A New Name for a New Place

In the aftermath of World War II, a Holocaust survivor assumes the identity of one of her deceased fellow concentration camp inmates in 1951's The House on Telegraph Hill. She moves to join her new family in San Francisco and a nightmare begins. It's a fine suspense film filled with constant, nicely layered tension.

Viktoria (Valentina Cortese), who takes the name of Karin, finds herself in a beautiful house with a young son--and even a new husband, played by Richard Basehart. There's also a sinister nanny who clearly sees herself as the boy's rightful mother.

You think you have impostor syndrome? Try being an actual impostor! That hangs over Viktoria/Karin's head for the whole movie as she tries to unravel the other mystery, the one that becomes apparent as both she and the little boy are nearly killed several times.

I was impressed by all the location shots in this film, unusual for the time but likely inspired by movies like The Naked City and White Heat. San Francisco is an excellent town for location shots, as many a great film demonstrates (Vertigo, Bullitt, Hulk). Valentina Cortese gives a terrific, vulnerable, and intelligent performance.

I'd sure like to live in a house like that.

The House on Telegraph Hill is available on The Criterion Channel as part of their recent Gothic Noir collection. It kind of stretches the definition of noir but I suppose it is at least existential in a noir-ish way.

X Sonnet #1828

Your quest croissant contains a dot of cream.
Containment failed and sheets have clogged the sky.
When winter stumbles out the summer's dream,
The folks combine to make a metal guy.
A slew of sorry eyes connect the gems.
With riches vast, the walls profusely bleed.
A million wooden toys have clogged the Thames.
A single letter shades a lengthy feed.
Determined gangsters fell before the tea.
No guile serves when simple glaciers walk.
So stolen money's fish returned to sea.
To-morrow toothsome thugs'll scarcely talk.
Acquired beds permit the sleeper's bank.
A rocky spell disturbed the drunken tank.