The House on Telegraph Hill
1951 · Movie · NR · 93 min · ★ 6.4 · 66% critics
After surviving a wartime camp, a refugee takes on a dead friend’s identity to reach America and start over. But in a grand San Francisco home, a chance at safety turns into a web of suspicion, hidden motives, and mounting danger around a child and an inheritance.
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Details
- Years
- 1951
- Release date
- 1951-05-12
- Language
- English
- Rated
- NR
- Runtime
- 93 min
- Critic score
- 66/100
- TMDB rating
- 6.4/10 (68 votes)
About
You’ll likely enjoy this if you like old-school gothic suspense, uneasy household secrets, and the mood of films like Sleep, My Love or The Red House; Not for you if you want fast pacing or airtight logic.
Pros: tense mystery; eerie house atmosphere; strong suspense | Cons: some plot holes; slow stretches; melodramatic moments
Themes
- san francisco, california
- film noir
- old house
- assumed identity
- post world war ii
- governess
- identity swap
- concentration camp survivor
- jewish refugee
- murder plot
- child endangerment
- poisoned drink
- +1 more
Awards & recognition
- Academy Award — Best Art Direction, Black and White · 1952 · nominated
Cast & crew
Richard Basehart
as Alan Spender
Valentina Cortese
as Victoria Kowelska
William Lundigan
as Major Marc Bennett
Fay Baker
as Margaret
- GG
Gordon Gebert
as Christopher
Steven Geray
as Dr. Burkhardt
Herbert Butterfield
as Joseph C. Callahan
- KC
Kei Thin Chung
as Kei - Houseboy
- JB
John Burton
as Mr. Whitmore
- KM
Katherine Meskill
as Mrs. Whitmore
Directed by Robert Wise