Egon Brecher

Egon Brecher

Birth : 1880-02-16, Olmütz, Moravia, Austria-Hungary [now Olomouc, Czech Republic]

Death : 1946-08-12

History

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Egon Brecher (18 February 1880 – 12 August 1946) was an Austria-Hungary-born actor and director, who also served as the chief director of Vienna's Stadts Theatre, before entering the motion picture industry. The son of a professor, Brecher began studying philosophy in 1900 at the University of Heidelberg in Germany. He did not finish his studies, deciding to become an actor. He appeared on several provincial stages in Germany and Austria until 1910, and then played in Vienna on various occasions, directed by Josef Jarno until 1921. In 1907, he founded an initiative (which lasted for something like one or two years) to play modern Yiddish theatre in German language with Siegfried Schmitz and members of the student club ‘Theodor Herzl’ like Hugo Zuckermann and Oskar Rosenfeld. In 1919 he was co-founder of the Freie Jüdische Volksbühne in Vienna, a Yiddish theatre, which existed for three years. Then, in 1921, he moved to New York to act on Broadway. He moved to Hollywood in the late 1920s to appear in foreign-language versions of American films. In the mid-1930s he appeared in classic horror films The Black Cat, Werewolf of London, The Black Room, Mark of the Vampire and The Devil-Doll, and worked steadily in the espionage films of the 1930s/40s, his Slavic accent landing him roles both noble and villainous. One of his largest screen roles was in 1946's So Dark the Night. He died later in 1946, aged 66, of a heart attack in Los Angeles, California.

