Frank Reicher

Acting

Frank Reicher

Born 1875-12-02 · Munich, German Empire [now Germany]

Frank Reicher (December 2, 1875 – January 19, 1965) was a German-born American stage and film actor, director and producer. He is best known for playing Captain Englehorn in the 1933 film King Kong. Reicher made his Broadway debut the year he came to America playing Lord Tarquin in Harrison Fiske's production of Becky Sharp, a comedy by Langdon Mitchell based on William Makepeace Thackeray’s Vanity Fair. His early career was spent in legitimate theater on and off Broadway. He was head of the Brooklyn Stock Company when Jacob P. Adler performed The Merchant of Venice in Yiddish while the rest of the cast remained in English. Reicher was for a number of years affiliated with the Little Theatre on West Forty-Fourth Street as an actor and manager and would remain active on Broadway as actor, director or producer well into the 1920s. On stage, Reicher starred in such plays as the first Broadway production of Georg Kaiser's From Morning to Midnight (as the cashier), and the original production of Percy MacKaye's The Scarecrow (in the title role). Frank Reicher is probably more familiar to modern audiences as a supporting character actor in films. He began his cinema career with an uncredited role in the 1915 film The Case for Becky and would go on to work in over two hundred motion pictures. He is probably best remembered for playing the character of Captain Englehorn in King Kong and The Son of Kong, and for his work in such films as The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947) and Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye (1950). His last Hollywood role was in the very first theatrical Superman movie, Superman and the Mole Men, in 1951. Frank Reicher died at a hospital in Inglewood, California, aged 89. He was survived by his sister and a brother. His interment was at Inglewood Park Cemetery.

Acting credits

King Kong poster
7.6

Adventurous filmmaker Carl Denham sets out to produce a motion picture unlike anything the world has seen before. Alongside his leading lady Ann Darrow and his first mate Jack Driscoll, they arrive on an island and discover a legendary creature said to be neither beast nor man. Denham captures the monster to be displayed on Broadway as King Kong, the eighth wonder of the world.

King Kong

1933

The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse poster
7.0

A wealthy society doctor decides to research the medical aspects of criminal behaviour by becoming one himself. He joins a gang of thieves and proceeds to wrest leadership of the gang away from its extremely resentful leader.

The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse

1938

Samson and Delilah poster
6.6

When strongman Samson rejects the love of the beautiful Philistine woman Delilah, she seeks vengeance that brings horrible consequences they both regret.

Samson and Delilah

1949

Ninotchka poster
7.5

A stern Russian woman sent to Paris on official business finds herself attracted to a man who represents everything she is supposed to detest.

Ninotchka

1939

The Story of Louis Pasteur poster
6.9

A true story about Louis Pasteur, who revolutionized medicine by proving that much disease is caused by microbes, that sanitation is paramount and that at least some diseases can be cured by vaccinations.

The Story of Louis Pasteur

1936

The Son of Kong poster
5.4

Beleaguered adventurer Carl Denham returns to the island where he found King Kong.

The Son of Kong

1933

Hi, Nellie! poster
6.7

Managing Editor Brad Bradshaw refuses to run a story linking the disappearance of Frank Canfield with embezzlement of the bank. He considers Frank a straight shooter and he goes easy on the story. Every other paper goes with the story that Frank took the money and Brad is demoted, by the publisher, to the Heartthrob column - writing advice to the lovelorn. After feeling sorry for himself for two months, he takes the column seriously and makes it the talk of the town. But Brad still wants his old job back so he will have to find Canfield and the missing money.

Hi, Nellie!

1934

To Be or Not to Be poster
7.8

During the Nazi occupation of Poland, an acting troupe becomes embroiled in a Polish soldier's efforts to track down a German spy.

To Be or Not to Be

1942

Mata Hari poster
6.2

A semi-fictionalized account of the life of Mata Hari, an exotic dancer who was accused of spying for Germany during World War I.

