Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

Huievest Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

WillSushyMedia This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

Neive Bellamy Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

boblipton HIGH TREASON was originally issued in both sound and silent versions, but for many years, only the silent version was known to survive. A few years ago, a copy of the abbreviated sound version, issued by Tiffany in the US was discovered and restored. However, it is still difficult to see, and so this review is based on the silent version.The year is 1950 -- a popular year for science-fiction films in the 1920s -- and tensions are rising between the Federated States of Europe and the Atlantic States. A car carrying liquor breaks through a border guard and is shot down; the Atlantic States send an ultimatum to Europe, whose President, Basil Gill, wants war; although he is not implicated, arms manufacturers are shown bribing people. Only the World League of Peace, led by Humberstone Wright, and his daughter, Benita Hume, stand in the way of war. Miss Hume's boy friend is Jameson Thomas, an officer of Europe, ready to carry out his orders. Thus the conflict is not only a matter of the world and politics and money, but of love.Visually, the movie is an Art Deco feast, pitched halfway between METROPOLIS and THINGS TO COME (Raymond Massey, who starred in the latter, has a small but prominent role and can be clearly seen at about the 30-minute mark). Clothes follows the sleek design, with a lot of shiny fabric and hats midway between cloches and skullcaps. Neither does Elvey neglect the technological touches, with autogyros and biplanes flying about London, television broadcasts, sliding doors and the other paraphernalia beloved of screen sf. Percy Strong's camerawork is limber, with many a tracking shot to focus the audience's attention, and a couple of moving crane shots. British film-making may have long been considered a backwater of the industry, but British Gaumont had the resources and will to make this spectacular.The weaknesses of this movie are twofold. First, it is very talky for a silent picture, with a lot of title cards of dialogue, doubtless reproducing speech in the sound version. Second is the rather clunky utopianism of the plot, reducing the issues of politics and economics in a theoretical world to melodrama, where singing a song can stop a military action, and national leaders can be isolated from their guards. In my rather cynical view, Realpolitik guides the powerful, who are isolated and protected from the consequences of their follies.Still, that's no way to make popular entertainment now, and was less so in 1929; and while this movies shows flaws that an examination of the sound version might more fully explain, it remains visually quite beautiful, with the lovely 23-year-old Miss Hume a high point.

enw In 1950, the world is divided into two blocks, the United States (including South America and China) and the European Union, controlling the rest - in 1920 many European States were still colonial empires. A border incident threatens to escalate into a Second World War, and the Peace League, based in London and "pledged to fight to the death for Universal Peace", as opposed to the profiteering provocateurs blowing up toy-trains in the English Channel Tunnel, are called upon to intervene. "Will it really be war?" the heroine asks. "Frankly, no," the hero answers confidently, "the people to-day are much too sensible." "That's what they said in 1914," her father remarks. Soon after, even the women are mobilized. Flapper eyeing her uniform critically: "What a terrible thing war is!" In the end, the peaceniks assassinate the President of Europe. The masses rise up against their governments, the soldiers refusing to fire on them - which is of course what always happens in times of war. As expected, everything is extremely futuristic, except for the women's hairdo. What could possibly be more modern than page-boy? Having abandoned hats, everyone wears shiny clothes - black for the bad guys, white for the good (but they are still heiling). It's the same grim look as in THINGS TO COME of a no-nonsense future.

calvinnme This is an anti-war film as so many were of this particular period. England lost a generation of young men in WWI, and in the end nothing seemed to be really accomplished and thus their films reflected the attitudes of the times. The year is 1950 and the world has been divided into large continental and in some cases multi-continental federations. Problems begin during a card game gone bad between guards of the United States of Europe and the Empire States of the Atlantic along the border. The dispute enlarges as prohibition has apparently continued in the land controlled by the United States and a couple smuggling liquor is killed at the same border where the guards are fighting when they are discovered and try to make a run for it. The guards then begin to shoot each other.Munitions companies take advantage of the unrest and perform acts of sabotage, blaming it on the other federation. Meanwhile, in London, the Federation of Peace - I guess this is a take on the failed League of Nations - tries to stop war. At the center of this is pacifist Dr. Seymour and his daughter Evelyn (Benita Hume), who is also a pacifist and in love with Michael Deane, a commander of European forces. The President of Europe orders a mobilization, which includes the women. However, apparently women are not drafted into combat but manufacturing of armaments.Evelyn limits her efforts first at trying to convince Michael, and when that fails, she then mobilizes the women against cooperating with the war effort. Her dad, however, is more ambitious, when the president refuses to not declare war, Evelyn's pacifist dad shoots him! Dr. Seymour goes on trial for "high treason" - and the dead president doesn't help matters. Seymour refuses to speak in his own defense with the sun casting a shadow of a cross near Dr. Seymour in the courtroom. Excuse me, but if the film is trying to equate Seymour with Christ, let me remind folks that as far as I know, Jesus never killed anybody when he didn't get his way. I'll let you watch and see how this all turns out.It is always fun to see how folks from the distant past picture the world of the more recent past. They usually get things so wrong. They get television right, but they get the fact that prohibition has lasted 17 years longer than it did wrong, and they certainly get wrong that you could ever hold together a federation made of Europe, India, the Middle East, Canada, Africa and Australia. There would be any number of civil wars among these peoples alone. These futuristic people have machines that dress them and machines that play musical instruments for them in the night clubs, but nobody ever thought of simulating the musical instruments themselves? I'd give this one a try if it ever comes your way. The assumptions about the future, the naiveté, the camp symbolism, and most of all those marvelous miniature models of flying machines are worth your time even if the whole thing is a hoot.

rhpt-1 Ther actor Basil Gill was famous in his time for his fine voice. He was an accomplished stage actor before starting work in the early cinema. There were numerous press reviews of his performances that commented on his voice, and those that accompanied the release of this film, the talking version, in 1928, were no exception. "Basil Gill as President Stephen Deane has far and away the best recording voice we have heard, a lesson to everyone in clearness and beautiful quality." What a shame that the sound is no longer audible. However, his voice can still be heard in such films as "Knight without Armour", "Rembrandt", "St Martin's Lane" and "Wings of the Morning".