Known for Acting
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.
Born
December 2, 1875
Died
January 19, 1965 (age 89)
Birthplace
Munich, German Empire [now Germany]
Filmography
232 films, 1 show


We’re Switching to Hollywood
1931 · 1h 22m · US
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.


Mister Antonio
1929 · 1h 13m · US
Antonio Camaradino, florist and street musician, befriends a man robbed of his overcoat and money in a disreputable bar. Tony recognizes the man as Jorny, mayor of Avalonia, a straitlaced town where Tony was once arrested for playing his hurdy-gurdy. After this meeting, Tony's travels take him again to Avalonia. Camped on the outskirts of town, he meets June Ramsey, a cousin of the mayor's wife, ejected from town by the mayor because his reelection campaign is jeopardized by her having been seen in a roadhouse. Under considerable pressure because he wishes to conceal his previous encounter with Tony from the opposition, Jorny returns Tony's favor by asking June's forgiveness and inviting her to return to Avalonia. June accepts his apologies; she then follows Tony, with whom she has fallen in love.


Behind Masks
1921 · 50m · US
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...


Idle Hands
1921 · 1h · US
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.


The Black Circle
1919 · US


The Battler
1919 · 1h · US
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 Trap
1919 · 1h 6m · US
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 American Way
1919 · 50m · US
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.


Suspense
1919 · 50m · US
When government security files entrusted to a Rear Admiral go missing, his daughter aims to track them down.
The Sea Waif
The Sea Waif
1918 · 50m · US
Harry Caton, a popular New York musical-comedy star, loses his voice on stage and then journeys to a small town on the New England coast to recuperate. Here Harry meets the beautiful Nancy Potter when he defends her against the drunken advances of Silas Jones, her father's friend. Although his daughter believes that he is a fisherman, Cail Potter is actually a thief, robbing houses along the coast with Silas as his accomplice. When Cail robs the wealthy Col. Brett's home, he finds an old miniature of a woman who exactly resembles Nancy, whom Cail rescued from a wrecked boat when she was just a year old. Soon after the robbery, Harry learns that the police are about to raid Cail's house, but Silas knocks him unconscious when he attempts to warn Nancy.
The Prodigal Wife
The Prodigal Wife
1918 · 1h · US
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 Only Road
1918 · 50m · US
Tomboy Nita, a vegetable seller in a small Californian town, believes herself to be the daughter of poor ranch workers, but she is actually the daughter of Clara Hawkins, a wealthy neighbour who was stolen at birth and presumed dead. (NFA Catalogue)


An American Widow
1917 · 52m · US
Wealthy American widow Elizabeth Carter plans to marry the Earl of Dettminster when lawyer Augustus Tucker informs her of a codicil in her late husband's will. The Carter fortune will go to nephew Pitney Carter, who is in love with Elizabeth, if her second husband is not an American. Elizabeth therefore pays penniless playwright Jasper Mallory $50,000 to marry her and schemes with actress Mme. Albani to provide grounds for divorce so that she may then make the earl her third husband.


The Eternal Mother
1917 · 50m · US
Maris, having married Lynch, a worthless man who deserts her, taking their daughter Felice with him, marries mill owner Dwight Alden after receiving notification that her husband and child are dead. Discovering that Alden employs child labor, Maris, assisted by the village minister, tries to persuade him that this is wrong, but he will tolerate no interference in his business.


The Trouble Buster
1917 · 50m · US
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 Inner Shrine
1917 · 50m · US
Bad woman turns good, but as a recent widow finds her past a roadblock in terms of accepting remarriage.


Unconquered
1917 · 50m · US
Henry intends to leave his wife for Mrs. Lenning but seeks to retain custody of their son, leading to a situation where they attempt to force Mrs. Jackson to run away, allowing him to secure a divorce.


Castles for Two
1917 · 48m · US
An American heiress who goes to Ireland meets a bankrupt lord. She switches places with her maid to avoid fortune hunters.


The Sacrifice
1917 · 50m · US
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 Black Wolf
1917 · 50m · US
In the Spanish Mountains, the Black Wolf, a bandit, reigns at the head of his band, known as "The Charcoal Burners."


Lost and Won
1917 · 55m · US
A newswoman meets a man who has bet his colleagues he can make her beautiful.


Betty to the Rescue
1917 · 50m · US
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.


Witchcraft
1916 · US


The Storm
1916 · 50m · US
A young woman asks her former sweetheart, a minister, to perform the marriage service in her wedding to another man.
Public Opinion
Public Opinion
1916 · 50m · US
Hazel Gray, a young nurse, is in love with Phillip Carson, son of Mrs. Carson-Morgan, a philanthropist.


Alien Souls
1916 · 50m · US
A Japanese maiden is pursued by an unscrupulous American young man who falsely believes her to have great riches.


The Love Mask
1916 · 50m · US
During the California gold rush, four unsuccessful miners assume that a woman prospector will give in without a fight, so they jump the claim of Kate Kenner and take her gold away from her. Afterward, although she is Sheriff Dan Deering's sweetheart, Kate decides to take the law into her own hands.


The Sowers
1916 · 50m · US
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.


For the Defense
1916 · 50m · US
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.
Pudd'nhead Wilson
Pudd'nhead Wilson
1916 · 1h 30m · US
A slave switches her light-skinned baby with her master's baby. The child grows up raised by whites.
Mr. Grex of Monte Carlo
Mr. Grex of Monte Carlo
1915 · 50m · US
"Mr. Grex of Monte Carlo" is an interesting play of intrigue between the Grand Duke Augustus Peter of Russia, whose incognito is Mr. Grex, an English Secret Service agent, Lord Huntersley and a young American millionaire on pleasure bent, Richard Lane. Mr. Grex and two other diplomats who unofficially represent France and Germany, plan to meet as if by chance in Monte Carlo for the purpose of arranging a secret pact.


The Secret Sin
1915 · 50m · US
Blanche Sweet has a dual role in this picture -- she plays twin sisters, Edith, a sweet, normal young girl, and Grace, who is a drug fiend. They live in poverty with their parents and their father (Hal Clements) finally finds work. Because he is faithful to his boss (Thomas Meighan), he is offered a partnership.


The Chorus Lady
1915 · 1h 10m · US
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 Case of Becky
1915 · 50m · US
When a young girl is placed under hypnotism, it's discovered that she has a split personality.


The Secret Orchard
1915 · 50m · US
The Secret Orchard is a 1915 American drama silent film directed by Frank Reicher.


The Clue
1915 · 50m · US
Russian brothers Count Boris and Alexis Rabourdin obtain a Japanese coastline defense map and plan to sell it to German agents in London. In America, Alexis schemes to marry wealthy Eve Bertram, who loves him. Boris, meanwhile, falls in love with Christine Lesley, Eve's neighbor whom Eve's brother Guy, an amateur inventor experimenting with explosives, also loves.