Espionage story telling how British and American security agents outwit ruthless and cunning traitors trying to steal secret project plans.Espionage story telling how British and American security agents outwit ruthless and cunning traitors trying to steal secret project plans.Espionage story telling how British and American security agents outwit ruthless and cunning traitors trying to steal secret project plans.
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Using some potently photographed imagery of a still recovering post-war London, this has a little more of a plausible story to it. It's just the sadly lacking effort of the dreadfully wooden Patrick Allen that holds it back. It depicts the scenario in the early 1960s where the rise of communism was an attractive thing for a political class that was prepared to betray their country in the hope of an Elysium to come. The story takes a while to get going, but the spying antics - they are trying to smuggle secret documents to their Soviet counterparts - present us with a slightly more sophisticated network of agents and with quite an interesting use for the public baths (no, not that one...!) The dialogue is fine, the supporting actors - principally James Maxwell and Jacqueline Ellis are efficient and it features quite an exciting last five minutes. A better cast might have made for a more compelling watch. As it is it is still watchable but Allen was never good enough to top the bill, and he certainly isn't here either.
The second of two British b-crimes pairing lantern-jawed Patrick Allen, honing one of the greatest voices in cinema history, with ingenue Jacqueline Ellis, THE TRAITORS... written by Jim O'Connelly who'd direct Ellis in THE HI-JACKERS the next year... follows the usual spy template popular in the 1960's...
Herein the titular gang of microfilm-carrying turncoats are shadowed by stalwart British agent Allen paired with an American with a British accent in future OTLEY actor James Maxwell...
Allen is married while Maxwell, single, takes Jacqueline Ellis's Mary, as a female agent, on a date, which, sadly, is about the only real screen-time she has, buried by Allen's troubled wife Zena Walker while the action and espionage, with an extremely meager budget, isn't very suspenseful...
The poster has a petrified dame with her mouth covered as Allen's getting pistol-whipped, and neither occurs in this average post-noir that's still an entertaining time-filler, economically filling its sixty-minute programmer's length.
Herein the titular gang of microfilm-carrying turncoats are shadowed by stalwart British agent Allen paired with an American with a British accent in future OTLEY actor James Maxwell...
Allen is married while Maxwell, single, takes Jacqueline Ellis's Mary, as a female agent, on a date, which, sadly, is about the only real screen-time she has, buried by Allen's troubled wife Zena Walker while the action and espionage, with an extremely meager budget, isn't very suspenseful...
The poster has a petrified dame with her mouth covered as Allen's getting pistol-whipped, and neither occurs in this average post-noir that's still an entertaining time-filler, economically filling its sixty-minute programmer's length.
The Traitors is a excellent film compared to most other second features of the same period, 1962. It has a very good story by Jim O'Connolly, writer-director of another fine B movie, Smokescreen, in a tale of spies in London exchanging government information in a cat and mouse chase between the secret agents and the security men. The characters are well-rounded and have good, sparky dialogue that is often humorous too which gives them more humanity. Most second features of the 1950s and 1960s were just pot-boilers to while away an hour or so before the main feature came on. Good and credible performances by reliable British actors such as Patrick Allen, James Maxwell and Harold Goodwin etc make The Traitors a taut and suspenseful piece of film making by director Robert Tronson. The cinema used by the spies to exchange information is not the Coronet at Notting HIll, which is on a left-hand corner. The cinema in The Traitors is on a right-hand corner and looks like the ABC Fulham Road, at the corner of Drayton Gardens.
There are secrets being leaked and Patrick Allen is told to find out who and how, with American James Maxwell seconded for US interests.
It's a slow and deliberate movie, far from the slam-bang and sexcapades of the James Bond franchise. Allen is still in love with ex-wife Zena Walker, and she with him, but their marriage could not take the strain. Maxwell is interested in Jacqueline Ellis, but though she makes a lovely dinner companion, the work they do is too dirty for her to ever think of marriage. In between these reliefs, such as they are, from the main story, they track the route of the stolen secrets to a doctor's office, and set up in a betting shop across the street to surveil.... and run into problems when a successful bettor puts the shop in the red.
It's unglamorous and even occasionally dull to watch their progress, up until the slam-bang ending. The result is a film that is too realistic to be very entertaining, but stands as a useful correction to the usual image of spywork.
It's a slow and deliberate movie, far from the slam-bang and sexcapades of the James Bond franchise. Allen is still in love with ex-wife Zena Walker, and she with him, but their marriage could not take the strain. Maxwell is interested in Jacqueline Ellis, but though she makes a lovely dinner companion, the work they do is too dirty for her to ever think of marriage. In between these reliefs, such as they are, from the main story, they track the route of the stolen secrets to a doctor's office, and set up in a betting shop across the street to surveil.... and run into problems when a successful bettor puts the shop in the red.
It's unglamorous and even occasionally dull to watch their progress, up until the slam-bang ending. The result is a film that is too realistic to be very entertaining, but stands as a useful correction to the usual image of spywork.
The look, sound, and feel of The Traitors are all strong and well done. All of the performances are solid as well, in particular all the leads fulfill their parts well. The film provides an authentic grit to the proceedings and in that respect it is engaging and good. The weak part for me was the story. Yes, in the broad sense it's a solid story but as for the details and specifics that might create some suspense and draw the viewer in, those elements are just never fully realized. It's a shame because I really liked all of the characters and enjoyed spending time with them but any suspense and sense of urgency were just too short on supply.
Did you know
- TriviaThe locations are very accurate. Portobello Road Market can be seen as Patrick Allen and James Maxwell track the doctor to his surgery, which is just off Portobello Road. The market ( which was then a normal market with some second hand stalls and shops) can be seen. The extra's were clearly normal members of the public who can be seen watching the filming and showing surprise as they walk into shot. The Dr's wife catches a 15 bus from Ladbroke Road ( which runs parallel to Portobello Road) alighting at Horse Guards, then walking to St James Park. The No 15 ran at the time via Ladbroke Grove through Trafalger Square. The Dr takes a taxi and catches a bus in order to meet with his contact. He alights at Halfpenny Steps (a pedestrian bridge, now replaced, across Regents Canal) in Maida Vale on the other side of which was the now demolished, Wedlake Street 'Baths' (swimming pool, baths and wash house) featuring the denouement of the film. In reality this is only a 10/15 minute walk from 'his' surgery but as a spy he is no doubt (unsuccessfully) ensuring he is not followed.
- GoofsThere was no way the microphone could have been planted behind the grille, and of course there is no explanation of how this was supposed to have been done.
- How long is The Traitors?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Die Verräter
- Filming locations
- Harrow Road, London, Greater London, England, UK(Dr. Lindt alights from a No.18 Bus and Crosses Halfpenny Steps Bridge)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime
- 1h 11m(71 min)
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.66 : 1
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