High Treason's primary photo
  • High Treason (1913)
  • Short | 19 min | Short, Drama
High Treason (1913)
Short | 19 min | Short, Drama
The story centers about a government wireless operator who finds his salary too small to meet the demands of his wife. A banker, speculating on the decline of stocks in the event of war, bribes the operator to change the government message...See moreThe story centers about a government wireless operator who finds his salary too small to meet the demands of his wife. A banker, speculating on the decline of stocks in the event of war, bribes the operator to change the government message, announcing the success of the peace negotiations, to read that a declaration of war is inevitable, so that his Board of Trade operation would prove successful. The wireless operator accepts the bribe and perverts a message. All that follows shows a nation in the throes of a great war. The entire operation of getting out a war "extra" from the time the false message is received in the editorial rooms until the street urchins and old women get the "extra" on the street, is shown. The excitement of the stoic compositors in the press rooms setting the "scare head," and even the haste of the "devil" is racing to and fro from editorial offices to press room is very realistic and interesting. Much of the film was made on the day that Italy declared war against Turkey, and the Cines people swept the streets of Rome with their cameras gathering some splendid views of the "war-mad" thousands as they thronged the big thoroughfares, shouting and waving papers, and carrying stump orators around on their shoulders. To further carry out the thread of the story, the Cines Company made use of some splendid pictures taken during the Balkan War, of the big thirteen-inch disappearing guns, many inspiring cavalry charges and infantry engagements. As a punishment, the only son of the wireless operator, whose traitorous action created the war, is killed by the burst of a bomb in one of the first battles. This was the only battle scene the Cines Company found it necessary to stage. Incidentally, one of the features of the story includes a three-minute scene from the Opera "Aida," showing about a thousand people watching the performance, with the stage with its multifarious costumes in the distance. All this material has been worked into an especially pretty story. The casual picture goer will wonder how the picture company managed to get such realistic scenes and such crowds of people. Written by Moving Picture World synopsis See less
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Status
Edit Released
Updated Apr 30, 1913
Release date
Sep 16, 1913 (United States)

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3 cast members
Name Known for
Augusto Mastripietri's primary photo
Augusto Mastripietri
Benjamin Harris (as Charles Maestro) Benjamin Harris (as Charles Maestro)   See fewer
Malombra (1917)
Attilio D'Anversa's primary photo
Attilio D'Anversa
Charles Rossi (as Maurice Anverso) Charles Rossi (as Maurice Anverso)   See fewer
L'ombra della morte (1919)
Ida Carloni Talli's primary photo
Ida Carloni Talli
Mrs. Rossi (as Ita Talli) Mrs. Rossi (as Ita Talli)   See fewer
Camille (1915)
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