Mata Hari

1931

Watch on the Rhine poster
6.9

On the eve of World War II, the German Kurt Müller, his American-born wife Sara, and their three children, having lived in Europe for years, visit Sara's wealthy mother near Washington, DC. Kurt secretly works for the anti-Nazi resistance. A visiting Romanian count, becoming aware of this, seeks to blackmail him.

Watch on the Rhine

1943

Camille poster
7.0

Life in 1847 Paris is as spirited as champagne and as unforgiving as the gray morning after. In gambling dens and lavish soirees, men of means exert their wills and women turned courtesans exult in pleasure. One such woman is Marguerite Gautier, who begins a sumptuous romance with Armand Duval.

Camille

1936

Monsieur Verdoux poster
7.7

The film is about an unemployed banker, Henri Verdoux, and his sociopathic methods of attaining income. While being both loyal and competent in his work, Verdoux has been laid-off. To make money for his wife and child, he marries wealthy widows and then murders them. His crime spree eventually works against him when two particular widows break his normal routine.

Monsieur Verdoux

1947

Sister Kenny poster
6.9

An Australian nurse discovers an effective new treatment for infantile paralysis, but experiences great difficulty in convincing doctors of the validity of her claims.

Sister Kenny

1946

The Gallant Blade poster
6.8

Larry Parks in a Cinecolor swashbuckler.

The Gallant Blade

1948

Yankee Fakir poster
6.0

A medicine show pitchman investigates a small town murder in Arizona.

Yankee Fakir

1947

The Devil-Doll poster
6.8

Respected Parisian banker Paul Lavond is framed for robbery and murder by crooked associates and sent to prison. Years later, he escapes with a friend, a scientist who was working on a method to reduce humans to a height of mere inches (all for the good of humanity, of course). Lavond, however, is consumed with hatred for those who betrayed him, and takes the scientist's methods back to Paris to exact painful revenge.

The Devil-Doll

1936

Stage Door poster
7.1

A spirited heiress wishing to break into theatre on her own merit arrives at a boardinghouse where aspiring young actresses and showgirls are brought together through their cynicism and disappointments.

Stage Door

1937

Scarlet Dawn poster
7.3

During the Russian Revolution, a young nobleman and his peasant maid flee from their homeland to Constantinople where they marry and begin a challenging new life.

Scarlet Dawn

1932

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty poster
6.8

Walter Mitty, a daydreaming writer with an overprotective mother, likes to imagine that he is a hero who experiences fantastic adventures. His dream becomes reality when he accidentally meets a mysterious woman who hands him a little black book. According to her, it contains the locations of the Dutch crown jewels hidden since World War II. Soon, Mitty finds himself in the middle of a confusing conspiracy, where he has difficulty differentiating between fact and fiction.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

1947

Before Dawn poster
5.7

After the death of a gangster, those familiar with his million dollar stash start mysteriously dying. Police detectives with the help of a clairvoyant try to determine who, living or dead, is responsible.

Before Dawn

1933

Titans of Destruction: The Evolution of Giant Monster Movies poster
NR

Documentary on the evolution of Giant Monsters in cinema from the original 1933 King Kong onward.

Titans of Destruction: The Evolution of Giant Monster Movies

2021

The Conspirators poster
6.3

A guerilla leader falls in love with a mysterious woman in World War II Lisbon.

The Conspirators

1944

Captain America poster
5.3

Superhero Captain America battles the evil forces of the archvillain called The Scarab, who poisons his enemies and steals a secret device capable of destroying buildings by sound vibrations.

Captain America

1944

Superman and the Mole Men poster
5.3

Reporters Clark Kent and Lois Lane arrive in the small town of Silsby to witness the drilling of the world's deepest oil well. The drill, however, has penetrated the underground home of a race of small, furry people who then come to the surface at night to look around. The fact that they glow in the dark scares the townfolk, who form a mob, led by the vicious Luke Benson, intent on killing the strange people. Only Superman has a chance to prevent this tragedy.

Superman and the Mole Men

1951

Behind the camera

Alien Souls poster
NR

A Japanese maiden is pursued by an unscrupulous American young man who falsely believes her to have great riches.

