The Anvil Orchestra returns, accompanying Hitchcock’s silent version of one of the greatest British films. It concerns a young woman who kills a man in self-defense, then is blackmailed by a witness. Made during the transition to the sound era, it was commissioned as both a silent and as a part talkie. Blackmail displays many of the stylistic elements and themes with which Hitchcock would come to be associated. The film is accompanied live by the Anvil Orchestra – Roger Miller and Terry Donahue, who for 30+ years, have been playing percussion-driven original scores to silent classics utilizing unusual sound sources as well as accordion, musical saw, electronics, and orchestral keyboards. (dir. Alfred Hitchcock, U.K., 1929, 76 min.)