blackmail

Criminal offence of extorting money with menaces or threats of detrimental action, such as exposure of some misconduct on the part of the victim.

Blackmail

Detective screen thriller (1929), directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The climactic chase scene through the halls and over the roof of the British Museum is the film's highlight. The film was based on a play by English writer Charles Bennett (1899-1995).

This was Hitchcock's first British feature film with synchronized sound and it featured a number of other innovations, such as an intricate narrative structure that elevated the story of murder in self-defence and blackmail out of the ordinary.