Early Hitchcock

Introduction

Hitchcock was never one to disguise his obsessions. His themes carry right throughout his career, from the early British films to the later Hollywood fare. The consistency he shows across his entire body of work rightfully earns him auteur status. Here I intend to focus on a few of Hitchcock’s themes in their infancy, in two of his early British films, Blackmail (1929) and Sabotage (1936).

Both films have similarities in both theme and structure. They both focus on the aberrant women, involve complex issues of guilt and punishment and have implied sexual and violent content. Also, they are both presented within the detective/spy genre, a genre Pam Cook describes Hitchcock as using for ‘exploring the predatory aspects of human behaviour’.