High Treason (1951 film)

High Treason
Original British quad poster
Directed byRoy Boulting
Written byRoy Boulting
Frank Harvey
Produced byPaul Soskin
StarringLiam Redmond
Anthony Bushell
André Morell
CinematographyGilbert Taylor
Edited byMax Benedict
Music byJohn Addison
Production
company
Conqueror Films
Distributed byGeneral 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 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]

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. 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]

Reception

Critical

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "As a successor to Seven Days to Noon, High Treason is extremely disappointing. The action lacks coherence and unity, the plot devices which are used to carry it forward rely too largely on coincidence, and the story never gathers momentum satisfactorily, so that its excitements are unconvincing. A tendency, present in the earlier film, to build every small part into a piece of character playing, is here indulged to excess ... High Treason has been poorly served by its advance publicity; the much stressed secrecy in which it was made and the decision to hold up its showing until after the election, suggested something far more serious in intention than the film has to offer."[20]

The Evening Standard wrote that the film was "so potted with yawning illogical gaps in its story that it fails to convince on any but the most immature bang bang level."[21]

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 the big money bracket, at least here."[22]

The Observer called it "a very exciting thriller."[23]

The Daily Telegraph wrote that the film was "highly entertaining" but "could have been better."[24]

Filmink called it "flat".[25]

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".[26]

Box office

The film did not perform well at the box office in England, [2] although it was one of the most popular 1951 films in Scotland.[27] It 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. ^ a b 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". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
  4. ^ "High Treason (1951)". BFI. Archived from the original on 12 July 2012.
  5. ^ a b Hal Erickson. "High Treason (1951) – Roy Boulting – Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related – AllMovie". AllMovie.
  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. ^ a b "Pacemaker's Personalized 'Sell' Overcomes Provincial Exhibs' Closed Minds on British Pix". Variety. 26 January 1955. p. 4.
  20. ^ "High Treason". The Monthly Film Bulletin. 18 (204): 356. 1 January 1951. ProQuest 1305813985.
  21. ^ "New films". Evening Standard. 25 October 1951. p. 11.
  22. ^ "High Treason". Variety. 21 November 1951. p. 18.
  23. ^ "At the films". The Observer. 28 October 1951. p. 6.
  24. ^ "Film notes". The Daily Telegraph. 29 October 1951. p. 6.
  25. ^ Vagg, Stephen (28 May 2025). "Forgotten British Studios: British Film-Makers". Filmink. Retrieved 28 May 2025.
  26. ^ "'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.
  27. ^ "Yank Pix Top Grossers". Variety. 16 January 1952. p. 11.
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