Philip Dorn

Acting

Philip Dorn

Born 1901-09-30 · Scheveningen, 's-Gravenhage, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands

Frits van Dongen (1901–1975), born Hein van der Niet and sometimes billed as Philip Dorn, was a Dutch actor who had a career in Hollywood. As a teenager he moved out of his parental home to perform in an amateur theatre group; his stage name Frits van Dongen already dates from that period. In the early 1920s, Van Dongen ended up in the professional stage, but it was not until 1934 that he starred in his first film: 'Op Hoop van Zegen'. This film marked his breakthrough as a film star in the Netherlands: in 1935 he played in 'De Big van het Regiment', 'De Kribbebijter' and 'Op Stap' and in 1936 in 'Rubber'. Van Dongen then left for Berlin to work with the likes of Veit Harlan and star in a number of successful German films. In 1939 Van Dongen and his second wife, Jewish actress Marianne van Dam, left for the United States at the invitation of director Henry Koster, who had directed Van Dongen in 'De Kribbebijter'. When he was given a seven-year contract at MGM, Van Dongen changed his name to Philip Dorn. After making his American debut in 1940 with 'Enemy Agent', he would frequently be cast as continental lover, anti-Nazi German or refugee. In 1952 he returned to Europe for several German films and a Dutch theatre tour with Lily Bouwmeester. In 1953 he quit acting in films, partly due to speech problems due to a concussion. He retired for the rest of his life in California, where he died.

Acting credits

Ziegfeld Girl poster
6.6

Discovery by Flo Ziegfeld changes a girl's life but not necessarily for the better, as three beautiful women find out when they join the spectacle on Broadway: Susan, the singer who must leave behind her ageing vaudevillian father; vulnerable Sheila, the working girl pursued both by a millionaire and by her loyal boyfriend from Flatbush; and the mysterious European beauty Sandra, whose concert violinist husband cannot endure the thought of their escaping from poverty by promenading her glamor in skimpy costumes.

Ziegfeld Girl

1941

I Remember Mama poster
7.2

Norwegian immigrant Marta Hanson keeps a firm but loving hand on her household of four children, a devoted husband and a highly-educated lodger who reads great literature to the family every evening. Through financial crises, illnesses and the small triumphs of everyday life, Marta maintains her optimism and sense of humor, traits she passes on to her aspiring-author daughter, Katrin.

I Remember Mama

1948

Random Harvest poster
7.3

Wandered away from his asylum, an amnesiac World War I veteran falls in love with a music hall star but his amnesia makes it difficult to last.

Random Harvest

1942

Reunion in France poster
6.5

Frenchwoman Michele de la Becque, an opponent of the Nazis in German-occupied Paris, hides a downed American flyer, Pat Talbot, and attempts to get him safely out of the country.

Reunion in France

1942

The Fighting Kentuckian poster
6.0

John Breen (John Wayne), a Kentucky militiaman falls in love with French exile Fleurette De Marchand (Vera Ralston). He discovers a plot to steal the land that Fleurette's exiles plan to settle on and aims to foil it.

The Fighting Kentuckian

1949

Passage to Marseille poster
6.6

A freedom-loving French journalist sacrifices his happiness and security to battle Nazi tyranny.

Passage to Marseille

1944

Tarzan's Secret Treasure poster
5.9

A scientific expedition happens to discover that gold exists on Tarzan's escarpment. The villainous Medford and Vandermeer kidnap Jane and Boy to extort from Tarzan the location of the gold.

Tarzan's Secret Treasure

1941

Rubber poster
6.7

John Van Laer is the overseer of a vast rubber plantation in the Dutch East Indies. His new wife Renee joins him at the plantation, but the monotony of her existence and unbearable heat soon drive her to distraction. One of Van Laer's workmen takes advantage of the boss' absence to seduce Renee.

Rubber

1936

Dreaming Lips poster
5.5

No synopsis available yet.

Dreaming Lips

1953

Salto Mortale poster
8.0

After some initial difficulties, the daughter of a circus director who died in an accident follows in her father’s footsteps and takes over the business.

Salto Mortale

1954

Twenty Years After poster
8.0

This short celebrates the 20th anniversary of MGM. Segments are shown from several early hits, then from a number of 1944 releases.

