The House on Telegraph Hill: Robert Wise

That's it...I need to go on a Robert Wise binge. In the past I have successfully managed to track down and watch the complete filmographies of Akira Kurosawa, Robert Altman, and Alfred Hitchcock. Now I need to do the same with Wise. I have yet to see one of his films that hasn't blown me away. The Set-Up (1949) is still my all-time favorite boxing film. The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) was one of the first sci-fi films to truly capture my imagination. What can I say that hasn't already been said about the phenomenal West Side Story (1961), The Haunting (1963), or The Sound of Music (1965)? And now I find myself confronted by another one of his films, a lesser known film noir entitled The House on Telegraph Hill. After surviving the Holocaust, Victoria Kowelska assumes the identity of her best friend, Karin. Before dying, Karin had told Victoria that her infant son, Chris, had been sent to America to live with a small fortune in San Francisco. Once in America, she assumes Karin's identity, inheriting her fortune and massive home on top of Telegraph Hill. But a strange thing begins to happen: she develops genuine feelings of love towards her "son." But things are complicated when she starts getting into potentially fatal accidents, suggesting that somebody in her new family might want her out of the way...This film truly took me by surprise. At first I thought that it would be a tired melodrama revolving around a case of mistaken identity. But it evolves into an extremely effective thriller with one of the most tense final acts that I can remember. It involves a glass of orange juice that may or may not be poisoned and a husband who may or may not be responsible. The scene reminds me of a similar situation involving a glass of milk in Alfred Hitchcock's Suspicion (1941). But The House on Telegraph Hill reaches levels of suspense and tension that completely outstrip that film. Not many directors can legitimately claim to have beaten the "King of Suspense" at his own game. But, as I keep discovering, Robert Wise was not your average director.

8/10