The House on 92nd Street

When this film was made in the 1940's, the ultimate evil that is Adolph Hilter and the Nazi movement was still a serious threat to our way of life. Lloyd Nolan, a major star of the 30's and 40's, gives his usual strong performance as FBI Agent Briggs, in charge of the Nazi spy case. Leo G. Carroll steals the movie playing the Nazi spymaster. Enjoy this film and remember why our fathers and grandfathers fought WWII. As a side note, real FBI agents appeared in this movie in support roles at the direction of J. Edgar Hoover, who gave his full co-operation to the producers.

Henry Hathaway directed this spy film presented in semi-documentary fashion starring Lloyd Nolan as FBI Inspector George Briggs, who is in charge of the counter-terrorist division that recruits German-speaking William Dietrich(played by William Eythe) to infiltrate a cell of German spies sent to America to gather information on the construction of the atomic bomb. The FBI allows its 92nd. street headquarters to remain open in order to identify its highest-level operatives, which involve a Mr. Christopher, though Dietrich's main contact is a woman(played by Signe Hasso) How long before he can identify his targets, or end up identified himself? Fine film effectively uses the semi-documentary approach, with Lloyd Nolan the standout, and would reprise the role in semi-sequel "The Street With No Name".

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.

This semi documentary film, shows the FBI at work in those early days of the European conflict. Henry Hathaway, the director, focus on the work behind the scenes of a group of German spies, operating in New York and how the FBI is able to infiltrate the group.

The film, as seen today, still holds the viewer's attention, although the technology is obsolete by today standards. We are given a suspenseful story about the group that established the base of operations in the house on 92nd Street and Madison Avenue in the Manhattan of the 40s. The crisp black and white cinematography by Norbert Brodine still looks pristine and sharp.

The cast headed by Lloyd Nolan as Briggs, do a good job under Mr. Hathaway's direction. Best of all is Signe Hasso as Elsa Gebhart, the designing woman with a lot of secrets. Leo G. Carroll is also seen as one of the spies. Gene Lockhart also has a minor role.

It was fun to watch uncredited New York based actors in the background such as E.G. Marshall, Vincent Gardenia, Paul Ford, among others making small contributions to the film.

This is the story of how the FBI supposedly cracked a Nazi espionage ring on the trail of Manhattan Project (the A-Bomb) in the early years of World War II. As a movie, its chief significance is that it kicked off a spate of semi-documentary movies paying tribute to one or another of the U.S. government's law enforcement agencies and celebrating Our Tax Dollars at Work. Such films became a staple of the noir cycle; a few of them even achieved distinction (T-Men, for instance).

William Eythe, a young American, is recruited by and trained in Germany to be a spy; in fact he works as a double agent for the FBI. The film, shot largely on location, traces the actions of the nest of vipers on New York's upper east side. Their unofficial master seems to be Signe Hasso, under cover of running a chic dress boutique. Her opposite number, who runs Eythe, is Lloyd Nolan (who was to reprise his role as Inspector Briggs in subsequent films).

The film's period flavor keeps it from seeming too dated, because the spying looks quite primitive to audiences spoiled by James Bond gimmickry and later, even more sophisticated, espionage thrillers. And, from a modern perspective, the smug boastfulness about the Bureau's -- and America's -- infallibility becomes a bit hard to swallow. There's little texture or nuance in the film, but, as a quasi-historical document, it exerts its own fascination.