Profile

Egon Brecher

Movies

Sister Kenny
Frenchman (uncredited)
An Australian nurse discovers an effective new treatment for infantile paralysis, but experiences great difficulty in convincing doctors of the validity of her claims.
So Dark the Night
Dr. Boncourt
Inspector Cassin, a renowned Paris detective, departs to the country for a much-needed break. There he falls in love with the innkeeper’s daughter, Nanette, who is already betrothed to a local farmer. On the evening of their engagement party, Nanette and the farmer both disappear. Cassin takes up the case immediately to discover what happened to them and who is responsible.
O.S.S.
Marcel Aubert
The (O)ffice of (S)trategic (S)ervices' Cmdr. Brady (Patric Knowles) forms Operation "Applejack" (based on a composite of actual incidents during WWII) and sends Lt. (j.g.) Philip Masson, U.S.N.R. aka John Martin as spy Philippe Martine (Alan Ladd) along with Miss Ellen Rogers posing as her college roommate, Madame Elaine Duprez (Geraldine Fitzgerald) and Robert Bouchet, Tech Sgt., A.U.S. as Albert Bernardito (Richard Benedict) to acquire secret Nazi plans. After nearly getting caught they succeed and get new identities. However they discover a secret that could change the war and risk their lives to get the information back to London before it jeopardizes their lives. Martine and Duprez then get reassigned to assist fellow spy Frank Schmidt aka Parker (Richard Webb) embedded in the German army so he can relay important Nazi troop movements. Then she is discovered by an old foe, Col. Paul Meister (John Hoyt) but Martine must radio the vital information and misses her.
Just Before Dawn
Dr. Evans (uncredited)
In the 7th film of the "Crime Doctor" series based on the radio program, Dr. Robert Ordway is summoned to take attend a diabetic, and gives an injection of insulin taken from a bottle in the patient's pocket. The man dies and Ordway discovers that what he thought was insulin was really poison. Oops! Two other people are murdered before Ordway discovers who replaced the insulin with poison and what the motive was
The Diary of a Chambermaid
The Postman (Uncredited)
Celestine, the chamber-maid, has a new job in the country, at the Lanlaires. She has decided to use her beauty to seduce a wealthy man, but Mr. Lanlaire is not a right choice: the house is firmly controlled by Madame Lanlaire, helped by the strange valet Joseph. Then she tries the neighbour, former officer Mauger. This seems to work. But soon the son of the Lanlaires comes back. He is young, attractive and does not share his mother's antirepublican opinions. So Celestine's beauty attracts Captain Mauger, young Georges Lanlaire, and Joseph. Three men, from three different social classes, with three different conceptions of life. Will Celestine be able to convince Georges of her sincerity?
White Pongo
Dr. Gerig
Suspecting that a safari guide is a wanted killer, undercover policeman Geoffrey Bishop (Richard Fraser) joins a safari led by the suspect for a scientist that hopes to find and prove that a fabled white gorilla is a missing link.
Voice of the Whistler
Dr. Rose (replaced by Frank Reicher) (uncredited)
A dying millionaire marries his nurse for companionship, only to experience a miracle cure.
A Royal Scandal
Wassilikow (uncredited)
Catherine the Great falls in love with an army officer who is plotting against her.
Above Suspicion
Gestapo Official (Uncredited)
Two newlyweds spy on the Nazis for the British Secret Service during their honeymoon in Europe.
Mission to Moscow
Heinrich Sahm (uncredited)
Ambassador Joseph Davies is sent by FDR to Russia to learn about the Soviet system and returns to America as an advocate of Stalinism.
Isle of Missing Men
Richard Heller
A young woman receives an invitation from the Governor of an island prison to spend a week with him. She does so, but conceals the fact that her husband is being held as a convict on the island.
For the Common Defense!
Adolph (uncredited)
This Crime Does Not Pay short shows how cooperation among all the nations of the Americas helps the war effort. In this case, a US government agent travels to Chile and Colombia. He works with local authorities to try to thwart an Axis plan to ship stolen ammunition.
Kings Row
Dr. Candell
Five young adults in a small American town face the revelations of secrets that threaten to ruin their hopes and dreams.
Manpower
Pop Duval
Hank McHenry and Johnny Marshall work as power company linesmen. Hank is injured in an accident and subsequently promoted to foreman of the gang. Tensions start to show in the road crew as rivalry between Hank and Johnny increases.
Underground
Herr Director
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.
Man Hunt
Jeweler
British hunter Thorndike vacationing in Bavaria has Hitler in his gun sight. He is captured, beaten, left for dead, and escapes back to London where he is hounded by German agents and aided by a young woman.
Out of Darkness
Victor Jourdain (uncredited)
This John Nesbitt's Passing Parade short tells of the Nazis' efforts to shut down an underground resistance newspaper in occupied Belgium.
Four Mothers
Music Foundation Director (uncredited)
Four married sisters face motherhood, financial, marital and family issues together.
A Dispatch from Reuter's
Von Konstat (uncredited)
German Julius Reuter sends 19th-century news by carrier pigeon and then by wire, founding a news agency.
Knute Rockne All American
Elder in Norway (uncredited)
The story of legendary Notre Dame football player and coach Knute Rockne.
Buyer Beware
