High Treason (1951 film)
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| High Treason | |
|---|---|
![](#/media/File:"High_Treason"_(1951_film).jpg) Original British quad poster | |
| Directed by | Roy 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 |
May 1952 (US) |
Running time | 90 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | £168,325[1] |
| Box office | £88,000[2] |
High Treason is a 1951 British spy thriller film directed by Roy Boulting and starring Liam Redmond, Anthony Bushell and André Morell.[3][4][5] It was written by Boulting and Frank Harvey. It is a sequel to Seven Days to Noon (1950), co-directed by Boulting and John Boulting.[5]
The Guardian called the film "the only real British equivalent of the Red Scare movies then being turned out in Hollywood."[6]
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
- 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.
- 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
- Michael Ward as music club member (uncredited)
- Dandy Nichols as doorstep cleaner (uncredited)
- Alfie Bass as Albert Brewer (uncredited)
- Jean Anderson as woman in street (uncredited)
- Glyn Houston as railway shunter (uncredited)
- Peter Jones announcer at music club (uncredited)
- Moultrie Kelsall as ship's captain (uncredited)
- Howard Lang as policeman (uncredited)
- Harry Locke as Andy, telephone engineer (uncredited)
- Victor Maddern as anarchist (uncredited)
- Tony Quinn as chemistry lecturer (uncredited)
- Marianne Stone as Alfie's mother (uncredited)
- Bruce Seton (uncredited)
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. Soskin 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] at Pinewood Studios, with three weeks on location at 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]
An unsuccessful lawsuit was taken out against the filmmakers by the author of a book titled High Treason seeking an injunction to stop use of the title.[16][17]
Release
The film was originally set to be released on 18 October 1951; however the Rank Organisation delayed 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] It was distributed in the US by Pacemaker Pictures.[19]