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Films directed by the Boulting brothers
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]High Treason (1951 film)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Not to be confused with High treason.
| High Treason | |
|---|---|
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Original British quad poster
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| Directed by | Roy Boulting |
| Produced by | Paul Soskin |
| Written by | Roy Boulting Frank Harvey |
| Starring | Liam Redmond Anthony Bushell André Morell |
| Music by | John Addison |
| Cinematography | Gilbert Taylor |
| Edited by | Max Benedict |
| Distributed by | Peacemaker Pictures |
Release dates
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Running time
| 90 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Box office | £88,000[1] |
High Treason is a 1951 British espionage thriller filmed in the style of such American "docudramas" as The House on 92nd Street and T-Men.[2][3] It is a sequel to the Oscar-winning 1950 film Seven Days to Noon. Director Roy Boulting, co-director (with his brother John) and co-writer of the first film also directed and co-wrote this one.[3] Frank Harvey, Boulting's co-writer, was also a co-writer of the earlier film. André Morell reprises his role as DetectiveSuperintendent Folland of Scotland Yard's Special Branch from the first film, though in High Treason he is subordinate to the head of Special Branch, Commander Robert "Robbie" Brennan, played by Liam Redmond.[4]
Plot[edit]
Enemy saboteurs infiltrate the industrial suburbs of London, intending to disable power generating stations in London (three stations there; and five other stations located strategically throughout the U.K.) Their motivation is to cripple the British economy and enable subversive forces to insinuate themselves in the government. The saboteurs are thwarted not by the traditional counter-intelligence agents but by workaday London police officers.
Cast[edit]
- Liam Redmond as Commander Robert Brennan
- André Morell as Superintendent Folland
- Anthony Bushell as Major Elliott
- Kenneth Griffith as Jimmy Ellis (Soviet agent)
- Patric Doonan as George Ellis
- Joan Hickson as Mrs. Ellis
- Anthony Nicholls as Sir Grant Mansfield, M.P. (Head Soviet agent, and putative Prime Minister after the incumbent government's overthrow
- Mary Morris as Anna Braun (Soviet agent)
- Geoffrey Keen as Morgan Williams (Soviet agent)
- Stuart Lindsell as Commissioner
- John Bailey as Stringer
- Dora Bryan as Mrs. Bowers
- Charles Lloyd-Pack as Percy Ward
- Laurence Naismith as Reginald Gordon-Wells
Critical reception[edit]
The New York Times wrote, "it is worthy to note that High Treason travels at a more leisurely pace than Seven Days, but Roy Boulting, who also directed, achieves an equally intelligent handling of the many pieces needed to fit his intricate jigsaw of a plot," and remarked that, "deft direction, crisp dialogue and a generally excellent cast gives High Treason a high polish," concluding that the film is "a taut tale and a pleasure." [5]
"Damned Treason". cageyfilms.comMore recently, Cageyfilms.com wrote, "although the politics of High Treason are as dated as those of Leo McCarey’s My Son John (1952), the location shooting in London and the character details around the periphery of the narrative provide a fascinating documentary portrait of the metropolis just a few years after the war and, as in Sam Fuller’s Pickup on South Street, the ostensible political element can be seen as little more than a MacGuffin on which to hang the narrative. And speaking of MacGuffins, the film has several very well-developedHitchcockian elements, particularly the pretentious modern music society which serves as a front for the communist plotters and the labyrinthine building which doubles as a tutorial college and secret commie headquarters." [6]
Since melodrama and mystery also are the prime objectives, credit the producers with providing these ingredients in full measure. A completely unimpressive clerk in the Ministry of Supply surreptitiously copies information about a freighter about to leave for the Far East with a cargo of munitions. The ship explodes, bringing a crew of investigators from Scotland Yard and Military Intelligence. Thereafter the sleuths, faced by a suspect or two and a few clues, follow their slim leads to the appalling fact that saboteurs are planning to blow up Battersea power station, as well as plants in other major cities.
Call the climax obvious and far from a gem of ingenuity—it seems a foregone conclusion that the cops successfully will shoot it out with the sappers amid the noisy whirring generators of the power station—but up to that point deft direction, crisp dialogue and a generally excellent cast gives "High Treason" a high polish.
The principals, with the exception of one or two of the conniving group who are stereotyped characters, turn in top flight performances. Although he is not well known on this side of the Atlantic, Liam Redmond, a recruit from the Abbey Theatre, whose Irish brogue, odly enough, fits in neatly with the proceedings, is excellent as the top Scotland Yard investigator, an unhurried, rational and decisive detective. Kenneth Griffith does a restrained but poignant job as a terrified radio shop owner and ill-fated dupe of the saboteurs.
John Bailey, on the other hand, overplays the role of the villainous strong-arm member of the gang but Andre Morell and Anthony Bushell, as Yard operatives; Mary Morris, as one of the sabotage leaders; Anthony Nichols as the suave, cultured and seemingly liberal M. P. schemer; Charles Lloyd Pack, as the Ministry clerk, and Dora Bryan, as a garrulous shopper are convincing types, who, aided by a roving camera tour of the British metropolis, help make the crimes in "High Treason" a taut tale and a pleasure.
MOVIE REVIEW
THE SCREEN IN REVIEW; ' High Treason,' J. Arthur Rank Production, Has U. S. Premiere at 52d Street Trans-Lux
Since Frank Harvey and Roy Boulting were responsible for the script of that tension-packed British import of 1950, "Seven Days to Noon," that redoubtable pair now can be credited with being in a fairly auspicious rut. For in "High Treason," which arrived at the Fifty-second Street Trans-Lux yesterday, the Messrs. Harvey and Boulting are following awesome parallel lines—a blueprint which does not involve an atom bomb, as was the case in "Seven Days," but one which grippingly deals with the mounting effects of a group of saboteurs intent on crippling Brittain's power plants.
Comparisons being in order, it is worthy to note that "High Treason" travels at a more leisurely pace than "Seven Days," but Roy Boulting, who also directed, achieves an equally intelligent handling of the many pieces needed to fit his intricate jigsaw of a plot. There is also the matter of the clash of ideologies inherent in the story, which, while being superficial and inconclusive, leaves no doubt in the mind of the viewer that the skulking villains are being influenced from behind the Iron Curtain. This, however, appears to be secondary to the basic theme elaborated by Mr. Boulting. He and his associates are intent on showing that his saboteurs are a frightening cross-section of the populace and that their "warrens," are as commonplace as the Parliament buildings, London shops, schools and docksides.
