The House on 92nd Street (1945)

Made with the blessing of the FBI and produced by March of Time newsreel creator Louis de Rochemont, The House on 92nd Street (1945) became the first major semi-documentary crime thriller. Working from a World War II case of domestic espionage involving the atomic bomb, director Henry Hathaway combined newsreel footage of suspected German spies with scenes shot on location in New York and Washington D.C., to depict the FBI's infiltration of a Nazi spy ring housed in the New York building of the title. With a cast composed mostly of character and stage actors rather than glamorous movie stars, Hathaway enhanced the documentary atmosphere with objective, explanatory narration and title cards that explain the story's factual origins and note the presence of FBI staff as extras. Despite the documentary emphasis, the tightly paced action, eccentric spies, and sharp, film noir, black-and-white photography wrap the facts in entertainingly restrained yet stylish suspense. A critical and box office hit, The House on 92nd Street won a screenplay Oscar and inspired a series of late 1940s semi-documentary crime movies, including Hathaway's own 13 Rue Madeleine (1946) and Kiss of Death (1947) and Elia Kazan's Boomerang! (1947). ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide