Elissa Landi

Elissa Landi

Born: December 6, 1904
Died: October 21, 1948
in Venice, Italy
Elissa Landi (December 6, 1904 – October 21, 1948) was an Italian born actress who was popular in Hollywood films of the 1920s and 1930s. Rumoured to be a descendant of Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria, she was noted for her aristocratic bearing.

Born Elisabeth Marie Christine Kühnelt in Venice, Landi was raised in Austria and educated in England.

Her first ambition was to be a writer, and she wrote her first novel at the age of twenty. She would return to writing during lulls in her acting career. She joined the Oxford Repertory Company at an early age, appearing in many British and American stage successes.

During the 1920s she appeared in British, French, and German films before travelling to the United States to appear in a Broadway production of A Farewell to Arms. She was signed to a contact by Fox Film Corporation (later 20th Century Fox) in 1931.

She played the heroine in Cecil B. De Mille's The Sign of the Cross (1932), but was overshadowed by Claudette Colbert who played the flashier role of Poppea. She was paired successfully with some of the major leading men, such as David Manners, Charles Farrell, Warner Baxter, and Ronald Colman in romantic dramas such as Body and Soul (1931) before appearing in the box office hit The Count of Monte Cristo (1934) with Robert Donat.

Her contract with Fox was abruptly cancelled in 1936 as a result of her refusal to accept a particular role. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer signed her to a contract and after a couple of romantic dramas she played the cousin of Myrna Loy in the very popular After the Thin Man (1936). After only two more films she retired, in 1943.

She became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1943, and dedicated herself to writing, producing six novels and a series of poems.

She died from cancer in Kingston, New York, and was buried at Oak Hill Cemetery in Newburyport, Massachusetts.

Elissa Landi has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her contributions to Motion Pictures, at 1615 Vine St.

Description above from the Wikipedia article Elissa Landi, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Movies for Elissa Landi...