Child's Father (uncredited)
This entry in MGM's "Crime Does Not Pay" series deals with shady companies selling fake merchandise.
The Man I Married
Czech
An American vacations in Europe with her husband and watches him turn into a Nazi.
All This, and Heaven Too
Doctor (uncredited)
When lovely and virtuous governess Henriette Deluzy comes to educate the children of the debonair Duc de Praslin, a royal subject to King Louis-Philippe and the husband of the volatile and obsessive Duchesse de Praslin, she instantly incurs the wrath of her mistress, who is insanely jealous of anyone who comes near her estranged husband. Though she saves the duchess's little son from a near-death illness and warms herself to all the children, she is nevertheless dismissed by the vengeful duchess. Meanwhile, the attraction between the duke and Henriette continues to grow, eventually leading to tragedy.
I Was an Adventuress
Jacques Dubois
Posing as the fabulously glamorous Countess Tanya Vronsky, a poor young ballet dancer and her two accomplices are really a team of skilled con artists! They mingle with Europe's high society, always looking for the next wealthy victim to fleece with their fake jewellery scam... Then Tanya meets the dashing young Paul Vernay. At first she wants to rob him. Then she decides she wants to marry him and to leave her criminal past behind her. Her accomplices agree but only if she'll join them in one last, big swindle...
Rebecca
Hotel Desk Clerk (uncredited)
Story of a young woman who marries a fascinating widower only to find out that she must live in the shadow of his former wife, Rebecca, who died mysteriously several years earlier. The young wife must come to grips with the terrible secret of her handsome, cold husband, Max De Winter. She must also deal with the jealous, obsessed Mrs. Danvers, the housekeeper, who will not accept her as the mistress of the house.
Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet
Martl
True story of the doctor who considered it was not immoral to search for a drug that would cure syphillis.
Calling Philo Vance
Austrian Judge (uncredited)
Philo is in Vienna working for the US Government to see if Archer Coe is selling aircraft designs to foreign powers. He grabs the plans with Archer's signature, but is captured by police before he can escape. Deported he comes back to America and plans to confront Archer, but Archer is found dead in his locked bedroom with a gun in his hand. While it looks like a suicide, Vance knows better and the coroner finds that Archer has been shot, hit with a blunt instrument and stabbed - making suicide unlikely. But Vance is on the case and is looking to see if government secrets have been sold and who has murdered Coe. This is a remake of "The Kennel Murder Case" using aircraft designs and espionage instead of Chinese porcelain and dog shows.
Know Your Money
Samuels the Druggist (uncredited)
This MGM Crime Does Not Pay series short tells the fictitious story of a bill counterfeiting ring and explores the government's attempt to curb counterfeiting.
Judge Hardy and Son
Anton Volduzzi
Judge Hardy guides Andy through problems with girls, money and an essay contest.
We Are Not Alone
Mr. Adolf Schiller
A British doctor and his son's Austrian governess have an affair and are accused of killing his wife.
Espionage Agent
Larsch
When Barry Corvall discovers that his new bride is a possible enemy agent, he resigns from the diplomatic service to go undercover to route out an espionage ring planning to destroy American industrial capability.
Nurse Edith Cavell
Dr. Gunther
British nurse Edith Cavell is stationed at a hospital in Brussels during World War I. When the son of a former patient escapes from a German prisoner-of-war camp, she helps him flee to Holland. Outraged at the number of soldiers detained in the camps, Edith, along with a group of sympathizers, devises a plan to help the prisoners escape. As the group works to free the soldiers, Edith must keep her activities secret from the Germans
Angels Wash Their Faces
Mr. Smith
A young man just released from a reformatory moves to a new neighborhood with his sister, intending to start a new life. However, he gets mixed up with the local mob boss and corrupt politicians and soon finds himself being framed for an arson and murder he didn't commit.
Juarez
Baron von Magnus (uncredited)
The newly-named emperor Maximilian and his wife Carlota arrive in Mexico to face popular sentiment favoring Benito Juárez and democracy.
Hotel Imperial
Pograncz (uncredited)
It is the fate of a small frontier town, adjoining the no-man's-land where the Russians and Austrians are fighting out one of the final campaigns of World War I, to be occupied one day by the Russians, the next by the Austrians, and the inhabitants soon acquire a complacent view of the changing allegiances. To the town comes Ann Warschaska, intent on avenging the suicide of her sister, who has killed herself after being betrayed by an Austrian officer. She knows no more about his identity than the number of his room at the "Hotel Imperial".
Confessions of a Nazi Spy
Fritz Muller - German Agent (uncredited)
FBI agent Ed Renard investigates the pre-War espionage activities of the German-American Bund.
While America Sleeps
Klaus
An episode in the "Crime Does Not Pay" series. Dave Miller, an aircraft plant worker, is actually selling secret bomber plans to foreign agents. United States Intelligence Department agents plan to trap him and the spies he works for.
The Three Musketeers
Landlord
