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{{Short description|1957 British film by Michael McCarthy}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2016}}
{{Infobox film
{{Infobox film
| name = The Traitor
| name = The Traitor
| image = "The_Traitor"_(1957).jpg
| image = "The Traitor" (1957).jpg
| caption = British theatrical poster
| caption = British theatrical poster
| director = [[Michael McCarthy (film director)|Michael McCarthy]]
| director = [[Michael McCarthy (film director)|Michael McCarthy]]
| producer = [[Edwin J. Fancey]]
| producer = [[Edwin J. Fancey]]
| writer = Michael McCarthy
| writer = Michael McCarthy
| screenplay =
| screenplay =
| story =
| story =
| based on =
| based_on =
| starring = [[Donald Wolfit]] <br> [[Robert Bray]] <br> [[Christopher Lee]] <br> [[Jane Griffiths (actress)|Jane Griffiths]]
| starring = [[Donald Wolfit]]<br>[[Robert Bray]]<br>[[Jane Griffiths (actress)|Jane Griffiths]]<br>[[Anton Diffring]]
| music = Jackie Brown
| music = Jackie Brown
| cinematography = Bert Mason
| cinematography = Bert Mason
| editing = [[Monica Kimick]]
| editing = [[Monica Kimick]]
| studio = [[E.J. Fancey Productions]]
| studio = [[Edwin J. Fancey|Fantur Films]]
| distributor = [[Allied Artists Pictures Corporation|Allied Artists]] (US)
| distributor = New Realm Entertainment
| released = March 1957
| released = {{Film date|1957|03}}
| runtime = 88 minutes
| runtime = 88 minutes
| country = United Kingdom
| country = United Kingdom
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| gross =
| gross =
}}
}}
'''''The Traitor''''' (also known as '''''The Accused''''') is a 1957 British [[drama film]] directed by [[Michael McCarthy (film director)|Michael McCarthy]] and starring [[Donald Wolfit]], [[Robert Bray]], [[Jane Griffiths (actress)|Jane Griffiths]] and [[Anton Diffring]].<ref name="BFIsearch">{{Cite web |title=The Traitor |url=https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/Details/ChoiceFilmWorks/150043279 |access-date=20 March 2024 |website=British Film Institute Collections Search}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/Details/ChoiceFilmWorks/150043279|title=The Traitor|publisher=British Film Institute}}</ref>


==Premise==
'''''The Traitor''''' is a 1957 [[Cinema of the United Kingdom|British]] [[film noir]] [[drama film]] directed by [[Michael McCarthy (film director)|Michael McCarthy]] and starring [[Donald Wolfit]], [[Robert Bray]], [[Christopher Lee]] and [[Karel Stepanek]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/55100|title=The Traitor|work=BFI}}</ref> A former resistance fighter tries to discover the traitor who has betrayed his colleagues in the [[German resistance to Nazism|German resistance]] during the [[Second World War]]. The film was also shown in the US with the title "The Accursed." It was not released in the US until 1960.
A former resistance fighter tries to discover the traitor who has betrayed his colleagues in the [[German resistance to Nazism|German resistance]] during the [[Second World War]].


==Cast==
==Cast==
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* [[Christopher Lee]] as Doctor Neumann
* [[Christopher Lee]] as Doctor Neumann
* [[Oscar Quitak]] as Thomas Rilke
* [[Oscar Quitak]] as Thomas Rilke
* [[Karel Štěpánek]] as Mayor Friederich Sudermann
* [[Karel Štěpánek]] as Mayor Friederich Suderman
* [[Frederick Schiller]] as Alfred Baum
* [[Frederick Schiller]] as Alfred Baum
* [[Rupert Davies]] as Clinton, the butler
* [[Rupert Davies]] as Clinton, the butler
* [[John Van Eyssen]] as Lieutenant Bobby Grant
* [[John Van Eyssen]] as Lieutenant Bobby Grant
* Colin Croft as Theodore Dehmel
* Colin Croft as Theodore Dehmel

==Theme music==
The film's title music, "Prelude Without A Name", and incidental music were written and conducted by Jackie Brown. The solo pianist was Dennis Wilson.


