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]
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.
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.
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]