A parodic remake of the story of the young Gascon D'Artagnan, who arrives in Paris, his heart set on joining the king's Musketeers. He is taken under the wings of three of the most respected and feared Musketeers, Porthos, Aramis, and Athos. Together they fight to save France and the honor of a lady from the machinations of the powerful Cardinal Richelieu.
Devil's Island
Debriac
A French doctor sentenced for treason performs brain surgery on the prison commandant's daughter.
Spring Madness
Soviet Travel Bureau Agent
Harvard senior Sam Thatcher (Lew Ayres) and his best friend and roommate, known as "The Lippencott" (Burgess Meredith), plan to go to Russia after graduation, a decision Sam has kept from his girlfriend, Alexandra Benson (Maureen O'Sullivan).
Suez
Doctor
Ferdinand de Lesseps, disappointed in love, is sent as a junior diplomat to the Isthmus of Suez, and realizes it's just the place for a canal.
Gateway
Rabbi
Irish immigrant meets returning war correspondent on a liner bound for New York. When she resists the amours of another passenger, charges result in her being detained at Ellis Island.
I'll Give a Million
Citizen
After saving a tramp from suicide, a millionaire takes his clothing and disappears. Word is out that he will give a million dollars to anyone who is kind to a tramp.
Racket Busters
Peters (uncredited)
A trucker with a pregnant wife fights a New York mobster's protection racket.
You and Me
Mr. Levine
Mr. Morris, the owner of a large metropolitan department store, gives jobs to paroled ex-convicts in an effort to help them reform and go straight. Among his 'employed-prison-graduates' are Helen Roberts and Joe Dennis, working as sales clerks. Joe is in love with Helen and asks her to marry him, but she is forbidden to marry as she is still on parole, but she says yes and they are married. In spite of their poverty-level life, their marriage is a happy one until Joe discovers she has lied about her past, in order to marry him. Disillusioned, he leaves, goes back to his old gang and plans to rob the department store.
Cocoanut Grove
Pawnbroker
Band tries to get an audition for a job at a prestigious nightclub.
Invisible Enemy
Kirman
Jeffrey Clavering is hired in London by The Great Eastern Oil Corporation to go to Paris to prevent unscrupulous industrialist Nikolai Kamarov from gaining control of their oil fields and turning them over to a foreign power.
Arsène Lupin Returns
Vasseur (uncredited)
A woman and a man vying for a woman's affection: the usual love trio? Not quite so since the belle in question is Lorraine de Grissac, a very wealthy and alluring society woman, while one of the two rivals is none other than Arsène Lupin, the notorious jewel thief everybody thought dead, now living under the assumed name of René Farrand. As for the other suitor he is an American, a former F.B.I. sleuth turned private eye by the name of Steve Emerson. Steve not only suspects Farrand of being Lupin but when someone attempts to steal a precious emerald necklace from Lorraine's uncle, Count de Brissac, he is persuaded Lupin is the culprit. Is Emerson right or wrong? Which of the two men will win over Lorraine's heart?
Blondes at Work
J.Z. Beckman (uncredited)
When a rival newspaper publisher complains to his captain about possible collusion between himself and reporter Torchy Blane on scooping her rivals in crime news reporting, Det. Lt. Steve McBride determines to thwart her efforts to get inside information - and she determines to go on getting it, by whatever means necessary.
The Spy Ring
General A. R. Bowen
Two American-army officers are working on a new type of machine-gun for anti-aircraft warfare, when one of them is murdered. The other vows to get the spies that are after the invention and avenge his friend's death.
Beg, Borrow or Steal
Antique Shop Proprietor (uncredited)
We find con-man Ingraham Steward living by his wits by steering wealthy Paris visitors to sellers of fake paintings and other assorted dodges. He and his wife, Agatha, have been separated for 15 years, but he promises to give their daughter, Joyce, a lavish wedding at his "château" in France. The fact that he doesn't have a château in France is just a minor trifle. He induces the caretaker, Bill Cherau, of a large country estate to allow it to be used for the wedding. The wedding party arrives and Bill falls madly in love with Joyce and she with him, but a gal has gotta do what a gal has gotta do, and her intended marriage to stuffed-shirt Horace Miller stays on the books. But Steward has a change of heart and he tells one and all that he and his friends, Von Gersdorff, Lefevre, Iznamof, Clifton Summitt and Sasch, are all frauds and crooks. Horace and his family stalk out, which is just fine with Joyce as her true love, the caretaker, is waiting on the grounds.
Heidi
Inn Keeper
Heidi is orphaned and her uncaring maternal Aunt Dete takes her to the mountains to live with her reclusive, grumpy paternal grandfather, Adolph Kramer. Heidi brings her grandfather back into mountain society through her sweet ways and sheer love. When Dete later returns and steals Heidi away to become the companion of a rich man's wheelchair-bound daughter, the grandfather is heartsick to discover his little girl missing and immediately sets out to get her back.
I Met Him in Paris
Emile - Upper Sled Run Tower Control
Kay Denham is off for a fling in Paris, leaving her suitor Berk behind. There, she meets two new suitors, Gene and George. Gene smooth-talks her into a junket to Switzerland, but George (with no illusions about his friend) appoints himself chaperone. Through a series of slapstick winter sports, Kay remains puzzled about George's disapproval of Gene...but there's a reason.
