The Blackguard is 1923 novel by Raymond Paton. It is a melodrama set during the Russian Revolution of 1917: a French violinist rescues a Russian princess from execution at the hands of revolutionaries led by his former mentor. The novel was adapted into film in 1925 on a screenplay by Alfred Hitchcock.
The book is generally known as The Autobiography of a Blackguard.
A 1933 review found it was "an extraordinary novel with a rather worn theme the life of a musical genius - treated in a new way. It has a full share of Russian horrors, a store of luridness ..." Another review found it was an "extraordinarily interesting novel that defied adequate description in a brief review".
The film was adapted for the screen when a silent film The Blackguard (1925) was made as a co-production between the British Gainsborough Pictures and the German UFA Studios. The film was directed by Graham Cutts.