High Treason (1929) DVD-R

Starring Jameson Thomas, Benita Hume, Basil Gill, Humberston Wright, Henry Vibart
Directed by Maurice Elvey

Print: black/white
Runtime: 95 min.
Genre: sci-fi

Based on a play by Pemberton Billing, High Treason is set in The Future -- 1940, to be exact. The Federated Countries of Europe seem poised on the brink of another war, this one sparked by a border dispute between Canada and the United States (!) Dr. Seymour (Humberstone Wright), head of the European Peace League, tries to avert the war, while Seymour's daughter Evelyn (Benita Hume) carries on a romance with Michael Deane (Jameson Thomas), the militaristic head of the Air Force. In the film's incredible denouement, Dr. Seymour is forced to resort to assassination to keep the peace (in other words, "support the anti-war movement or I'll kill you.") If one could find a print of High Treason today, one might be amused by the film's futuristic prognostications, including electric signboards in place of newspapers, private helicopters which can land on residential rooftops with impunity, two-way televisions in every home, and miniskirts on every woman.