The House on 92nd Street (1945)

Bill Dietrich becomes a double agent for the F.B.I. in a Nazi spy ring.

Director:

Henry Hathaway

Writers:

Barré Lyndon (screenplay) (as Barre Lyndon), Charles G. Booth (screenplay)

Stars:

William Eythe, Lloyd Nolan, Signe Hasso

Won 1 Oscar. Another 1 win.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
William Eythe	...	Bill Dietrich
Lloyd Nolan	...	Inspector 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 Coburg
Bruno Wick	...	Adolf Lange
Harro Meller	...	Conrad Arnulf
Charles Wagenheim	...	Gustav Hausmann
Alfred Linder	...	Adolf Klein
Renee Carson	...	Luise Vajda

Storyline

Preface: a stentorian narrator tells us that the USA was flooded with Nazi spies in 1939-41. One such tries to recruit college grad Bill Dietrich, who becomes a double agent for the FBI. While Bill trains in Hamburg, a street-accident victim proves to have been spying on atom-bomb secrets; conveniently, Dietrich is assigned to the New York spy ring stealing these secrets. Can he track down the mysterious "Christopher" before his ruthless associates unmask and kill him?

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Plot Keywords:

nazi | fbi | double agent | spy | german american | 

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Taglines:

The house that hid a secret more terrifying than the mind can conceive!

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Film-Noir | Mystery | Thriller | War

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Certificate:

Approved

Did You Know?

Trivia

Original working title was "Now It Can Be Told".

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Goofs

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.

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Quotes

Narrator: The Germans felt that Dietrich was an extremely valuable man... so did the FBI.

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Crazy Credits

Opening credits are shown as someone flipping through the pages of a file.

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Connections

Spoofed in The Bullwinkle Show: Louse on 92nd Street: Parts 1-2 (1963)

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Soundtracks

Tra-La-La-La
(uncredited)
Music by Harry Warren
Played as background music at the talent agent's office

User Reviews

Still chilling espionage thriller with gritty documentary approach...

Highly popular during the mid-'40s was this thriller that resembles other spy dramas produced by Fox during this era--most notably, films like 13 RUE MADELEINE or BOOMERANG! which also used a documentary style. The location footage in New York City is fascinating as a time capsule and the story gets strong support from the excellent B&W photography.

Standout in the cast is Signe Hasso in a plum role as a woman running a dress shop as a front for espionage activities. She shows toughness and determination all the way through and is completely convincing in the female lead. William Eythe does a nice job as the agent sent by the FBI to expose the spy ring. In fact, all of the performances are first rate and the suspense is maintained until the surprise climax.

Well worth watching as an example of tight, suspenseful and gritty film noir in a style typical of the hard bitten dramas of the '40s.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English German

Release Date:

16 October 1945 (France)

Also Known As:

Now It Can Be Told

Filming Locations:

George Washington Bridge, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$2,500,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Black and White (archive footage) Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1