Egon Brecher

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 ...

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You and Me (1938)

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 ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Fritz Lang
CAST:  Sylvia Sidney  •  George Raft  •  Robert Cummings  •  Barton MacLane

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 ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Fritz Lang
CAST:  Sylvia Sidney  •  George Raft  •  Robert Cummings  •  Barton MacLane

Manpower (1941)

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.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Raoul Walsh
CAST:  Edward G. Robinson  •  Marlene Dietrich  •  George Raft  •  Alan Hale

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.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Raoul Walsh
CAST:  Edward G. Robinson  •  Marlene Dietrich  •  George Raft  •  Alan Hale

Angels Wash Their Faces (1939)

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 ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Ray Enright
CAST:  Ann Sheridan  •  Billy Halop  •  Bernard Punsly  •  Leo Gorcey

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 ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Ray Enright
CAST:  Ann Sheridan  •  Billy Halop  •  Bernard Punsly  •  Leo Gorcey

Many Happy Returns (1934)

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, ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Norman Z. McLeod
CAST:  Ray Milland  •  Gracie Allen  •  George Burns  •  Joan Marsh

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, ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Norman Z. McLeod
CAST:  Ray Milland  •  Gracie Allen  •  George Burns  •  Joan Marsh

Air Hawks (1935)

A small, independent air delivery service is menaced by a mad scientist with a death ray machine that blows up planes in mid-flight.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Albert S. Rogell
CAST:  Ralph Bellamy  •  Tala Birell  •  Wiley Post  •  Douglass Dumbrille

A small, independent air delivery service is menaced by a mad scientist with a death ray machine that blows up planes in mid-flight.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Albert S. Rogell
CAST:  Ralph Bellamy  •  Tala Birell  •  Wiley Post  •  Douglass Dumbrille

Alibi for Murder (1936)

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 ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  D. Ross Lederman
CAST:  William Gargan  •  Marguerite Churchill  •  Gene Morgan  •  John Gallaudet

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 ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  D. Ross Lederman
CAST:  William Gargan  •  Marguerite Churchill  •  Gene Morgan  •  John Gallaudet

I Met Him in Paris (1937)

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 ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Wesley Ruggles
CAST:  Claudette Colbert  •  Melvyn Douglas  •  Robert Young  •  Lee Bowman

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 ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Wesley Ruggles
CAST:  Claudette Colbert  •  Melvyn Douglas  •  Robert Young  •  Lee Bowman

Heidi (1937)

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 ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Allan Dwan
CAST:  Shirley Temple  •  Jean Hersholt  •  Arthur Treacher  •  Helen Westley

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 ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Allan Dwan
CAST:  Shirley Temple  •  Jean Hersholt  •  Arthur Treacher  •  Helen Westley

The Spy Ring (1938)

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.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Joseph H. Lewis
CAST:  William Hall  •  Jane Wyman  •  Esther Ralston  •  Robert Warwick

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.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Joseph H. Lewis
CAST:  William Hall  •  Jane Wyman  •  Esther Ralston  •  Robert Warwick

Invisible Enemy (1938)

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.  (more)

DIRECTION:  John H. Auer
CAST:  Alan Marshal  •  Tala Birell  •  Mady Correll  •  C. Henry Gordon

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.  (more)

DIRECTION:  John H. Auer
CAST:  Alan Marshal  •  Tala Birell  •  Mady Correll  •  C. Henry Gordon

Know Your Money (1940)

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.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Joseph M. Newman
CAST:  Noel Madison  •  Dennis Moore  •  Charles D. Brown  •  William Edmunds

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.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Joseph M. Newman
CAST:  Noel Madison  •  Dennis Moore  •  Charles D. Brown  •  William Edmunds

Buyer Beware (1940)

This entry in MGM's "Crime Does Not Pay" series deals with shady companies selling fake merchandise.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Joseph M. Newman
CAST:  Charles Arnt  •  Hugh Beaumont  •  Egon Brecher  •  Charles D. Brown

This entry in MGM's "Crime Does Not Pay" series deals with shady companies selling fake merchandise.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Joseph M. Newman
CAST:  Charles Arnt  •  Hugh Beaumont  •  Egon Brecher  •  Charles D. Brown

Out of Darkness (1941)

This John Nesbitt's Passing Parade short tells of the Nazis' efforts to shut down an underground resistance newspaper in occupied Belgium.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Sammy Lee
CAST:  John Nesbitt  •  Egon Brecher  •  Lotte Palfi Andor  •  Frederick Vogeding

This John Nesbitt's Passing Parade short tells of the Nazis' efforts to shut down an underground resistance newspaper in occupied Belgium.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Sammy Lee
CAST:  John Nesbitt  •  Egon Brecher  •  Lotte Palfi Andor  •  Frederick Vogeding

Man Hunt (1941)

Shortly before the start of WW2, renown British big-game 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 Nazi agents and aided by a young woman.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Fritz Lang
CAST:  Walter Pidgeon  •  Joan Bennett  •  George Sanders  •  John Carradine

Shortly before the start of WW2, renown British big-game 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 Nazi agents and aided by a young woman.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Fritz Lang
CAST:  Walter Pidgeon  •  Joan Bennett  •  George Sanders  •  John Carradine

For the Common Defense! (1942)

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.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Allan Kenward
CAST:  John Litel  •  Douglas Fowley  •  Stephen McNally  •  Van Johnson

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.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Allan Kenward
CAST:  John Litel  •  Douglas Fowley  •  Stephen McNally  •  Van Johnson

Above Suspicion (1943)

Two newlyweds spy on the Nazis for the British Secret Service during their honeymoon in Europe.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Richard Thorpe
CAST:  Joan Crawford  •  Fred MacMurray  •  Conrad Veidt  •  Basil Rathbone

Two newlyweds spy on the Nazis for the British Secret Service during their honeymoon in Europe.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Richard Thorpe
CAST:  Joan Crawford  •  Fred MacMurray  •  Conrad Veidt  •  Basil Rathbone

Just Before Dawn (1946)

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 ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  William Castle
CAST:  Warner Baxter  •  Adele Roberts  •  Martin Kosleck  •  Mona Barrie

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 ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  William Castle
CAST:  Warner Baxter  •  Adele Roberts  •  Martin Kosleck  •  Mona Barrie
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