The House on 92nd Street

The treacherous villainous woman in this thriller is really excellent around which the film twists. She will surprise you guaranteed and for the gents, she's quite a looker too.
Great supporting cast, high suspense espionage and just what your looking for. Based on documentary intelligence records and really excellent first of the realism photoed movies shot on actual locations. First of the post WWII noir-based genres. Good curling-up entertainment with Lloyd Nolan also who is good.

This 1945 film showed how the FBI prevented the secret of the atomic bomb from falling into enemy hands. Aside from the main characters, all of the background persons were members of the FBI. The opening scenes show J.Edgar Hoover and an associate. The "house on 92nd Street" in Manhattan was the local safe house for the Nazi spy ring and Gestapo. It tells how a double agent was able to infiltrate their ranks and gather details on all the spies. (It did not explain how they knew who would be recruited.) This was done by forging a typewritten microfilmed document. About 20 minutes from the start Lloyd Nolan asks that this document be changed to require contact with all the spies; it is done quickly. A few years later in the Hiss Trial they claimed it was impossible to forge typewritten documents! Yet it was known and done circa 1936 by British Intelligence in South America. Read "The Quiet Canadian" for more details on this, and other activities in the US. I wonder what can be done nowadays with ink jet and laser printers?

The House on 92nd Street was one of the first Hollywood films to incorporate a semi-documentary edge to the noir/crime genre. The film's technical accuracy is authenticated by actual FBI archive footage of Nazi subversives and location shooting at FBI headquaters in Washington. For the first time ever, J. Edgar Hoover's dictatorial organization is depicted as an organized, structured, and efficient government institution whose existence and purpose is to preserve and protect national security. Hoover allowed director Henry Hathaway unprecendented access to film FBI secret equipment such as: two-way mirrors, video surveillance cameras, wire tapping lines, and a demonstration of the immense fingerprinting tracking system. Hoover gave his stamp of approval since the film justified the Bureau's stand and actions against possible covert foreign operations infiltrating America's military, political, economic, and educational systems. The film was released in 1945, weeks after the atomic bombing of Japan and the plot revolves around Nazi spies and their quest for information about ultra-secret plans dubbed Project 97. Project 97 obviously refered to the Manhattan Project which was the actual government code name given for the construction of the atomic bomb. Dark European mannerisms flood the film, as evidenced by Hathaway's judicious choice in casting. Swedish actress Signe Hasso is nefariously convincing as the Nazi spy ring's mastermind. With the exception of Leo G. Carroll, the remaining subversives are undertaken by unknown players. Their anonymity to the average American film buff heightens their deviousness and subterfuge. Lydia St. Clair is absolutely chilling in her small but malevolent role as a Nazi loyalist. The cast is rounded out by newcomer William Eythe and the dependable Lloyd Nolan who is perfectly cast once again as the paternal figure for American justice. The disappointment is Eythe whose lines are delivered blandly. The film's cinematography is true noir. Shadows seem to move between every contrast of black and white. This is a must see for all classic noir lovers.