The House on Telegraph Hill
Directed by Robert Wise
Written by Elick Moll and Frank Partos from a novel by Dana Lyon
1951/USA
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
First viewing/Netflix rental
[box] Alan Spender: [to Victoria/Karin] The trouble with you is you really don’t know how to relax.[/box]
I enjoyed this noirish woman-in-peril thriller.
Karin Dernakova and Victoria Kowelska (Valentina Cortese) are helping each other survive a concentration camp. Victoria has lost her entire family and home in the war. Karin was able to send her infant son Chris off to stay with her rich aunt Sophie in San Francisco before war broke out. Karin dreams being of reunited with the boy after the war is over and plans to take Victoria with her. When Karin dies before liberation, Victoria decides to borrow her identity in hopes of a better life in America. In the relocation camp, she attempts to make contact with the aunt and discovers she has died.
When she gets to New York, Victoria/Karin meets with some lawyers who advise that Aunt Sophie left her entire fortune to Chris. A distant relative by marriage, Alan Spender, was named the boy’s guardian and since has adopted him. Victoria protests but the problem seems to be solved when she and Alan fall in love and marry.
Victoria and Alan set up housekeeping in the aunt’s mansion on Telegraph Hill. It turns out that the house comes with Chris’s governess Margaret. Victoria quickly forms a real bond with the boy and is met with jealousy and resistance from Margaret. For some reason, she also takes up residence in a guest room. Then a series of events make her believe that Alan is trying to kill her … With William Lundigan as Alan’s friend and Victoria’s admirer.
I thought this was a solid, entertaining little picture. I liked that it did not go the direction I thought it was headed. The leads were all very good in their roles and Wise, while no Hitchcock, handles suspense well.
Basehart and Cortese met during the shooting of this film and were married shortly thereafter.
Trailer – massive spoilers included
