Philip Dorn
Also Known As: Philip Dorn, Fritts van Dongen, Hein van der Niet, Frits van Dongen
Biography: 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.
Department: Acting
Place of Birth: Scheveningen, 's-Gravenhage, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands
Birthday: September 30, 1901
Deathday: May 09, 1975
Adult: No
Gender: Male
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Known For:
Calling Dr. Gillespie
Overview: Dr. Kildare's friend Dr. Gillespie is called in to investigate when a young man suffering from mental problems disappears on a killing spree.
Genres: Drama Thriller Comedy Crime
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1942-08-01
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Random Harvest
Overview: 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.
Genres: Romance Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1942-12-17
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Tarzan's Secret Treasure
Overview: 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.
Genres: Action Adventure
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1941-12-01
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Reunion in France
Overview: 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.
Genres: Drama Romance War
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1942-12-25
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I Remember Mama
Overview: 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.
Genres: Family Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1948-03-09
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The Fighting Kentuckian
Overview: 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.
Genres: Western Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1949-09-15
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Passage to Marseille
Overview: A freedom-loving French journalist sacrifices his happiness and security to battle Nazi tyranny.
Genres: Adventure War
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1944-03-11
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Waltz Melodies
Overview: The big revue star Marietta falls in love and gives up the stage career. The theatre stands before the bankruptcy. Only when her husband has convinced himself that she will remain loyal to him, Marietta may go on working. Revue film according to pattern: a lot of music, sturdy situation comic and popular stars.
Genres: Comedy Romance
Original Language: de
Release Date: 1938-01-20
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The Crosspatch
Overview: Willy, the son of baron Van Hergershuizen, finds himself disinherited after he marries an untitled girl. His wife decides to take action and applies for the job of the baron's housekeeper.
Genres: Comedy Romance
Original Language: nl
Release Date: 1935-08-07
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Underground
Overview: 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.
Genres: Adventure Drama War
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1941-06-28
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Escape
Overview: 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.
Genres: Drama Thriller
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1940-11-01
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Blonde Fever
Overview: 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.
Genres: Comedy Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1944-12-05
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I've Always Loved You
Overview: 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.
Genres: Romance Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1946-12-02
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Escape in the Desert
Overview: Escaped Nazi POWs hold the denizens of a California resort hostage.
Genres: Drama Thriller War
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1945-05-01
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Sealed Cargo
Overview: A Newfoundland fishingboat comes to the aid of a wrecked Danish sailing ship and tows it to a small village, but eventually the captain of the fishingboat realises that it's a U-boat supply ship in disguise, loaded with torpedoes. So, together with his crew and a group of villagers he sets about a plan to blow the ship as well as any U-boats that approach it. Based on the novel "The Gaunt Woman" by Edmund Gilligan.
Genres: War Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1951-05-19
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The Indian Tomb
Overview: 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.
Genres: Drama Adventure
Original Language: de
Release Date: 1938-01-27
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The Tiger of Eschnapur
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Genres: Drama Adventure
Original Language: de
Release Date: 1938-01-06
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Paris After Dark
Overview: Andre Marbel is the upper-class doctor who is able to continue his practice above suspicion even though he is a leader in the French Resistance. His nurse supports his activities, but her Nazi-brainwashed husband provides the tension.
Genres: Drama War
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1943-10-15
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Behind Monastery Walls
Overview: Thomas Holinka has returned home from war and captivity. In the absence of a suitable home, he finds himself in what seems to be an abandoned monastery. When the nuns return, a conflict is inevitable because Holinka is addicted to alcohol and gambling .
Genres: Drama
Original Language: de
Release Date: 1952-04-21
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Ski Patrol
Overview: In 1939, a group of Finnish soldiers defend the border from Russian invaders.
Genres: War
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1940-05-09
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The Journey to Tilsit
Overview: A villager is tempted by a sophisticated city woman and almost kills his wife in a boating accident.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: de
Release Date: 1939-11-02
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Spy Hunt
Overview: 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.
Genres: Action Crime Drama Mystery Thriller
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1950-06-08
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Covered Tracks
Overview: 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).
Genres: Drama Mystery
Original Language: de
Release Date: 1938-08-25
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Ziegfeld Girl
Overview: 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.
Genres: Drama Music Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1941-04-25
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Türme des Schweigens
Overview:
Genres: Adventure
Original Language: de
Release Date: 1952-09-30
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Chetniks!
Overview: 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.
Genres: War Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1943-01-11
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Enemy Agent
Overview: A man is framed for being a spy. After he is released, he sets out to find who the real spies are.
Genres: Mystery Adventure
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1940-04-18
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Diamond Frontier
Overview: Story of the early days of the diamond-mining era in South Africa.
Genres: Adventure
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1940-09-30
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Dreaming Lips
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Genres: Drama
Original Language: de
Release Date: 1953-01-29
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Salto Mortale
Overview:
Genres: Drama
Original Language: de
Release Date: 1954-12-17
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Der Hampelmann
Overview:
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: de
Release Date: 1938-10-26
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The Good Hope
Overview: Fisherman’s widow Kniertje urges her two younger sons to set sail on the ‘Op hoop van zegen’, a heavily insured floating wreck which duly goes down in a storm. Kniertje is left behind, alone and lonely. Based on Herman Heijermans’ socialist-inspired Dutch theatre classic.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: nl
Release Date: 1934-12-21
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Twenty Years After
Overview: This short celebrates the 20th anniversary of MGM. Segments are shown from several early hits, then from a number of 1944 releases.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1944-01-01
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Rubber
Overview: 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.
Genres: Drama Romance
Original Language: nl
Release Date: 1936-01-04
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On the Move
Overview: 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.
Genres: Music Romance
Original Language: nl
Release Date: 1935-01-01
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De big van het regiment
Overview: Diary fragments tell of the arrival of Belgian refugees across the Dutch border in winter 1915. Reserve lieutenant Berkhage returns from the Belgian border with a refugee child. Named "Big" by the company the kid soon becomes the regimental darling.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: nl
Release Date: 1935-04-19
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