High Treason (1929 British film)
High Treason | |
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Gaumont British (UK) (US)Tiffany Pictures | |
Release date |
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Running time | 95 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Languages | Silent Version English Intertitles Sound Version (All-Talking) |
High Treason is a 1929 film
The sound version of the film was presented in a London
The film is a science fiction drama set in a futuristic 1940 (though this was originally set in 1950 for the silent version). The plot and aesthetics of the film are heavily influenced by Fritz Lang's Metropolis.[6]
Plot
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
Dr. Seymour, leader of the Peace League, desperately attempts to avert war. His daughter Evelyn seeks to convince her boyfriend Michael, commander of the European air force, not to fight, but he insists he must do his duty. Evelyn says she will leave him.
The European council are divided, but the president decides on war, saying that he will announce the outbreak of hostilities on television.
The terrorists try to kill Dr. Seymour by bombing the Peace League, but Seymour survives. He tells Evelyn to make another effort to stop Michael ordering the airforce to attack, while he appeals directly to the President. Pacifists led by Evelyn demonstrate en masse at the airfield. Michael is uncertain what to do, but Evelyn convinces him to delay the attack. Seymour confronts the President, but is forced, despite his pacifism, to shoot him to stop him making the broadcast. He's tried for murder but says he is content when a guilty verdict is reached.
Cast
- Jameson Thomas as Michael Deane
- Benita Hume as Evelyn Seymour
- Basil Gill as President Stephen Deane
- Humberston Wright as Dr. Seymour
- Henry Vibart as Lord Sycamore
- James Carew as Lord Rawleigh
- Hayford Hobbs as Charles Falloway
- Milton Rosmer as Ernest Stratton
- Judd Green as James Groves
- Alf Goddard as Tele-radiographer
- Irene Rooke as Senator
- Clifford Heatherley as Delegate
- Wally Patch as Commissionaire
- Raymond Massey as cabinet-maker
Music
The sound version featured a theme song entitled "There's Nothing New In Love" which was composed by Louis Levy.
Critical reception
Updated version
In 1998, a new sound version was produced by the combined efforts of the French drum & bass DJ duo Les Electrons Libres and local film archive La Cinémathèque de Toulouse. That version was a live electronic music mix to a 71 minutes copy from the Cinémathèque vault. Les Electrons Libres version of High Treason was screened in various French cities from 1998 to 1999 (Paris, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Rennes) and in Barcelona, Spain for the 1999 Sonar Festival.[10]
See also
References
- ^ ISBN 0-7864-1745-5.
- ^ "High Treason (1929)". BFI. Archived from the original on 13 July 2012.
- ^ "High Treason: Looking forward to 1940 or reaching back to the Great War?". South West Silents. 22 August 2016.
- ^ Ernest Marshall, "LONDON FILM NOTES; The Pros and Cons of Two British Talking Films Recently Presented Britain vs. America. 'High Treason' Fantastic and Far-Fetched. Worthy Acoustic Qualities", The New York Times, 25 August 1929.
- ^ "Alaska Moving Image Preservation Assoc". amipa.org.
- ^ "BFI Screenonline: Science Fiction". screenonline.org.uk.
- ^ "Movie Review - LONDON FILM NOTES; The Pros and Cons of Two British Talking Films Recently Presented Britain vs. America. High Treason." Fantastic and Far-Fetched. Worthy Acoustic Qualities". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
- ^ David Parkinson. "High Treason". Radio Times.
- ^ Nigel Honeybone. "Film Review: High Treason (1929)". HNN – Horrornews.net – Official News Site.
- ^ "Festival Extrême Cinéma, Edition No. 1 – mai 1999 – review du festival par SDEP.com – Soit dit en Passant". soitditenpassant.com.
External links
- AMIPA AMIPA
- High Treason at IMDb
- La Cinémathèque de Toulouse French Wikipedia article La Cinémathèque de Toulouse French Wikipedia article. Movie projection in 2012