Elissa Landi
Acting
Biography
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.
Known For
A Roman soldier becomes torn between his love for a Christian woman and his loyalty to Emperor Nero.
The Sign of the Cross
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.
Sin
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.
After the Thin Man
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.
The Count of Monte Cristo
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.
Knowing Men
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.
Corregidor
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.
The Amateur Gentleman
A temperamental film star's vacation turns deadly when he uncovers a murder.
Mad Holiday
The Voice of Hollywood hosted by Pat O'Brien. Features Joan Blondell, Robert Montgomery, Elissa Landi, Warner Baxter, and the coronation of Mary Pickford as "Queen of the Arts." It is not currently clear which number in the series this is because it isn't on IMDB or any listing).
The Voice of Hollywood
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.
The Yellow Ticket
Man marries opera singer, winds up taking back seat to her career.
Enter Madame
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.
The Woman in Room 13
Margot Rande, a basically decent woman, is led down the path to perdition by her bank robber husband.
Wicked
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.
The Masquerader
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.
Hollywood Party
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...
Underground
Intricate, soapy drama of romance, heartbreak, and murder amongst a diverse group of sweepstakes winners visiting a newspaper tycoon's estate.
Devil's Lottery
Andress, Watson and Johnson, pilots with a Royal Air Force squadron in France, are tasked with a deadly mission.
Body and Soul
A phony psychic tries to solve a murder that took place during her seance.
The Thirteenth Chair
An actor is jealous of his wife's stardom.