The Blackguard


The Blackguard is a British-German drama film directed by Graham Cutts and starring Jane Novak, Walter Rilla, and Frank Stanmore.

Premise

Against the backdrop of the Russian Revolution, a violinist saves a princess from execution.

Cast

Production

The film was a co-production between Gainsborough Studios and UFA initiating a decade-long series of co-productions which ended with the rise of the Nazi Party in the 1930s. The film was based on the novel The Blackguard by Raymond Paton, and shot at Studio Babelsberg, in Potsdam near Berlin, the first time a Gainsborough film was shot abroad. The film was one of a number of films made in this genre during the 1920s, the most successful of which was the American film The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg.
While working on the film, Alfred Hitchcock was able to study several films being made nearby, including The Last Laugh by F. W. Murnau, which were a major influence on his later work.