was also seen by a young artist and army deserter, Stephen Mundy, also one of the blackmailer's victims.

Cast

• Mai Zetterling as Carol Edwards
• Dirk Bogarde as Stephen Mundy
• Fay Compton as Mrs Christopher
• Robert Flemyng as Doctor Freeman
• Michael Gough as Maurice Edwards
• James Robertson Justice as Mr Sine
• Joan Rice as Alma
• Harold Huth as Hugh Sainsbury
• Wilfrid Hyde-White as Lord Dearsley
• Nora Gordon as Housekeeper
• Cyril Chamberlain as police constable
• Charles Saynor as police constable
• Derrick Penley as Patrick
• Peter Owen as chief printer
• Dennis Brian as chief printer
• Arthur Hambling as Inspector Canin
• Shirley Wright as Mary
• Bruce Seton as Superintendent Crowe
• Marianne Stone as Maggie
• Helen Goss as matron
• Constance Smith as nurse Anne
• Edie Martin as Mrs. Porritt
• John Horsley as Maggie's doctor
• Ballard Berkeley as Dr. McCormick

Production

The film was shot at Pinewood Studios outside London, with the working title Mrs Christopeher.^[5] Sets were designed by the art director J. Elder Wills.

Reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "The story itself would be quite sufficient for an entertaining minor film, but in this instance the handling has failed. Most of the dialogue is trite and conventional, and the direction does nothing to pull the film together. ... Little care has been taken with the sets, obviously stagey, and the direction is slipshod, essaying the odd trick shot, such as the falling of the body from the roof, in a somewhat crude attempt to brighten the surface."^[6]

Picturegoer wrote: "It's a slow and jumbled production in which the main idea – a woman who has committed a murder can't decide whether or not to give herself up because she might involve others – is submerged in a number of trite situations, with unconvincing dialogue and loose direction."^[7]