Elissa Landi

Acting

Elissa Landi

Born 1904-12-06 · 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.

Acting credits

After the Thin Man poster
7.3

Nick and Nora Charles are back—and this time, their holiday takes a deadly turn! After returning to San Francisco, the sophisticated couple is drawn into the disappearance of Nora’s cousin’s husband. When he is found murdered, suspicion falls on the troubled family, and Nick reluctantly resumes his detective work. With Nora eagerly at his side, the pair follows a trail of jealousy, blackmail, secret relationships, and long-buried family scandals. William Powell and Myrna Loy sparkle as Hollywood’s most charming married sleuths, trading witty banter while unraveling a dangerous mystery. Directed by W. S. Van Dyke and written by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett, After the Thin Man delivers everything audiences love about the series: romance, comedy, suspense, elegant settings, and the irresistible return of Asta, Nick and Nora’s mischievous wire-haired terrier. This stylish 1936 sequel is a delightful blend of mystery and sophisticated fun.

After the Thin Man

1936

Hollywood Party poster
6.8

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

1937

Sin poster
6.1

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

1928

The Sign of the Cross poster
6.4

A Roman soldier becomes torn between his love for a Christian woman and his loyalty to Emperor Nero.

The Sign of the Cross

1932

The Count of Monte Cristo poster
6.8

Young sailor Edmond Dantès is wrongfully imprisoned, escapes, finds treasure, and reinvents himself as the wealthy Count of Monte Cristo to exact revenge on those who betrayed him.

The Count of Monte Cristo

1934

Sisters Under the Skin poster
10.0

Wealthy, aging millionaire John Hunter Yates (Frank Morgan) seeks to recapture his youth by pursuing a young actress, Blossom Bailey (Elissa Landi), leading him from America to Europe, where he finances her and a musician lover, only to realize his mistakes and return to his neglected wife, Elinor, understanding their true connection.

Sisters Under the Skin

1934

The Amateur Gentleman poster
6.0

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

1936

Bolibar poster
8.0

Hessian officers' flirtations with an artist's daughter accidentally give signals to the attacking English.

Bolibar

1928

Wicked poster
5.5

Margot Rande, a basically decent woman, is led down the path to perdition by her bank robber husband.

Wicked

1931

The Masquerader poster
5.0

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

1933

Crimson Dynasty poster
6.3

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.

Crimson Dynasty

1935

Mad Holiday poster
6.4

A temperamental film star's vacation turns deadly when he uncovers a murder.

Mad Holiday

1936

Body and Soul poster
5.4

Andress, Watson and Johnson, pilots with a Royal Air Force squadron in France, are tasked with a deadly mission.

Body and Soul

1931

Devil's Lottery poster
8.0

Intricate, soapy drama of romance, heartbreak, and murder amongst a diverse group of sweepstakes winners visiting a newspaper tycoon's estate.

Devil's Lottery

1932

Man of Two Worlds poster
6.5

A British explorer brings an Eskimo hunter to London, where he misreads a woman.

Man of Two Worlds

1934

Enter Madame poster
5.7

Man marries opera singer, winds up taking back seat to her career.

Enter Madame

1935

Underground poster
6.8

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

1928

The Voice of Hollywood poster
NR

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

1930

By Candlelight poster
5.7

A beautiful woman mistakes a Prince's butler for the Prince.

By Candlelight

1933

The Woman in Room 13 poster
8.0

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

1932

The Yellow Ticket poster
5.1

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

1931

The Great Flirtation poster
3.5

An actor is jealous of his wife's stardom.

The Great Flirtation

1934

Corregidor poster
4.4

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

1943

The Thirteenth Chair poster
6.5

A phony psychic tries to solve a murder that took place during her seance.

The Thirteenth Chair

1937