Blackmail

The film opens with a police chase. The cops in pursuit are passing 14 Waterloo Place, London SW1.

Now with a bright red phone box.

The chase continues, facing north on Kingsway WC2.

It's all there behind the greenery.

Bush House appears in the reverse view facing south.

Bush House can just be seen peeking through.

The van passes J. D. Hewett & Co. who were a travel company at 11 Regent Street SW1.

Now a branch of Rymans, remaining open under the upheaval.

The story proper begins as Scotland Yard Officer Frank Webber (John Longden) and his girlfriend Alice White (Anny Ondra) enter The Lyons Corner House on Coventry Street W1. After a row, she leaves with another man.

A different type of brew on offer today.

Following studio scenes in which Alice kills an attempted seducer in self-defence, she flees from his flat into the night. Piccadilly Circus as seen from Regent Street...

A daytime view, but needing more lights.

...followed by the lights on London Pavilion, Piccadilly Circus W1.

Hidden away for a while.

Alice wanders through the night, as we look towards Trafalgar Square from Whitehall SW1.

A rainy autumn view, 95 years later.

Alice reaches her home. The film's 227 King's Road, but in fact a set built at Elstree Studios.

The blackmailer is on the run, and a police chase is on again, with some duplication of the previous sequence. The sign on the fence says Eros House, which places this at 29-31 Regent Street SW1.

29-31 Regent Street St. James today.

Panning to the right with the police van. Regent Street SW1.

In 2024 it's a Pizza Hut, the modern windows echoing the previous style.

The van passes 33 Regent Street, where Drew & Sons, makers of travel goods, were based.

At the corner of Piccadilly. SJ

We next see the van passing the German Railways Information Bureau at 14 Regent Street SW1.

Today's replacement sits behind a clutch of plant pots and a refuse bin.

The crook is ahead in a taxi on Haymarket, passing the junction with St. James's Market SW1.

The same junction today. Greenery to the left, refurbishment to the right.

The police van reaches the junction of Regent Street and Jermyn Street SW1.

The building remains to give an art deco look to Tesco Express.

We see the taxi on Haymarket looking northwest to the junction with Norris Street SW1.

Today the cyclist has to negotiate road works.

The police van passes Carlton House, now named Southwest House, 11a Regent Street.

11a on a rainy day.

The taxi is next seen on Haymarket, passing the Theatre Royal on the left.

Waiting for Godot at the theatre and it seems on the road too.

The taxi takes the turn from Haymarket into Pall Mall SW1.

The same turning today, now a box junction.

The taxi is brought to a sudden stop by a policeman, at, Dave W is able to add, the south-west corner of Russell Square WC1 looking down Montague Street towards distant Great Russell Street. (RL)

The doorway on the corner is distinct. The same corner was also seen in Knock on Wood. SJ

Here the blackmailer (Percy Parsons) gets out and makes a run for it. Now in the north-west corner of Russell Square says Dave looking at the enclosed portico of number 24 with its Thornhaugh Street entrance unseen. (RL)

Just to the left, out of shot, was seen in 'Rock You Sinners'. SJ

Reaching the railings of the British Museum on Great Russell Street WC1, he stops as he sees a policeman approaching.

Phone boxes have since been added, possibly for photo opportunities with the museum, out of shot to the left, in the background. Looking east, the same trees have really thickened out. The corner with Montague Street attracts long titles as it is seen in 'Praise Marx and Pass the Ammunition' and 'I'll Never Forget What's 'isname'. SJ

Looking behind him, he can see the police van approaching. Facing southwest on Great Russell Street.

The scene 94 years later.

Trapped, the crook enters the gate of The British Museum. Great Russell Street.

Those gates today.

He runs up the steps. The British Museum on Great Russell Street WC1.

A busy day at the museum.

Chased by the police, he ascends the roof of the museum. Hitchcock used a transparency of the museum roof combined with a curved ladder built in the studio to create this shot.

Alice visits Scotland Yard to make a confession and looks out of the window to County Hall across the Thames.

The view from ground level.