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:

A terror more deadly than murder!

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Film-Noir | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

Approved

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

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

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

Agent George A. Briggs: We know all about you, Roper. We've traced you to the day you were born. We even know the approximate day you will die.

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Crazy Credits

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

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Connections

Spin-off The Street with No Name (1948)

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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

Fond Memories of the House

I'm glad one of my favorite movies The House on 92nd Street has been released on DVD and to read the reactions others have made about it. I first saw this movie when it was first released and I was about 11 years old. It made a great impression on me at the time. Of course it is much older now and so am I. My reaction to the revelation of the identity of Mr. Christopher came as an almost physical shock. I should add that at the time this movie came out the war had just ended and the bomb had been dropped only months before, and the radio made much of the nuclear race between Germany and the United States, so the 'now it can be told' aspect of the movie had a lot more meaning then. Also, we weren't very ambivalent about who the good guys and the bad guys were in the war (that didn't happen until Vietnam). I can see that the technology that seemed so cutting edge then is simplistic and dated by today's standards, but that doesn't hurt the movie if you take it in the context of its time. One comment I'd like to make: when Elsa first saw Dietrich's altered credentials she was rightly suspicious and sent for confirmation by courier from Hamburg. In the meantime he continued to operate for what seemed like months and the war started. How long did to get that confirmation anyway? By the way, I've seen the House and it was on 93rd street.