Alien Souls

1916

Suspense poster
10.0

When government security files entrusted to a Rear Admiral go missing, his daughter aims to track them down.

Suspense

1919

Suspense poster
10.0

When government security files entrusted to a Rear Admiral go missing, his daughter aims to track them down.

Suspense

1919

Anna Christie poster
7.8

A young woman reunites with the father she's not seen since early childhood, also falls in love with a sailor who wishes to marry her, and eventually is forced to reveal to each man about her dark past. (NOTE: This is the German language version.)

Anna Christie

1930

No artwork available
NR

Hazel Gray, a young nurse, is in love with Phillip Carson, son of Mrs. Carson-Morgan, a philanthropist.

Public Opinion

1916

Idle Hands poster
7.0

Marjorie Travers has vanished in Chinatown and and her older sister Gloria appeals to the Mayor for help. But the the Mayor has assigned Commissioner Deering to investigate her disappearance not knowing that Deering is head of the underworld.

Idle Hands

1921

Idle Hands poster
7.0

Marjorie Travers has vanished in Chinatown and and her older sister Gloria appeals to the Mayor for help. But the the Mayor has assigned Commissioner Deering to investigate her disappearance not knowing that Deering is head of the underworld.

Idle Hands

1921

The Battler poster
NR

Clean-living pugilist Jim Fortune assists Angelica Hart when her husband Duncan assaults her in a Bowery café. Soon after, Jim fights a bout with Hart, an amateur society boxer, during a dinner party. Enraged by the sight of whip marks on Angelica's neck, Jim knocks Hart out soundly. In revenge, that night Hart attacks Angelica.

The Battler

1919

Betty to the Rescue poster
NR

Henry Sherwin is led to believe by mine expert James Fleming that the mine he invested all his money in is valueless, though Fleming has discovered a rich vein of gold that he keeps secret. When Sherwin dies shortly thereafter, he leaves his daughter Betty in the care of John Kenwood and his sister, Constance, who allows Betty to believe she has an income, sending her to boarding school while they surreptitiously go to work to support her. Upon her return home Fleming pursues her but she rejects him, and he tells her the mine is worthless. However, a dream leads her to believe otherwise and after much travail she discovers the truth as well as Fleming’s duplicity. John declares his long-hidden love for her, and they are wed.

Betty to the Rescue

1917

Betty to the Rescue poster
NR

Henry Sherwin is led to believe by mine expert James Fleming that the mine he invested all his money in is valueless, though Fleming has discovered a rich vein of gold that he keeps secret. When Sherwin dies shortly thereafter, he leaves his daughter Betty in the care of John Kenwood and his sister, Constance, who allows Betty to believe she has an income, sending her to boarding school while they surreptitiously go to work to support her. Upon her return home Fleming pursues her but she rejects him, and he tells her the mine is worthless. However, a dream leads her to believe otherwise and after much travail she discovers the truth as well as Fleming’s duplicity. John declares his long-hidden love for her, and they are wed.

Betty to the Rescue

1917

The Sowers poster
NR

Headed by a young nobleman, the Russian League of Freedom determines to free the peasants from oppression by the government. Prince Paul Alexis is in love with Karin Dolokhof, daughter of the chancellor. Both are working for the league. Shortly after they announce their engagement the prince receives word from the Czar that he must marry the Princess Tanya, for political reasons.

The Sowers

1916

For the Defense poster
NR

Two playboys stumble drunkenly home, where the owner falls asleep and the other attacks the maid. The butler intervenes and a fight results in the death of the assailant. A French girl, escaping from a pimp who kidnapped her, witnesses the crime. The butler convinces his master he is the killer, and must flee. He joins the girl but is caught. She helps police expose the real killer by going undercover as another maid.

