The House on Telegraph Hill (1951) on Netflix
Approved19511h 33mCrimeDramaFilm-Noir
Polish prisoner Viktoria Kowalska takes the identity of Karin Dernakova, a fellow inmate who dies, to reach America. She meets Karin's son Christopher and his guardian, Alan Spender.
- Netflix3.5/5
- IMDb6.9/104,413 votes
- Rotten TomatoesNot available
Trailer
Plot summary
Viktoria Kowalska, a Polish prisoner at Bergen-Belsen, loses her home and husband during the German occupation. She befriends a fellow inmate, Karin Dernakova, whose young son, Christopher, was sent to San Francisco to live with a wealthy aunt. Karin dies before the camp is freed, and Viktoria destroys her own papers and takes Karin's name to start a new life. After liberation, Major Marc Bennett interviews her and finds her a place in a camp for displaced people. Lawyers cable that Karin's aunt Sophia has died. Four years later, traveling as Karin, Viktoria reaches New York and meets Christopher's guardian, Alan Spender, a distant relative of Sophia, who is drawn to her. Sophia has left her fortune to the boy for when he comes of age.
Cast
- Kei Thin Chungas Kei - Houseboy
- Katherine Meskillas Mrs. Whitmore
- Mario Silettias Tony, the Grocer
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The House on Telegraph Hill (1951)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- For long shots of the mansion's exterior, the filmmakers used matte paintings and studio-built facades erected in front of a house at 1541 Montgomery Street, the site of the Telegraph Hill restaurant Julius' Castle, which closed in 2008 after 84 years.
- The corner market seen in the film was Speedy's New Union Grocery at 301 Union at the corner of Montgomery, which closed in 2008 after 93 years in business.
- Marc Bennett's office building was the Crocker flatiron building at One Post Street, which was demolished in 1969 and replaced by the skyscraper now known as McKesson Plaza.
