High Treason (1929 film)
| High Treason | |
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| Directed by | Maurice Elvey |
| Produced by | Gaumont British Picture Corporation |
| Written by | L'Estrange Fawcett |
| Based on | the play High Treason by Noel Pemberton Billing |
| Starring |
Jameson Thomas Benita Hume Basil Gill |
| Cinematography | Percy Strong |
| Distributed by |
Gaumont British (UK) Tiffany Pictures (US) |
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Release date
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Running time
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95 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | Silent with English intertitles; also released in sound version. |
High Treason is a 1929 film based on a play by Noel Pemberton Billing. It was directed by Maurice Elvey, and stars James Carew, Humberstone Wright, Benita Hume, Henry Vibart, Hayford Hobbs, Irene Rooke and Jameson Thomas.Raymond Massey makes his first screen appearance in a small role. The sound film was presented in a London trade show on 9 August 1929, then went into UK general release in silent and sound versions on 9 September 1929. The sound version was released in the US by Tiffany Productions on 13 March 1930. The silent version and a trailer for the sound version are preserved and held by the British Film Institute; the only known surviving original copy of the sound version is a lavender fine grain of the American release version held in the collection of Alaska Moving Image Preservation Association (AMIPA), which has been recently restored by the Library of Congress.
The film is a science fiction drama set in a futuristic 1940 (though this is changed to 1950 in later releases). The plot and aesthetics of the film are heavily influenced by Fritz Lang's Metropolis.
In 1940/50, world peace is threatened when the "United States of Europe" comes into conflict with the "Empire of the Atlantic States". The former comprises Europe, India, the Middle East, Canada, Africa and Australasia. The latter is a combination of the United States and South America.
In the film the prohibition era in America extends to 1940 and the tension is initially caused by bootleggers crossing the borders between territories. One such incident leads to a shoot-out between border guards in which both sides suffer casualties. War looks likely, but the pacifist Peace League intervenes. Meanwhile, we learn that the tension is in fact carefully orchestrated by a sinister terrorist group financed by arms manufacturers. They blow up a rail tunnel under the English Channel. The President of Europe orders a mass enlistment and mobilisation, fearing that the Atlantic States are preparing a sneak attack.
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Wikipedia