For the Defense

1916

Witchcraft poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Witchcraft

1916

The Sacrifice poster
NR

Stephen Stephani leaves Nordhoff with his daughter Mary to visit Zandria, an enemy country, where he tries to steal the war plans of the hostile nation. There, Mary meets Paul Ekald, a Zandrian captain, falling in love with him at first sight. While Mary remains in Zandria for the moment, Stephani returns to Nordhoff. Meanwhile, Vesta, Mary's illegitimate half-sister, has managed to get hold of important war plans stolen from Count Wenzel. But, to get them, she had to kill the count.

The Sacrifice

1917

The Secret Orchard poster
NR

The Secret Orchard is a 1915 American drama silent film directed by Frank Reicher.

The Secret Orchard

1915

The Trouble Buster poster
NR

Soon after arriving in the U.S., Romanian immigrant Franz Libelt dies, leaving his daughter Michelna an orphan. The girl is befriended by newsboy Blackie Moyle, who invites her to share his home, which is a large piano box in a vacant lot. After he teaches her to be a "newsie," she cuts her hair, dresses as a boy, and changes her name to Mike. When Blackie is blinded while protecting her from a thief, Mike is forced to find a way to support them both

The Trouble Buster

1917

The Trap poster
10.0

A schoolteacher in the Yukon promises her hand in marriage to a rich prospector, but instead she marries his no-good brother. After her husband disappears and is reported dead, she marries a rich New York stockbroker, but doesn't tell him about her first marriage. Soon she is contacted by someone who threatens to tell her new husband all about her past if she doesn't pay up.

The Trap

1919

Behind Masks poster
10.0

Jeanne, an orphaned young heiress, is about to be married off to an elderly man by her scheming aunt, who stands to make money on the marriage, a fact of which Jeanne is unaware. Jeanne is also unaware that her aunt heads a ring that runs crooked card games, and one night Jeanne attends a fixed bridge game at which her aunt hopes to cheat a wealthy young man out of his money...

Behind Masks

1921

The American Way poster
NR

English hellraiser Richard Farrington is sent by his wealthy titled parents for a visit to his aunt and uncle in Long Island, New York. On the ocean voyage, Richard meets Betty Winthrop, the ward of the wealthy Van Allen family. Introducing himself he mistakenly gives her the card of John Smithers, a conman who cheated him at cards in London. He follows Betty to the Van Allen estate, where he hears her declare that she would rather marry an American criminal than a weakling English aristocrat. Determined to win her over, he pretends to be Smithers, but things don't turn out exactly the way he planned.

The American Way

1919

The Chorus Lady poster
NR

As baby-faced chorine "Pat" O'Brien, the star protects her virtue against various and sundry stage-door Johnnies and sugar daddies. Implicated in a crime, Pat is pursued by detective Danny Mallory, who of course eventually falls in love with her and seeks to prove her innocence.

The Chorus Lady

1915

Paris Bound poster
5.3

Jim Hutton and Mary Archer are two liberals who are content to remain faithful to each other in spirit only. They are married with all the ritual of a church wedding, the bride believing that each should be allowed perfect freedom in personal contacts. Complications arise when these ideals are put into practice.

Paris Bound

1929

The Inner Shrine poster
NR

Bad woman turns good, but as a recent widow finds her past a roadblock in terms of accepting remarriage.

The Inner Shrine

1917

We’re Switching to Hollywood poster
5.2

A German reporter visits Hollywood and is escorted through the MGM Studio by a German nobleman, who is working there as an extra. They meet and speak to several actors, primarily Buster Keaton, John Gilbert, Joan Crawford and Heinrich George. Then they meet Adolphe Menjou, who rehearses a long scene in German. A final scene shows stars arriving at a film premiere, including Jean Harlow, Norma Shearer and Wallace Beery.

We’re Switching to Hollywood

1931

No artwork available
NR

Marion Farnham, the wife of a struggling young physician, tires of her husband's neglect and elopes with Thomas Byrne. Thomas promises to retrieve Marion's little daughter Marna from Frederick, but, finding the house empty, he reports that the child has died. Frederick, however, has merely taken Marna to the country to begin a new life.

The Prodigal Wife

1918