Corregidor
Title: Corregidor
Character: Dr. Royce Lee Stockman
Released: March 29, 1943
Type: Movie
A doctor and his staff in a hospital on the Philippine island of Corregidor shortly after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor try to treat the sick, injured and wounded as American and Filipino troops desperately try to beat back a ferocious Japanese attack.
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The Thirteenth Chair
Title: The Thirteenth Chair
Character: Helen Trent
Released: May 7, 1937
Type: Movie
A phony psychic tries to solve a murder that took place during her seance.
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Hollywood Party
Title: Hollywood Party
Character: Herself - the Hostess
Released: April 3, 1937
Type: Movie
Elissa Landi and Charley Chase host an East Asian themed garden tea party in Hollywood. After introducing a few Hollywood luminaries who are attending the party, they present a number of musical and/or dance performances to entertain the crowd. This set of performances also includes ethnic Chinese actress Anna May Wong modeling some fashions she brought back from her first ever trip to China. Through it all, one of the guests, already inebriated, is having a few problems mixing and serving the cocktails he wants.
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After the Thin Man
Title: After the Thin Man
Character: Selma Forrest Landis
Released: December 25, 1936
Type: Movie
Nick and Nora Charles investigate when Nora's cousin reports her disreputable husband is missing, and find themselves in a mystery involving the shady owners of a popular nightclub, a singer and her dark brother, the cousin's forsaken true love, and Nora's bombastic and controlling aunt.
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Mad Holiday
Title: Mad Holiday
Character: Peter Dean
Released: November 13, 1936
Type: Movie
A temperamental film star's vacation turns deadly when he uncovers a murder.
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The Amateur Gentleman
Title: The Amateur Gentleman
Character: Lady Cleone Meredith
Released: April 26, 1936
Type: Movie
A former boxing champion, now an innkeeper, is accused of stealing a watch from a party of guests at his inn, who happen to be members of English royalty. The old man is arrested and thrown in prison. His son, knowing that his father didn't steal the watch and suspecting a frame-up, follows the royal party to London, where he poses as a wealthy "gentleman" and insinuates himself into the English court in an effort to find out who framed his father and why.
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Crimson Dynasty
Title: Crimson Dynasty
Character: Princess Aurore
Released: December 4, 1935
Type: Movie
Koenigsmark is a 1935 British-French drama film directed by Maurice Tourneur and starring Elissa Landi, John Lodge and Pierre Fresnay. The film is based on the novel Koenigsmark by Pierre Benoît. It's sets were designed by the art director Lucien Aguettand. The film was known in the United States as Crimson Dynasty.
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Without Regret
Title: Without Regret
Character: Jennifer Gage
Released: September 13, 1935
Type: Movie
In order to save herself while in China, a woman marries a young drifter and is able to return to England. Later, believing that her new husband is dead, she marries a wealthy man. Her new husband's ex-girlfriend, learning of the woman's past and that her first husband is indeed alive, threatens to expose the new wife as a bigamist.
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Enter Madame
Title: Enter Madame
Character: Lisa Della Robbia
Released: January 4, 1935
Type: Movie
Man marries opera singer, winds up taking back seat to her career.
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The Count of Monte Cristo
Title: The Count of Monte Cristo
Character: Mercedes
Released: September 6, 1934
Type: Movie
After greedy men have Edmound Dantes unjustly imprisoned for 20 years for innocently delivering a letter entrusted to him, he escapes to revenge himself on them.
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The Great Flirtation
Title: The Great Flirtation
Character: Zita Marishka
Released: June 15, 1934
Type: Movie
An actor is jealous of his wife's stardom.
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Man of Two Worlds
Title: Man of Two Worlds
Character: Joan Pemberton
Released: January 13, 1934
Type: Movie
A British explorer brings an Eskimo hunter to London, where he misreads a woman.
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By Candlelight
Title: By Candlelight
Character: Marie
Released: December 18, 1933
Type: Movie
A beautiful woman mistakes a Prince's butler for the Prince.
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The Masquerader
Title: The Masquerader
Character: Eve Chilcote
Released: September 3, 1933
Type: Movie
A drug-addicted member of Parliament needs to take time off and secretly pull his life together, so he gets his lookalike cousin to agree to temporarily assume his identity.
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I Loved You Wednesday
Title: I Loved You Wednesday
Character: Vicki Meredith
Released: June 15, 1933
Type: Movie
Vicki Meredith, an American ballet student in Paris, falls in love with Randall Williams, another American studying architecture in Paree, and they set up some light housekeeping together until she learns that Randall has forgotten to mention that he has a wife back in the USA. This miffs Vicki to the point where she ups and heads for South America where she meets and falls in love with Philip Fletcher, a construction engineer from America. But he hustles off to build Boulder Dam. They meet again in New York City and discover their separation has made their love even stronger. Then, Randall and his wife show up and sophistication rears its ugly head.
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The Warrior's Husband
Title: The Warrior's Husband
Character: Antiope
Released: April 28, 1933
Type: Movie
