The Master of Suspense, director Sir Alfred Hitchcock, started making films in 1925, sound was still nonexistent, and this film originally started as silent, but talkies became more popular and this was his first sound picture, and one I had to see. Basically in 1920's London shopkeeper's daughter Alice White (Anny Ondra) has a boyfriend, police Detective Frank Webber (John Longden) who seems more interested in his work than her, but she accepts an invitation to an artist's house. She innocently flirts with artist Mr. Crewe (Cyril Ritchard), admires and tries her hand at some painting work, and he asks her to try on a dress that she likes the look of. All of the sudden when she wants to undress and leave he grabs and assaults her, and trying to rape her she grabs a near break knife and stabs him to defend herself, and of course he is dead. Alice did her best to cover up the crime, and of course Frank is the one investigating the murder, and he is shocked to find the only piece of incriminating evidence, one of his girlfriend's gloves, which he hides from the other detectives. He goes to Alice to tell her what he knows about this situation, but they are interrupted by the appearance of petty thief Tracy (Donald Calthrop) who saw her at the artist's flat the night of the murder. The crook is blackmailing them to give him some cash, otherwise he will go to the police and tell them both the identity of the murder and the information Frank is hiding. Of course things go the opposite direction for Tracy when he is chosen as the key suspect for the murder, and being chased by the police through the British Museum he falls to his death through a glass window to the ground. Alice is suffering in her mind thinking about what she has done and almost being pressured to tell the truth, and she does go to Scotland Yard to confess, but Frank escorts her out and that is when the film ends. Also starring Sara Allgood as Mrs. White, Charles Paton as Mr. White, Harvey Braban as The Chief Inspector, Phyllis Monkman as Gossip, Hannah Jones as The Landlady, Percy Parsons as Crook, Johnny Butt as Sergeant, and Hitchcock's cameo (his longest) is as the man on the London Underground reading and being bothered by a boy knocking his hat off. You can tell in many moments that this film started out as silent, including the dubbing of actress Ondra, and the moments without sound effects or dialogue, but it actually works to some effect for the better. Of course the sound use is very stylised as well, I was particularly impressed with the torturous repetition of the word "knife", and there are some good gripping moments, so it's certainly a worthwhile classic thriller. Good!