Twenty Years After

1944

Covered Tracks poster
6.4

Séraphine and her mother arrive in Paris to visit the 1867 World Exhibition. In an overcrowded city they must be accommodated in separate hotels. During the night the mother, who wasn't feeling very well, gets suddenly worse. When next morning Séraphine goes to meet her every trace of her presence has disappeared and everybody denies having ever met her. The bewildered young woman must find someone who believes her. Previous version of So Long at the Fair (1950).

Covered Tracks

1938

On the Move poster
7.6

Janus Fortuin is a goodhearted piano tuner married to a greedy landlady. Their daughter Polly is engaged to young songwriter George van Reen. When rich uncle Barend from Batavia makes a surprise visit — pretending to be a lodger called 'Van Santen' — the Fortuin family finds their lives turned upside down.

On the Move

1935

Escape poster
7.5

An American goes to pre-war Germany to find his mother and discovers her in a concentration camp. With the help of an American-born widowed countess he seeks to engineer her escape.

Escape

1940

The Indian Tomb poster
6.2

After the events of Der Tiger von Eschnapur, Maharadscha Chandra is ready to execute his well-planned vengeance, in which German architect Peter Fürbringer, his fiancée Irene and his assistant will have to fight for their lives amidst a revolt fueled by traitor Prinz Ramigani.

The Indian Tomb

1938

Chetniks! poster
6.9

Subtitled The Fighting Guerillas, Chetniks tells the story of Serbian guerilla fighter General Dragoljub "Draža" Mihailović. Based on the General's own memoirs, the film depicts Mihailovitch (played here by Philip Dorn) as a selfless idealist, leading his resistance troops, known as the Chetniks, on one raid after another against the Germans during WW II.

Chetniks!

1943

Blonde Fever poster
4.4

Peter and Delilah are a married couple running a roadside café in Nevada. Their stable partnership turns rocky, though, with the arrival of the sultry Sally, a waitress who catches Peter's wandering eye. Delilah strikes back by hiring Sally's boyfriend as a waiter. Sally is initially dismissive of Peter's advances, but when he wins $40,000 in a lottery, she quickly pounces, turning on the charm and eyeing the easy life.

Blonde Fever

1944

Der Hampelmann poster
7.0

No synopsis available yet.

Der Hampelmann

1938

I've Always Loved You poster
6.5

A beautiful young concert pianist is torn between her attraction to her arrogant but brilliant maestro and her love for a farm boy she left back home.

I've Always Loved You

1946

Underground poster
6.6

A World War II Hollywood propaganda film detailing the dark underside of Nazism and the Third Reich set between two brothers, Kurt and Erik Franken, whom are SS officers in the Nazi party. Kurt learns and exposes the evils of the system to Erik and tries to convince him of the immoral stance that marches under the symbol of the swastika.

Underground

1941

Calling Dr. Gillespie poster
7.0

Dr. Kildare's friend Dr. Gillespie is called in to investigate when a young man suffering from mental problems disappears on a killing spree.

Calling Dr. Gillespie

1942

The Tiger of Eschnapur poster
6.7

After a passionate affair in Paris, adventurer Sascha Demidoff can no longer forget Sitha, the beautiful Maharani of Eshanpur. He travels through the wilderness of India to the maharaja's palace, where Sitha still returns his passion. But when his connection to her becomes apparent, he finds himself exposed to the revenge of the deceived maharaja. It is only with Sitha's help that he narrowly escapes from a ravenous tiger in the predator courtyard and flees with her from the palace to Berlin. Meanwhile, the architect Fürbringer is waiting for a message from Eschnapur, where he has been promised the construction of several large buildings. However, Fürbringer's friend and first draughtsman Sperling returns from India without having achieved anything. When Fürbringer's fiancée, Irene Traven, discovers that the maharajah is in Berlin incognito, she gains access to him and manages to get the prince to award her fiancé the building contract...

The Tiger of Eschnapur

1938

Türme des Schweigens poster
7.0

No synopsis available yet.

Türme des Schweigens

1952

Spy Hunt poster
6.3

Roger Quain, escorting two zoo-bound black panthers on the train from Milan to Paris, is unaware that a Western agent, Catherine Ullven, has hidden a microfilm in the collar of one of the animals. But when the train is derailed in the Swiss Alps and the panthers escape, she is forced to involve him in her mission, which now includes enemy agents hunting the microfilm, the animals, Catherine and Roger.

Spy Hunt

1950