The House on 92nd Street
| The House on 92nd Street | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Henry Hathaway |
| Produced by | Louis De Rochemont |
| Screenplay by |
Barré Lyndon Jack Moffitt John Monks Jr. |
| Story by | Charles G. Booth |
| Starring |
William Eythe Lloyd Nolan Signe Hasso |
| Narrated by | Reed Hadley |
| Music by | David Buttolph |
| Cinematography | Norbert Brodine |
| Edited by | Harmon Jones |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
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Release date
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Running time
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88 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $2.5 million |
The House on 92nd Street is a 1945 black-and-white American spy film directed by Henry Hathaway. The film, shot mainly in New York City, was released shortly after the end of World War II. The House on 92nd Street was made with the full cooperation of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and its head, J. Edgar Hoover, appears during the introduction. Also, the FBI agents in Washington were played by actual agents. The film's semidocumentary style inspired other films including The Naked City.
In 1939, American standout university student Bill Dietrich (William Eythe) is approached by Nazi recruiters due to his German heritage. He feigns interest, then notifies the FBI. FBI agent George Briggs (Lloyd Nolan) tells him to play along.
Dietrich travels to Hamburg, Germany, where he undergoes six months of intensive training in espionage. He is then sent back to the United States to set up a radio station and to act as paymaster to the spies already there. He is told that only a "Mr. Christopher" has the authority to change his assignment.
Dietrich manages to pass along his microfilmed credentials to the FBI; they are altered so that instead of being forbidden to contact most of the agents, he is authorized to meet them all. In New York, his contact, dress designer Elsa Gebhardt (Signe Hasso), is suspicious of the modification and requests confirmation from Germany, but communication is slow. In the meantime, she has no choice but to give Dietrich full access to her spy ring. When questioned, Dietrich's other legitimate contact, veteran espionage agent Colonel Hammersohn (Leo G. Carroll), denies knowing Mr. Christopher's identity.
In a separate development, a German spy is killed in a traffic accident; the FBI finds a secret message among his possessions stating that Mr. Christopher will concentrate on Process 97. Briggs is alarmed because he is aware that Process 97 is America's most closely guarded secret.
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Wikipedia