As many Hitchcock fans know, the Master of Suspense had a penchant, at least for a while, for making movies that had as little scenery, or as minimal camera action, as possible. Some think he was trying to film the perfect stage play, but those who knew him best say he just wanted to direct for radio all along, but no-one would hire him because he was already a movie big-shot. And that’s why Hitchcock’s lost masterpiece Blackout is of such interest to classic movie (and radio) fans.
In Blackout, our story begins with an act of sabotage that blacks out a whole city. (Actually, our main character is sleeping on the subway, so we just see a black screen, and then when the blackout strikes, he wakes, and we see a black screen.) And we meet our cast of characters in the dark of the subway, all of whom have important jobs to do to defend the city (except for one saboteur who is also now lost), and who must find their way to the light. But, of course, it’s pitch night out, so even when they reach the surface, nobody can see anything anyway. And they all fumble around in the dark, and oh, the drama!
And so, in Blackout, Hitchcock finally made his perfect minimalist masterpiece: a movie with no sets or locations at all, but only characters literally fumbling around in the dark. And thus, with no camera stuff to worry about, ultimately Hitchcock was able to free himself from the movie making process and attain a work of pure theater; which is why it was destroyed by jealous rival movie producers/directors.
None of the potentially seminal masterpiece remains, but some say that if you close your eyes and listen to dialog from other Hitchcock movies, you will be able to tap into the genius of Hitchcock’s darkest thriller and blackest comedy ever: Blackout. No sets, no art direction, no costumes, no cameramen = pure drama! (It was made in 1950, and, anticipating the immature 3-D monster movie craze, it was going to be marketed as: “The ultimate movie experience, in No-D!”)
(Sorry for the silly joke, but I’m watching Lifeboat right now, and sometimes it strikes me that Hitchcock must have hated dealing with making movies, as a bunch of them try to be as minimal as possible: Lifeboat, Rope, Dial ‘M’ for Murder. And how could you go more minimal than those movies? Why, by making: Blackout, of course!)