Espionage
Chief of Police
Two reporters pose as man and wife in order to get the goods on a munitions supplier and the rumours of war in Europe.
The Great O'Malley
Morris - the Pawnbroker (uncredited)
His role in the plight of an unemployed man (Humphrey Bogart) and his disabled daughter profoundly affects an intractable Irish policeman (Pat O'Brien).
Stolen Holiday
Deputy Bergery
A young model is set up with her own fashion business by a crooked financier, who sells worthless bonds.
Black Legion
Dombrowski
When a hard-working machinist loses a promotion to a Polish-born worker, he is seduced into joining the secretive Black Legion, which intimidates foreigners through violence.
Alibi for Murder
Sir Conrad Stava
A radio commentator named Perry Travis fancies himself a brilliant amateur detective. The cops wish he’d stick to his microphone and let them do the detecting. This proves impossible when a famed scientist is murdered in Perry’s studio, right in the middle of the interview. All evidence points to Perry, and he sets out to clear his name before the Shadow-like villain roaming the hallways of the radio station gets away with murder.
The White Angel
Pastor Fliedner
In mid-nineteenth century England the medical establishment does not recognize the value of skilled nurses, cleanliness, nutrition and kindness. Florence Nightingale's heroic measures slowly changes all of this.
Sins of Man
Doctor
Austrian church bell ringer Freyman loves music and wants his two sons (both played by Ameche) to love it too. The first goes to America and the second is born deaf-mute but gains hearing during WWI bombing.
Till We Meet Again
Schultz
In London, August 1914, Austrian star Elsa Duranyi (Gertrude Michael) and English matinee idol Alan Barclay (Herbert Marshall) are in love and plan an immediate marriage. But the War comes and Elsa mysteriously disappears. Alan's ease in speaking German results in his appointment to the British Intelligence and, to aid his use as a spy, they announce he was killed in action. He takes the name and personality of "shell-shocked" Hans Teller, a German prisoner, and is sent into Germany on an exchange of prisoners.
Boulder Dam
Pa Vangarick
Fate brings a job at Boulder Dam and romance with a saloon singer into the life of a young man on the run.
Paddy O'Day
Russian Musician
A wealthy, eccentric collector of stuffed birds and a beautiful Russian singer provide refuge to an orphaned Irish child who has arrived illegally in New York.
Charlie Chan's Secret
Ulrich
Allen Colby, heir to a huge fortune, is presumed drowned after an ocean liner sinks off the coast of Honolulu. Mysteriously, Colby reappears at his mansion only to be murdered soon after. When his body is discovered during a seance, everyone in attendance becomes a suspect, and it's up to Chan to find the murderer before he or she strikes again.
Here's to Romance
Descartes
Kathleen Gerard, a high society wife fed up with her husband's artistic "protegées", decides to take one of her own in Nino, a promising tenor, patronizing him to study in Paris. He and her girlfriend are perfectly happy until the Gerards pay a visit and Mrs. Gerard starts to show too much interest in him.
Werewolf of London
Priest (uncredited)
A strange animal attack turns a botanist into a bloodthirsty monster.
Air Hawks
Schulter's Henchman
A small, independent air delivery service is menaced by a mad scientist with a death ray machine that blows up planes in mid-flight.
Mark of the Vampire
Coroner (uncredited)
Sir Borotyn, a prominent Prague resident, is discovered murdered in his home, with all indications pointing to a vampire assault. The victim's friend, Baron Otto, and the physician who analyzes the body are certain that the vampire is the mysterious Count Mora, or perhaps his daughter, but receive little help from the law. Professor Zelen, an expert in the occult, is called in to assist with the investigation.
The Florentine Dagger
Karl
A playwright descended from the Borgias family becomes a murder suspect.
Many Happy Returns
Dr. Otto von Strudel
Gracie Allen assumes the "management" of the shop owned by her papa Horatio Allen, turning it into a radio station and then an aviary---with the usual Gracie Allen logic---while distracted Papa is trying to get younger daughter, beauty contest winner Florence, married before she can head to Hollywood and get into the movies.
The Black Cat
The Majordomo
After a road accident in Hungary, the American honeymooners Joan and Peter and the enigmatic Dr. Werdegast find refuge in the house of the famed architect Hjalmar Poelzig, who shares a dark past with the doctor.
No Greater Glory
Racz
A frail boy fights to win acceptance from the leader of a street gang.
As the Earth Turns
Mr. Janowski
Love happens between the son of Polish immigrants settled in Maine and the daughter of a neighboring farm family.
Convention City
Zorb
Extra-marital fun and games at a convention of the Honeywell Rubber Company in Atlantic City.
To the Last Man
Mark Hayden
In Kentucky just after the Civil War, the Hayden-Colby feud leads to Jed Colby being sent to prison for 15 years for murder. The Haydens head for Nevada and when Colby gets out of prison he heads there also seeking revenge. The head of the Hayden family tries to avoid more killing but the inevitable showdown has to occur, complicated by Lynn Hayden and Ellen Colby's plans to marry.