High Treason 1951 Liam Redmond, André Morell, Anthony Bushell (Eng)

"High Treason" is tightly scripted with only a small amount of needless verbiage. Filmed in 1951, the impact of the dark and stylish noir photography is apparent throughout. The story moves forward relentlessly, carried by familiar and capable faces in British cinema, such as Andre Morrell, Kenneth Griffith, Geoffrey Keen and Laurence Naismith. Mary Morris scores as a female member of the sabotage ring. The basic skeleton plot is familiar, which concerns a group trying to disrupt the nation by sabotage, with police and intelligence figures trying to locate and stop them. Novelty is added by making one of their number Kenneth Griffith, playing a nervous fringe member of the group, attracted by the ideology and used by them, but reluctant when it comes to their violent means. He, his brother and mother help give some heart to the film, personalizing a bit of tragedy. This is a well-handled spy-thriller imbued with noir photography, but not itself a noir story. It's not deep and lacks memorable themes. Designed for some suspense, it delivers its fifties entertainment in a no nonsense way.