Elissa Landi Movies

Outdistancing all competing studios, tiny PRC managed to register the title Corregidor for copyright within hours after the surrender of the Allied forces at the real-life Corregidor. PRC even ponied up the money to commission a poem specially written for the film by the great Alfred Noyes. The film finds female Red Cross doctor Royce Lee (Elissa Landi) in love with a colleague named Michael (Donald Woods). Royce in turn is loved by Dr. Jan Stockman (Otto Kruger). But when the Japanese lay siege upon Corregidor, the problems of three little people don't amount to a hill of beans. Actual combat stock footage (not from Corregidor) is intermingled with staged scenes of hand-to-hand combat between the Allies and the Japanese. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The 1937 Thirteenth Chair was the third film version of the 1919 stage melodrama by Bayard Veiller. Dame Mae Whitty dominates the proceedings as Mme. La Grange, a phony mystic who is on hand when a man is killed during one of her seances. The killing takes place in the home of a provincial British Indian governor, and the victim was a blackmailer whom everyone present had good reason to despise. Complicating matters for Mme. La Grange is the fact that one of the suspects, Nell O'Neill (Madge Evans) is her own daughter. Dissatisfied with the manner in which brusque Scotland Yard inspector Marney (Lewis Stone) is investigating the case, La Grange takes matters in her own hands, stage-managing a second seance so that the guilty party will be frightened into a confession. More slickly produced than the 1929 version of Thirteenth Chair, the remake isn't quite as enjoyable, lacking two vital ingredients: Margaret Wycherly and Bela Lugosi, the earlier version's Mme. LaGrange and Inspector Marney. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This second of MGM's Thin Man films reteams William Powell and Myrna Loy as, respectively, bibulous private detective Nick Charles and his socialite wife Nora. The Charleses are sucked into another murder case via Nick's lovely cousin Elissa Landi, whose husband Alan Marshall has vanished. Hubby has been conducting an affair with nightclub thrush Dorothy McNulty (later known as Penny Singleton) and is also blackmailing gangsterish Joseph Calleia. When the corpses begin piling up, Nick and Nora try to piece the clues together, with the earnest assistance of Jimmy Stewart, who carries a torch for Landi. You won't believe who turns out to be the murderer in this one--then again, given the plot's strict adherence to "least likely suspect" formula, you probably will. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this melodramatic adventure, a young woman is abducted by Chinese bandits. One of them is a free-lance pilot in need of quick money. He immediately falls for the hostage and jilts his own girl friend. He begins protecting the victim from her lust-filled captors. The two end up married. Years pass and after the pilot meets demise in a plane crash, the woman finally escapes and heads back to London where she marries a renowned heart surgeon and begins leading a luxurious life. Unfortunately, the pilot didn't die and suddenly reappears. He is still in love with her. The woman loves her new husband, but doesn't want to be a bigamist. She faces a difficult decision. Meanwhile, the old girl friend, who still loves her old lover, resurfaces and tries to blackmail the hapless wife. The pilot puts a stop to that by poisoning the old girl friend. Unfortunately, his wife gets accused of the crime. In the end, the pilot confesses his crime and leaves her for good. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Koenigsmark was a French vehicle for Austro-Italian actress Elissa Landi, who'd just spent several years in Hollywood. Adapted from a novel by Pierre Benoit, the story, set in pre-WW I Austria, revolves around Princess Aurora (Elissa Landi), the wife of Grand Duke Frederick (American actor John Lodge, whose French is impeccable). When the Grand Duke is murdered, the crime is solved by commoner Raoul Vignette (Pierre Fresnay), who happens to be enamored of Aurora. All three stars also appeared in the simultaneously filmed English-language version of this lavishly appointed historical melodrama. Koenigsmark was but one of three big-budget films directed in 1936 by the indefatigable Maurice Tourneur. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Sisters Under the Skin in this Columbia "continental" romantic seriocomedy are middle-aged Elinor Yates (Doris Lloyd) and vixenish actress Blossom Bailey (Elissa Landi). Fancying himself to be in his second childhood, Elinor's husband John Hunter Yates (Frank Morgan) seeks out a younger companion in the form of Blossom. But Yates is doomed to disappointment when flamboyant composer Zukowski (Joseph Schildkraut) steals Blossom away from him. He returns to the ever-patient Elinor, who probably never doubted that he'd eventually get over his "seven year itch." Released in Great Britain as This Romantic Age, Sisters Under the Skin was scripted by longtime Frank Capra associate Jo Swerling. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Czech leading man Francis Lederer made his Hollywood film debut in the appropriately titled Man of Two Worlds. Based on the novel by Ainsworth Morgan, the film casts Lederar as Algo, a naïve Eskimo hunter introduced to civilization by avuncular English sportsman Sir Basil (Henry Stephenson). Unschooled in the ways of British society, Algo falls in love with Joan (Elissa Landi), unaware that her friendliness is merely a courtesy and nothing more. Ultimately disillusioned, the sadder-but-wiser Algo returns to the snowy wastes whence he came. Apparently audiences weren't as captivated by Francis Lederer as RKO Radio had hoped they would be: Man of Two Worlds ended up posting a $220,000 loss at the box office. