High Treason (1951 film)

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High Treason
"High Treason" (1951 film).jpg
Original British quad poster
Directed byRoy Boulting
Written by Roy Boulting
Frank Harvey
Produced by Paul Soskin
Starring Liam Redmond
Anthony Bushell
André Morell
Cinematography Gilbert Taylor
Edited by Max Benedict
Music by John Addison
Production
company
Conqueror Films
Distributed by General Film Distributors
Peacemaker Pictures (US)
Release dates
  • 13 November 1951 (1951-11-13)
(UK)
May 1952 (US)
Running time
90 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Budget£168,325 [1]
Box office£88,000 [2]

High Treason is a 1951 British spy thriller. [3] [4] It is a sequel to the film Seven Days to Noon (1950) from the same team. Director Roy Boulting, co-director (with his brother John) and co-writer of the first film also directed and co-wrote this one. [4] Frank Harvey, Boulting's co-writer, was also a co-writer of the earlier film. André Morell reprises his role as Detective Superintendent 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. [5]

Contents

Roy Boulting's obituary called the film "the only real British equivalent of the Red Scare movies then being turned out in Hollywood." [6]

Plot

Enemy saboteurs infiltrate the industrial suburbs of London, intending to disable three power stations in London and five other stations elsewhere, all strategically located throughout the UK. Their motive is to cripple the British economy and to enable subversive forces to insinuate themselves into government. The saboteurs are thwarted, not by counterintelligence agents, but by workaday London police officers, and finally by a repentant betrayer from their own ranks.

Cast

Production

The film was based on an idea of producer Paul Soskin, who owned Conqueror Films. According to Roy Boutling the film was originally called First Spy, Second Front. He approached Roy Boulting who said he "pointed out that the war was over, that a more topical ‘thriller’ could be taken from the headlines of any newspaper any day of the week. He solemnly picked up a morning daily. I, with equal solemnity, seized on a headline. He agreed. And, together with Frank Harvey, I went away and wrote the screenplay of High Treason — not, by the way, our title. Cast with then largely unknowns, of its genre it was a pretty good example." [7]

The story was inspired by a real incident in July 1950 where ammunition barges bound for Korea blew up in Portsmouth, allegedly as a result of sabotage. [8]

The movie was part financed with a loan from the National Film Finance Corporation. [9]

Other titles for the film were I Spy Strangers, Secret Plan X23 and Sabotage. [10] [11]

Filming started 15 January 1951. [12] It took place at Pinewood Studios with three weeks of filming at the Battersea Power Station. [13] There was a great deal of secrecy about the story during production. [14]

Frank Harvey Jnr, who wrote the script, played a small role. [15]

A lawsuit was taken out against the filmmakers by the author of a book called High Treason seeking an injunction to stop use of the title. [16] This was unsuccessful. [17]

Release

The film was originally meant to be released on 18 October 1951. However the Rank Organisation decided to delay its release until 23 October, immediately after polling day for the 1951 election, because the film was seen to be anti-Communist and thus political. [18]

The movie was picked up for distribution in the US by Pacemaker Pictures. [19]

Reception

Critical reception

The Evening Standard said it was "so potted with yawning illogical gaps in its story that it fails to convince on any but the most immature bang bang level." [20]

Variety wrote "With the production of High Treason British studios make their first entry into the political film derby. Devoid of name values, picture is a natural for special ext ploitation on its strong sabotage angle. It should cash in on the current cycle of such yarns. Skillful handling may put the film in = big money bracket, at least here." [21]

The Observer called it "a very exciting thriller." [22] The Daily Telegraph said it was "highly entertaining" but "could have been better." [23] Filmink called it "flat". [24]

An unnamed New York Times reviewer commented, "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". [25]

In 2013, a contributor to 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-developed Hitchcockian 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". [26]

Box office

The film did not perform well at the box office in England. [2]

However it was one of the most popular films of the year in Scotland in 1951. [27]

The film performed reasonably well in the US, grossing $100,000 at a time when British films struggled in America. [19]

References

  1. ↑ Chapman, J. (2022). The Money Behind the Screen: A History of British Film Finance, 1945-1985. Edinburgh University Press p 358
  2. 1 2 BFI Collections: Michael Balcon Papers H3 reprinted in British Cinema of the 1950s: The Decline of Deference By Sue Harper, Vincent Porter p 41
  3. ↑ "High Treason (1951)". BFI. Archived from the original on 12 July 2012.
  4. 1 2 Hal Erickson. "High Treason (1951) – Roy Boulting – Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related – AllMovie". AllMovie.
  5. ↑ "Overview for Andre Morell". Turner Classic Movies.
  6. ↑ Barry, Charles (8 November 2001). "Roy Boulting". The Guardian.
  7. ↑ McFarlane, Brian (1997). An autobiography of British cinema : as told by the filmmakers and actors who made it. Methuen. p. 74.
  8. ↑ Stephen Guy, "High Treason’ (1951): Britain's cold war fifth column", Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television 13: 1 (1993): 35-47.
  9. ↑ "£700,000 film plan to aid unknowns". Daily Mirror. 26 January 1951. p. 5.
  10. ↑ Slide, Anthony (1998). 'Banned in the USA' : British films in the United States and their censorship, 1933-1960. p. 76-77.
  11. ↑ "Hollywood". Daily Worker. 9 October 1951. p. 7.
  12. ↑ "Blames 40% tax for plight of Brit film biz". Variety. 20 December 1950. p. 14.
  13. ↑ "Battersea "Siege"". The Birmingham Post. 24 October 1951. p. 6.
  14. ↑ "Chaplin and Mountbatten in same film From DICK KISCH". The Daily Telegraph. Vol. XII, no. 14. New South Wales, Australia. 25 February 1951. p. 46. Retrieved 4 May 2025– via National Library of Australia.
  15. ↑ "First Film Role For Frank Harvey, Jun". The Newcastle Sun . No. 10, 431. New South Wales, Australia. 9 June 1951. p. 5. Retrieved 4 May 2025– via National Library of Australia.
  16. ↑ "Adjourn Ireason Title Suit; Exhibition Barred Except Current N. Y. Run". Variety. 2 July 1952. p. 7.
  17. ↑ "Title exclusivity declared illegal". Variety. 23 July 1952. p. 7.
  18. ↑ "High Treason film postponed". Evening Standard. 3 October 1951. p. 1.
  19. 1 2 "Pacemaker's Personalized 'Sell' Overcomes Provincial Exhibs' Closed Minds on British Pix". Variety. 26 January 1955. p. 4.
  20. ↑ "New films". Evening Standard. 25 October 1951. p. 11.
  21. ↑ "High Treason". Variety. 21 November 1951. p. 18.
  22. ↑ "At the films". The Observer. 28 October 1951. p. 6.
  23. ↑ "Film notes". The Daily Telegraph. 29 October 1951. p. 6.
  24. ↑ Vagg, Stephen (28 May 2025). "Forgotten British Studios: British Film-Makers". Filmink. Retrieved 28 May 2025.
  25. ↑ "'High Treason,' J. Arthur Rank Production, Has U. S. Premiere at 52d Street Trans-Lux". The New York Times. 21 May 1952. Retrieved 10 April 2017.
  26. ↑ "Damned Treason". cageyfilms.com. 2 October 2013.
  27. ↑ "Yank Pix Top Grossers". Variety. 16 January 1952. p. 11.
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