The House on Telegraph Hill (1951) - Robert Wise 

   Whereas The Seventh Victim seems like a film noir labeled as a horror film, the House on Telegraph Hill is a horror film recently released on DVD in the Fox Film Noir collection. This may be because Robert Wise was a protege of Val Lewton, and made his directorial debut on his Curse of the Cat People. The movie poster for the film makes it look very much like a horror film, but so did the very unfrightening House on 92nd Street. Like Hathaways films though this has a little mixture of documentary thrown in. The prologue gives it a very real setting in a concentration camp, and the narration is a typical trademark of Hathaway, and film noir in general. Yet Hathaway seemed to prefer a female voice, so of course Victoria Kowelska (Valentina Cortesa) is a perfect choice for narration, especially because its her story.
   The story becomes noir through and through before too long though. There is a case of mistaken identity, a covered up past, and what better place for mystery than the steep hills of San Francisco? Now there is a scene in this film of brakes being tampered with, and of course on these streets, thats something truly dangerous. I cant tell from insufficient research whether or not this is the first instance of cut breaks as an attempt to kill someone, but its funny how despite these numerous attempts in film and television, no one ever seems to die because of it. The scene does seem too familiar today and loses some of its original suspense, but the technique is still there, and it comes off as less ridiculous than Hitchcocks in Family Plot.
   Theres something charming in Robert Wises early films. A hunger, an editor who raised promoted to director, given small budgets and trying to make due. I have heard many sources cite editors turned directors as the best filmmakers. They have a natural inclination on pacing, and how to set up a film. Cinematographers always seem to infest their films with far too many shots of nothing, and actors turned directors always seem to think that beautiful shots of sunsets are all it takes to make a great movie. Wise is a no-nonsense director and there never seems to be a wasted moment in his early films. The problem in most of them therefore lies in the plots, something that he rarely if ever had anything to do with. 
   House on Telegraph Hill hits you with one great mystery, and thats will Victoria be found out? In the moral code of the movies deception is almost always revealed and usually punished. Victoria believes her deception is going to be punished. She is posing as another woman, another woman with a considerable fortune to inherit, but there is a deception there. Along the way though she truly becomes the other woman, her past is dead, she knows this other woman as well as anyone, and naturally she grows to love the child of this other woman. It is the child that is the motivating element, even more than the money. It is Chris that binds the household together. Margaret (Fay Baker) feels shes the real mother, and in many ways she is the mother. Victoria certainly isnt the birth mother, and Margaret has spent far more time raising her, so its not surprising for her to feel resentment towards Victoria.
   Mark (William Lundigan) however has a different motivation. He has more money than he knows what to do with, and he doesnt seem to care one way or the other about Chris. His motivation seems to be to avenge himself against Alan (Richard Basehart). Theyre a pair of old friends who always have a smile for each other, but have a bitter rivalry towards each other. Theyre like brothers who are nothing but cordial at holiday functions but secretly resent everything about the other. Mark has what he wants financially, but he wants to put Alan in his place. His social standing is above him, and he resents this unrelenting social climber. Likewise Alan resents Mark for having everything so easy, and its easy to see his contempt, because what poor soul doesnt resent the rich? Mark wants what he wants like any spoiled child, and he wants Victoria, not so much for himself, but in order to lash out against Alan. 
   The film overall is somewhat second rate. It went unreleased on VHS, and therefore was out of circulation for a very long time. It winds up not as a long lost buried treasure resurfacing, but a rather forgetful venture in what would become a rather promising directing career for Robert Wise. As a piece of film noir it is moderately successful, as a horror film it works a little better, but not enough to make it worth the wait. 

Grade C +