==Critical reception==
==Critical reception==
''[[The Monthly Film Bulletin]]'' wrote: "Although there are some good ideas in the plot, the script of this film seems more suited to radio than to cinema, since it consists for the most part of a series of conversational set pieces. The director has made praiseworthy efforts to overcome this defect; but has not quite succeeded. Robert Bray's truculent American major is quite unconvincing; for the rest the cast is uninspired but adequate."<ref>{{Cite journal |date=1 January 1957 |title=The Traitor |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1305820913/4F58EA23437447ADPQ/1 |journal=[[The Monthly Film Bulletin]] |volume=24 |issue=276 |pages=62 |via=ProQuest}}</ref>
⚫
[[Sky Movies]] wrote, "the specially written musical piece, Prelude, which has a vital part to play in the plot's unfolding, is hauntingly appealing. But too much talk tends to spoil the script's surprises";<ref>{{cite web|url=http://skymovies.sky.com/the-traitor/review|title=The Traitor|publisher=}}</ref> and [[The Radio Times]] noted, "nuance was not Donald Wolfit's strong suit, but he had presence and power in spades. He totally dominates this story with a bluster and conviction that keeps an uninspiring tale of the hunt for a Second World War traitor from falling flat on its face";<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.radiotimes.com/film/cpy7w/the-traitor|title=The Traitor|work=RadioTimes}}</ref> while [[TV Guide]] concluded, "this is an offbeat espionage whodunit with some nervy moments." <ref>{{cite web|url=http://movies.tvguide.com/the-accursed/review/100650|title=The Accursed|work=TV Guide}}</ref>

''[[Kine Weekly]]'' wrote: "The director handles the plot intelligently and convincing atmosphere is created. Resourceful camerawork and an original musical score, strengthened by a new concerto, heighten dramatic impact."<ref>{{Cite journal |date=14 March 1957 |title=The Traitor |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/2738584100/F27A83EECC6D4AAAPQ/2 |journal=[[Kine Weekly]] |volume=479 |issue=2587 |pages=16 |via=ProQuest}}</ref>

''[[Sky Movies]]'' wrote, "The specially written musical piece, Prelude, which has a vital part to play in the plot's unfolding, is hauntingly appealing. But too much talk tends to spoil the script's surprises."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://skymovies.sky.com/the-traitor/review|title=The Traitor|publisher=|access-date=12 October 2014|archive-date=18 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141018024855/http://skymovies.sky.com/the-traitor/review|url-status=dead}}</ref>

⚫
''[[The Radio Times]]'' noted, "Nuance was not Donald Wolfit's strong suit, but he had presence and power in spades. He totally dominates this story with a bluster and conviction that keeps an uninspiring tale of the hunt for a Second World War traitor from falling flat on its face."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.radiotimes.com/film/cpy7w/the-traitor|title=The Traitor|author=David Parkinson|work=RadioTimes}}</ref>

In ''British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959'' [[David Quinlan (film critic)|David Quinlan]] rated the film as "mediocre", writing: "Talky enough for a radio script, this drama drags on sceen."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Quinlan |first=David |title=British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 |publisher=[[Batsford Books|B.T. Batsford Ltd.]] |year=1984 |isbn=0-7134-1874-5 |location=London |pages=392}}</ref>

''[[TV Guide]]'' concluded, "This is an offbeat espionage whodunit with some nervy moments."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://movies.tvguide.com/the-accursed/review/100650|title=The Accursed|work=TV Guide|access-date=12 October 2014|archive-date=17 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141017111717/http://movies.tvguide.com/the-accursed/review/100650|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Around the film==
* On a very similar plot line, the French filmmaker [[Julien Duvivier]] directed in 1959 ''[[Marie-Octobre]]'', also known as ''Secret Meeting'', starring [[Danielle Darrieux]] and based on a novel by [[Jacques Robert (writer)|Jacques Robert]] published in 1948.


