Guilty of Treason

Guilty of Treason

Directed by	Felix E. Feist
Written by	Emmet Lavery
Produced by	Robert Golden Jack Wrather
Starring	Charles Bickford Bonita Granville Paul Kelly Richard Derr
Cinematography	John L. Russell
Edited by	Walter A. Thompson
Music by	Emil Newman Hugo Friedhofer
Production company	Freedom Productions
Distributed by	Eagle-Lion Films
Release date	February 20, 1950 (1950-02-20)
Running time	86 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Guilty of Treason is a 1950 American drama film directed by Felix E. Feist and starring Charles Bickford, Bonita Granville and Paul Kelly. Also known by the alternative title Treason, it is an anti-communist and anti-Soviet film about the story of József Mindszenty, a Roman Catholic cardinal from Hungary.^[1] Mindszenty spoke out against the Nazi occupation of his country during World War II, as well as the later Communist regime. Because of his opposition to the Soviet regime, Mindszenty was arrested and tortured. After his release, he took refuge in the US Embassy in Budapest for many years, maintaining his support for the Hungarians who wanted an end to the Russian occupation.

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Plot

The film uses the framing device of a speech to members of the Overseas Press Club of America by a journalist who has just returned from Budapest where he witnessed the treason trial of Mindszenty. He also tells the story of Stephanie Varna, a young teacher who decides to stake a moral stand against Communism despite her love for a Russian officer.

Cast

Charles Bickford as Joszef Cardinal Mindszenty
Bonita Granville as Stephanie Varna
Paul Kelly as Tom Kelly
Richard Derr as Colonel Aleksandr Melnikov
Roland Winters as Commissar Belov
Berry Kroeger as Colonel Timar
John Banner as Doctor Szandor Deste
Alfred Linder as Janos
Thomas Browne Henry as Colonel Gabriel Peter
Nestor Paiva as Matyas Rakosi
Morgan Farley as Doctor
Lisa Howard as Soviet Official
Elisabeth Risdon as Mindszenty's mother

Production

The film was inspired by the book As We See Russia written by members of the Overseas Press Club. It was produced by the Anglo-American company Eagle-Lion. Art Direction was by the German emigre Rudi Feld. It was part of a cycle of anti-communist British and American films released in the late 1940s and early 1950s as the Cold War intensified. Mindszenty's story was portrayed again in the 1955 British film The Prisoner.