Guilty of Treason

I had never heard of this one before coming across it (via the Alpha DVD) at a local rental outlet; though I had expressed interest in watching it at the time, I did not get hold of the film until acquiring the more renowned later version of the same events – THE PRISONER (1955) – but, then, am only checking out either in time for the pious Easter season. The film deals with the famous trial in which Josef Mindszenty, a Hungarian Cardinal played here by Charles Bickford, is victimized for daring to stand up against Communism. The narrative, however, also takes in the experiences of a number of people who become involved in his plight – chiefly a local girl (Bonita Granville who, in spite of her clandestine relationship with Soviet officer Richard Derr, ends up tortured and killed for her troubles) and a middle-aged American reporter (Paul Kelly, who suffers himself at the hands of a neo-Nazi group!). Ironically, given the obvious anti-Red stance being promoted, GUILTY OF TREASON is most comparable in its preachiness to Hollywood efforts with Marxist leanings such as THE MASTER RACE (1944). As was the case with that one, too, the film under review manages to balance heavy-going (albeit clearly impassioned) politics with a variety of Noir trappings: for instance, the trial sequence is depicted in a stylized fashion – with Bickford standing in a beam of light at the center of the room while his accusers remain in the shadows. Compelling, modestly impressive and extremely well-acted, this proved a very nice surprise indeed which, in retrospect, has been unjustly neglected over the years.