Treason (1959 film)

Treason is a 1959 Australian television live drama, which aired on ABC. Originally broadcast 16 December 1959 in Melbourne, a kinescope ("telerecording") was made of the program and shown in Sydney on 13 January 1960. It was an adaptation of a stage play by Welsh writer Saunders Lewis, which had previously been adaptated as an episode of BBC Sunday-Night Theatre.^[1]

Plot

Set during World War II. A group of officers, believing Germany to be losing the war, plan to assassinate Adolf Hitler so they can negotiate peace with the Allies.^[2]

Cast

• Frank Thring as General Karl Albrecht,chief of German Secret Police
• Brian James as Colonel Caisar von Hofacker
• June Brunell as aCountess Else von Dietlof, secretary to the Military Governor of France
• Frank Gatliff as General Otto von Stulpnagel
• Edward Howell as Field-Marshal Gunther von Kluge
• Wyn Roberts
• Edward Brayshaw

Production

The play was produced live in the Melbourne studios of the A.B.C. Director William Sterling called it "a study in mental conflict rather than a play of action and, therefore, particularly suited to TV close-up treatment."^[3]

Authentic German decorations for the play, as well as the Graf Spee flag, were lent by the Military Collectors' Club, Melbourne. Scenes which take place in a luxury French hole! were prefilmed in a Melbourne hotel.^[3]

See also

• Blue Murder - Another ABC TV drama play of 1959
• Misery Me - Another ABC TV drama play of 1959
• List of live television plays broadcast on Australian Broadcasting Corporation (1950s)

References

1. ↑ "TV Guide". The Age. 10 December 1959. p. 18. 
2. ↑ "Treason Against Hitler". Sydney Morning Herald. 11 January 1960. p. 11. 
3. 1 2 Marshall, Valda (10 January 1960). "Top Westerns Leave the Field". Sydney Morning Herald. p. 74. 

External links

• Treason on IMDb