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 adapted as an episode of "BBC Sunday-Night Theatre". Australian TV drama was relatively rare at the time. 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. 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." 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 hotel were prefilmed in a Melbourne hotel. It was Frank Thring's Australian television play debut. The "Sydney Morning Herald" said Thring gives "an impressive performance" being "closely matched in honours by the sensitive work" of Howell. "The Age" called it "one of the very few top line dramas yet presented on Australian TV."