Treason (1950)
"Guilty of Treason" (original title)

The story of Cardinal Josef Mindzhenty, a Roman Catholic cardinal from Hungary who spoke out against both the Nazi occupation of his country during World War II and the Communist regime ... See full summary »

Director:

Felix E. Feist

Writers:

Emmet Lavery (screenplay), Emmet Lavery (story),

Stars:

Charles Bickford, Bonita Granville, Paul Kelly

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Charles Bickford	...	Joszef Cardinal Mindszenty
Bonita Granville	...	Stephanie Varna
Paul Kelly	...	Tom Kelly
Richard Derr	...	Soviet Col. Aleksandr Melnikov
Roland Winters	...	Soviet Comissar Belov
Berry Kroeger	...	Hungarian State Police Col. Timar
John Banner	...	Dr. Szandor Deste
Alfred Linder	...	Janos, the waiter
Thomas Browne Henry	...	Hungarian Secret Police Col. Gabriel Peter [i.e. Peter Gabor]
Nestor Paiva	...	Hungarian Vice Premier Matyas Rakosi
Morgan Farley	...	Doctor
Lisa Howard	...	Soviet Official at School (as Lisa K. Howard)
Elisabeth Risdon	...	Mother Mindszenty
Gene Roth	...	Russian Soldier in Kelly's Bathroom
Kenneth MacDonald	...	Major Arresting Mindszenty

Storyline

The story of Cardinal Josef Mindzhenty, a Roman Catholic cardinal from Hungary who spoke out against both the Nazi occupation of his country during World War II and the Communist regime that replaced it after the war. Mindzhenty was arrested, tortured and eventually released, but was persecuted to the extent that he wound up taking refuge in the US Embassy in Budapest for many years, still acting as a spokesman for the Hungarians who wanted the Russian occupation forces and their Hungarian collaborators out of the country.

---

Plot Keywords:

hungary | cold war | communist takeover | communist oppression | forbidden tune | 

---

Genres:

Drama | History

---

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 February 1950 (USA)

Also Known As:

As We See Russia

Filming Locations:

California Studios - 5530 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Freedom Productions Inc.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

86 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

User Reviews

Strong stuff for a pre-teenager.

When this was released students attending Roman Catholic grammar schools were encouraged to see it, since it was an account of the Hungarian prelate, Joszef Cardinal Mindzenty's courageous stand against the Communist regime that had his native land within its ruthlessly cruel clutches. Charles Bickford, an actor of considerable gravitas, was a good choice to play the Cardinal, and, among the cast, Bonita Granville, the wife of this film's producer, Jack Wrather, was another of those arrested, interrogated and tortured by the Hungarian Communist regime, then still firmly in place at the time of this film's release.

I can still recall some rather graphic scenes of torture, including victims chained and forced to endure alternately scalding hot and freezing cold showers, and being strapped to chairs that spun dizzyingly for what was made to seem many agonizing minutes at a time. Nightmares precipitated by a viewing of this film haunted my dreams for quite a few months thereafter. It has always been a source of bewilderment to me that political and religious regimes use torture to break down the resistance of those opposed to their cruel and manifest untruth. What have they proved when they drag forth their victims to attest to their supposed "crimes"? Those who know the truth but have somehow escaped the terrible fate of their compatriots know that the "confessions" elicited by their hated oppressors are a sham. What they also know is that, at the Final Judgment, something which the concept of justice assures all honest hearts and minds will someday occur, the Lord's vengeance will be swift and eternal, and Satan himself will be assigned the task of meting out tortures more horrible than anything inflicted on this plane.