The Times (14/May/1929) - The Duke and Duchess of York: Visit to film studios

(c) The Times (14/May/1929)

• keywords: Alfred Hitchcock, Betty Balfour, Blackmail (1929), British International Pictures, Elstree Studios

---

THE DUKE AND DUCHESS OF YORK

VISIT TO FILM STUDIOS

The Duke and Duchess of York visited the Elstree studios of British International Pictures yesterday and saw four films being produced, including The Vagabond Queen, with Miss Betty Balfour in the cast.

After a tour of the silent stages, the Duke and Duchess were conducted to the sound studios, where they watched a rehearsal of the first British International talking film Blackmail.

Expressing a desire to see and hear a scene taken the Duchess went into the camera booth with Mr. Alfred Hitchcock, the director, and listened with a pair of earphones, while the Duke and Mr. Thorpe, the general manager, went into the recording booth, where they heard the scene enacted through a loudspeaker Later the party visited the grounds and inspected the interior "sets."