The Warrior's Husband is a satire of the male and female roles in society set in 800 B.C.. Queen Hippolyta (Marjorie Rambeau) rules Pontus with masculine authority; in fact, it is the women of Pontus who do all the laboring, fighting, and governing. Hippolyta's husband Sapiens (Ernest Truex) is truly a sissy of the first order, and is not unlike most of Pontus' male inhabitants.
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The Sign of the Cross
Title: The Sign of the Cross
Character: Mercia
Released: November 30, 1932
Type: Movie
After burning Rome, Emperor Nero decides to blame the Christians, and issues the edict that they are all to be caught and sent to the arena. Two old Christians are caught, and about to be hauled off, when Marcus, the highest military official in Rome, comes upon them. When he sees their stepdaughter Mercia, he instantly falls in love with her and frees them. Marcus pursues Mercia, which gets him into trouble with Emperor (for being easy on Christians) and with the Empress, who loves him and is jealous.
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A Passport to Hell
Title: A Passport to Hell
Character: Myra Carson
Released: August 25, 1932
Type: Movie
Just prior to the outbreak of World War I, in the British West African town of Akkra, English woman Myra Carson becomes involved in a scandal and is deported. While Myra's ship is docked at Duala, in German West Africa, the war breaks out and she finds herself facing internment by the Germans.
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The Woman in Room 13
Title: The Woman in Room 13
Character: Laura Ramsey
Released: May 15, 1932
Type: Movie
Divorcee Laura marries Paul but his employer is also enamored with Laura and sends Paul on a business trip during which a murder is committed and he is accused of the crime.
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Devil's Lottery
Title: Devil's Lottery
Character: Evelyn Beresford
Released: March 27, 1932
Type: Movie
Intricate, soapy drama of romance, heartbreak, and murder amongst a diverse group of sweepstakes winners visiting a newspaper tycoon's estate.
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The Yellow Ticket
Title: The Yellow Ticket
Character: Marya Kalish
Released: October 30, 1931
Type: Movie
A young Russian girl is forced into a life of prostitution in Czarist Russia, and she and a British journalist find their lives endangered when she reveals to him information regarding the social crimes rampant in her country.
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Wicked
Title: Wicked
Character: Margot Rande
Released: October 4, 1931
Type: Movie
Margot Rande, a basically decent woman, is led down the path to perdition by her bank robber husband.
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Always Goodbye
Title: Always Goodbye
Character: Lila Banning
Released: May 24, 1931
Type: Movie
Stranded and broke after her erstwhile boyfriend leaves her, A onetime London heiress joins a con man to bilk a millionaire at his Italian villa. Little do they realize that he knows full well who they are after being tipped off by Scotland Yard.
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Body and Soul
Title: Body and Soul
Character: Carla
Released: February 22, 1931
Type: Movie
Andress, Watson and Johnson, pilots with a Royal Air Force squadron in France, are tasked with a deadly mission.
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Children of Chance
Title: Children of Chance
Character: Binnie
Released: November 20, 1930
Type: Movie
A casual date at a high-class hotel leads Binnie, an aspiring showgirl, to be mistaken for model and actress Lia de Marita – landing her an audition for the producer of a new musical stage show. Marvelling at her good fortune, what Binnie doesn't know is that Lia is also the wife of a notorious jewel thief and that she's already fled the country in possession of a valuable, ill-gotten necklace!
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The Price of Things
Title: The Price of Things
Character: Anthea Dayre
Released: July 2, 1930
Type: Movie
Courtenay John Dayre is drugged by a jealous spy on the night before his loveless marriage to Anthea. His twin, John Courtenay Dayre, reluctantly agrees to impersonate his brother at the wedding, only to discover a genuine affection for his accidental wife. Meanwhile, Courtenay begins to understand the price of things when he discovers that his affair has allowed a valuable military secret to be stolen.
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Knowing Men
Title: Knowing Men
Character: Korah Hurley / Collette
Released: February 1, 1930
Type: Movie
Facing an arranged marriage to a man of dubious morals, heiress Korah Hurley poses as the impoverished travelling companion of her aunt, the Marquise de Jaurmais, in order to test whether her rakish fiancé's affections are truly for her or for the fortune she will inherit.
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Sin
Title: Sin
Character: Kersti
Released: September 16, 1928
Type: Movie
A married writer's luck turns when he gets a play produced at Théâtre de Paris. He meets the femme fatale who should play the lead in his play. Passion and conflict occurs.
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Underground
Title: Underground
Character: Nell
Released: July 1, 1928
Type: Movie
A working-class love story set in and around the London Underground of the 1920s. Two men – gentle Bill and brash Bert – meet and are attracted to the same woman on the same day at the same Underground station. But the lady chooses Bill, and Bert isn't the type to take rejection lightly...
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Bolibar
Title: Bolibar
Character: Françoise-Marie / La Monita
Released: June 26, 1928
Type: Movie
Hessian officers' flirtations with an artist's daughter accidentally give signals to the attacking English.
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London
Title: London
Character: Alice Cranston
Released: June 20, 1927
Type: Movie
A Lady adopts a runaway slum girl who resembles her own dead daughter.