==References==
==References==
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Traitor (1957 film), The}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Traitor (1957 film), The}}
[[Category:1957 films]]
[[Category:1957 films]]
⚫
[[Category:British films]]
[[Category:British drama films]]
[[Category:British drama films]]
[[Category:1950s drama films]]
[[Category:1957 drama films]]
[[Category:Elstree Studios films]]
[[Category:English-language films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Michael McCarthy]]
[[Category:Films directed by Michael McCarthy]]
[[Category:Films set in England]]
[[Category:Films set in England]]
[[Category:Films set in Germany]]
[[Category:1950s English-language films]]
⚫
[[Category:1950s British films]]




Latest revision as of 12:44, 4 September 2024

The Traitor
British theatrical poster
Directed byMichael McCarthy
Written byMichael McCarthy
Produced byEdwin J. Fancey
StarringDonald Wolfit
Robert Bray
Jane Griffiths
Anton Diffring
CinematographyBert Mason
Edited byMonica Kimick
Music byJackie Brown
Production
company
Distributed byNew Realm Entertainment
Release date
  • March 1957 (1957-03)
Running time
88 minutes
LandVereinigtes Königreich
SpracheEnglisch

The Traitor (also known as The Accused) is a 1957 British drama film directed by Michael McCarthy and starring Donald Wolfit, Robert Bray, Jane Griffiths and Anton Diffring.[1][2]

Premise

[edit]

A former resistance fighter tries to discover the traitor who has betrayed his colleagues in the German resistance during the Second World War.

Cast

[edit]

Theme music

[edit]

The film's title music, "Prelude Without A Name", and incidental music were written and conducted by Jackie Brown. The solo pianist was Dennis Wilson.

Critical reception

[edit]

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Although there are some good ideas in the plot, the script of this film seems more suited to radio than to cinema, since it consists for the most part of a series of conversational set pieces. The director has made praiseworthy efforts to overcome this defect; but has not quite succeeded. Robert Bray's truculent American major is quite unconvincing; for the rest the cast is uninspired but adequate."[3]

Kine Weekly wrote: "The director handles the plot intelligently and convincing atmosphere is created. Resourceful camerawork and an original musical score, strengthened by a new concerto, heighten dramatic impact."[4]

Sky Movies wrote, "The specially written musical piece, Prelude, which has a vital part to play in the plot's unfolding, is hauntingly appealing. But too much talk tends to spoil the script's surprises."[5]

The Radio Times noted, "Nuance was not Donald Wolfit's strong suit, but he had presence and power in spades. He totally dominates this story with a bluster and conviction that keeps an uninspiring tale of the hunt for a Second World War traitor from falling flat on its face."[6]

In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as "mediocre", writing: "Talky enough for a radio script, this drama drags on sceen."[7]

TV Guide concluded, "This is an offbeat espionage whodunit with some nervy moments."[8]

Around the film

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "The Traitor". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  2. ^ "The Traitor". British Film Institute.
  3. ^ "The Traitor". The Monthly Film Bulletin. 24 (276): 62. 1 January 1957 – via ProQuest.
  4. ^ "The Traitor". Kine Weekly. 479 (2587): 16. 14 March 1957 – via ProQuest.
  5. ^ "The Traitor". Archived from the original on 18 October 2014. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  6. ^ David Parkinson. "The Traitor". RadioTimes.
  7. ^ Quinlan, David (1984). British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd. p. 392. ISBN 0-7134-1874-5.
  8. ^ "The Accursed". TV Guide. Archived from the original on 17 October 2014. Retrieved 12 October 2014.

Bibliography

[edit]
  • Chibnall, Steve & McFarlane, Brian. The British 'B' Film. Palgrave MacMillan, 2009.
[edit]


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