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this racy (for 1933) satire set in 800 BC, an overbearing band of Amazon women rule their men with an iron fist. They live in the land of Pontus. Their buxom queen is married. Like all Pontus men, her spouse is an utter panty-waist in the face of his women. Still things are going well in the land until a veritable Greek god of a handsome hunk leads his army in for an invasion. The strong-willed women are bowled over by these indomitable, muscle men. The queen's sister soon falls in love with one of them. The other women gladly allow the conquerors to rule them. Centuries pass, and though the leadership has changed, the women are still warriors and still prefer to have their menfolk at home. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Always Goodbye was credited to two directors: Kenneth MacKenna told the actors where to move and when to speak, while William Cameron Menzies concerned himself with the overall production design. Elissa Landi plays Lila, who has been jilted by practically every man she has ever met. Middle-aged diamond dealer Lewis Stone falls in love with Landi, but she spurns him until convinced that he intends to extend the relationship to the altar. While wearing a few of Stone's diamonds just for a lark, Landi is mistaken for an heiress by callow John Darrow and crooked Paul Cavanaugh. Darrow pursues Landi for her looks, while Cavanaugh goes after her for her gems. 20th Century-Fox's 1938 programmer Alway Goodbye is not a remake. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Calcutta Sweepstakes is the unifying factor of The Devil's Lottery. Among the winners of the sweepstakes are Evelyn (Elissa Landi), the mistress of suave cardsharp Major Hugo Beresford (Paul Cavanaugh), and roughneck ex-boxer Lem Meech (Victor McLaglen), whose mother (Beryl Mercer) insists upon taking charge of McLaglen's winnings lest he squander them. Lord Litchfield (Halliwell Hobbes), the country squire who owns the winning horse, invites the lucky ticket-holders (and their friends, relatives and sweethearts) for a weekend party at his lavish estate. Alas, being in such close proximity to so much wealth and luxury brings out the worst in several of the winners, resulting in heartbreak, betrayal and murder. When the smoke clears, only one of the principal characters is in store for a happy ending. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this melodrama, a woman is blamed for another's suicide and ends up deported to Germany. Just as WW I erupts she marries a German commandant's son to keep from being sent to an alien prison camp. While her husband sells classified information to the British in order to pay her way back to England, she has an affair with another officer, causing her husband to kill himself. The young widow then tears up his note to preserve his honor and leaves Germany in the hope that she will again see her lover. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Based upon a much-filmed play by Michael Morton (which may in turn have been based upon a story by Frank Harris, The Yellow Ticket is also an indirect descendant of the opera La Tosca. In pre-Revolutionary Russia, a Jewish peasant girl named Marya Kalish (played by Elissa Landi) has reason to believe that her poor father is dying in St. Petersburg. She wishes to visit him, but the only way she can obtain passage is through disguising herself and obtaining a yellow ticket -- a pass that will mark her as a woman of low repute. Once in St. Petersburg, she discovers that her father has died. She also encounters the sinister Baron Andrey (Lionel Barrymore), head of the Czar's secret police, who comes to have designs upon her. She, however, develops an interest in British journalist Julian Rolphe (Laurence Olivier). She tells Rolphe the truth about life for most people in Russia, and his stories begin to change in tone, becoming critical and unflattering. This does not escape the attention of the secret police, who attempt to imprison the journalist. Meanwhile, Baron Andrey tells Marya that he will give her his own card with which she may travel, thereby eliminating the stigma and the difficulties that the yellow ticket presents. This is actually just a ploy to lure her into his clutches, and when he makes a move on her, she shoots him. Rescuing Rolphe, the two lovers flee via an airplane as Austria invades the country. Yellow Ticket features Olivier's second U.S. appearance, as well as Boris Karloff in a small role as a drunken orderly. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide

The Parisian is the English-language version of the 1930 Adolphe Menjou vehicle Mon Pere de Gosse. Menjou stars as Gerome, a rakish boulevardier who refuses to settle down and take any responsibilities. As such, he is an embarrassment to his hard-working, business-executive son Gerard (Roger Treville). The tables are turned when Gerard finds himself in a compromising situation with Gerome's "trophy wife" Yvonne (Elissa Landi). By film's end, Gerard decides to follow his father's carefree example. While the bilingual Adolphe Menjou had no trouble adjusting his performance for the English version, the other actors apparently had a difficult time with their new dialogue. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide