House On 92nd Street

Year: 1945

Grade: C+

Country: USA

Director: Hathaway

Review

similar to films like call northside 777 and he walked by night in that it’s a docu-noir; this one is also similar to call northside 777 in that hathaway is the director. there aren’t any stars in this one (call northside 777 had james stewart and lee j. cobb) and it’s even more realistic and technical than cn 777. that’s probably the greatest strength of the film – it’s got a lot of coverage of forensics and espionage tools which give it a sense of authenticity. i was turned off by the unqualified praise it gave the fbi and hoover. it failed to acknowledge any of the downside of this level of surveillance, but i suppose that’s expected given the time (1945) and the subject matter (german spies in america). call northside 777 is great, but this one isn’t.