The House on 92nd Street (1945)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Henry Hathaway

Writers:

Barré Lyndon (screenplay) and
Charles G. Booth (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

10 September 1945 (USA)

Genre:

Film-Noir | Drama

Tagline:

The F.B.I.'s own tense, terrific story behind the protection of the ATOMIC BOMB!

Plot:

Bill Dietrich becomes a double agent for the FBI in a Nazi spy ring.

Plot Keywords:

Spy | Nazi | FBI | Spy Ring | Narration

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 1 win

Cast

William Eythe	...	Bill Dietrich
Lloyd Nolan	...	Agent George A. Briggs
Signe Hasso	...	Elsa Gebhardt
Gene Lockhart	...	Charles Ogden Roper
Leo G. Carroll	...	Col. Hammersohn
Lydia St. Clair	...	Johanna Schmidt
William Post Jr.	...	Walker (as William Post)
Harry Bellaver	...	Max Cobura
Bruno Wick	...	Adolf Lange
Harro Meller	...	Conrad Arnulf
Charles Wagenheim	...	Gustav Hausmann
Alfred Linder	...	Adolf Klein
Renee Carson	...	Luise Vadja

Also Known As:

Now It Can Be Told (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | German

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

West Germany:16 | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (PCA #10939)

Filming Locations:

53 East 93rd Street, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

The man who is killed by the car near the beginning of the film is based on a real life incident. He was identified as Julio Lopez Lido but was in actuality Capt. Ulrich von der Osten, a Nazi army officer in the Abwehr. He was hit by a car on March 18, 1941 and his body went unclaimed for a time. The man who ran from the scene was actually Kurt Frederick Ludwig, known as Joseph K, and eventually sentenced to Alcatraz Island. He was deported in 1953. The cab driver who hit Lido was a man named Sam Lichtman.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the agents are preparing to do the first survey of the house they are wearing CD (Civil Defense) arm bands on their right arms. The next scene shows them approaching the house and the arm bands are now on their left arms.

Movie Connections:

Followed by The Street with No Name (1948)

Soundtrack:

You Say the Sweetest Things (Baby)

Good Period Piece

The highly gifted natural and trained talent of Lloyd Nolan adorns this story of espionage and counterespionage in the US just prior to and after WWII was declared.

Playing a key FBI agent, Nolan displays the totally convincing work he rendered throughout his career. He heads a strong cast: Signe Hasso and Leo G. Carroll offer solid performances, and William Ethye is a good leading man.

Director Henry Hathaway mixes in authentic newsreel footage with care and balance. The result is a well done docudrama of the mid 40s.

It looks as though 20th Century Fox made a pact with the FBI for this project, with almost the complete Bureau being utilized for the shoot. The films emerges as a supreme tribute to the branch, with Chief Hoover's name frequently in evidence.

The work technically qualifies as propaganda, in which patriotic appreciation and support for the war effort is forthrightly projected.