Guilty of Treason

shooting script / 1950

Directed by Felix E. Feist
Produced by Robert Golden, Jack Wrather
Written by Emmet Lavery

Music by Emil Newman, Hugo Friedhofer
Cinematography John L. Russell
Edited by Walter A. Thompson
Production company: Freedom Productions
Distributed by Eagle-Lion Films
Release date: February 20, 1950
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. 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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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.

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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.

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