The House on Telegraph Hill (1951)

Concentration camp survivor Victoria Kowelska finds herself involved in mystery, greed, and murder when she assumes the identity of a dead friend in order to gain passage to America.

Director:

Robert Wise

Writers:

Elick Moll (screenplay), Frank Partos (screenplay),

Stars:

Richard Basehart, Valentina Cortese, William Lundigan

Nominated for 1 Oscar.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Richard Basehart	...	Alan Spender
Valentina Cortese	...	Victoria Kowelska (as Valentina Cortesa)
William Lundigan	...	Major Marc Bennett
Fay Baker	...	Margaret
Gordon Gebert	...	Christopher
Steven Geray	...	Dr. Burkhardt
Herbert Butterfield	...	Joseph C. Callahan
Kei Thin Chung	...	Kei - Houseboy
John Burton	...	Mr. Whitmore
Katherine Meskill	...	Mrs. Whitmore
Mario Siletti	...	Tony, the Grocer
Charles Wagenheim	...	Man At Accident
David Clarke	...	Mechanic
Tamara Schee	...	Maria
Natasha Lytess	...	Karin Dernakova

Storyline

Victoria has survived Nazi concentration by assuming the identity of one who died there. She arrives in San Francisco to see her "son" just as the boy's great-aunt dies leaving a lot of money to be inherited. Victoria falls in love with the boy's trustee Alan Spender, and they move into the mansion on Telegraph Hill. She then learns that Alan and his lover, the boy's governess Margaret, murdered an aunt and are planning the same for her.

---

Plot Keywords:

concentration camp | greed | baseball | bergen belsen | child custody | 

---

Taglines:

Where deceit...hate...murder lurk in every shadow!

---

Genres:

Film-Noir | Mystery | Thriller | Drama

---

Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 August 1951 (Sweden)

Also Known As:

A Casa da Colina

Filming Locations:

Coit Tower, San Francisco, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The portrait shown throughout the movie as "Aunt Sophie", was a painting of actress Helena Benda.

---

Goofs

In the establishing shot of the house at the beginning, the fact that the water in the bay in the background never moves indicates is it a matte painting.

---

Quotes

Victoria Kowelska: Everything will be all right, Margaret. I'll be your witness.
Margaret: My conscience will be my witness, Mrs. Spender.

---

Soundtracks

"Blue Moon"
(uncredited)
Music by Richard Rodgers
Played immediately after the performance at the Chinese restaurant

User Reviews

Reality within the movie

About 10-15 minutes into the film there is a segment showing emmigrants filing into a ship to leave to America.

My parents (unknown to them until two years later) got their 15 seconds of fame. They're the man carrying an infant (me, face down-I wasn't ready for my cameo) and the woman with glasses carying two suitcases.

The ship was the SS Marine-Jumper (pretty odd name) which left Hamburg, and it arrived in New York on July 7th 1949.

The crossing was uneventful except that my mother told me she was angry with the sailors for playing catch with an orange. She hadn't eaten one since 1940.