ELISSA LANDI.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21136, 19 March 1932, Page 11 (Supplement)

ELISSA LANDI.

MEMBER OF ROYAL HOUSE. WOMAN OF CONTRASTS. , Elissa Landi, who sailed Inst month for home and England to take ■ a brief vacation between pictures, had three offers from stage producers while she'was in Hollywood to appear on Broadway .this season. ' A- slim, pretty girl, with' long, auburn, bobbed hair and hazel eyes, she strikes one as rather a paradox. Naive, yet sophisticated; English, yet curiously European; old-fashioned, and at the same time modern—all describe the young actress. - * Perhaps, however, she has a right to be these contrasting things. For she was born in Venice, Italy, was educated in England, is the granddaughter of Empress Elizabeth of Austria, and the wife of an English barrister, Mr. J. C. Lawrence. Her mother, who lives in England, is married to Count ZenurdiLandi, Elissa's foster-father. But it is not this unusual traditional background alone which gives the heroine of last season's stage play "Farewell to Arms" and this season's films a personality difficult to classify. For one thing, she is an established writer as well as an actress, which is not usual. She has had published two novels, " Neilson " and " The Melmers," both said to be successful, and she has just finished a third, now in the hands of a publisher, which she wrote this winter in California.' She says she lives quietly in the hills' of Hollywood, at the edge of town, with a cat, a dog and a favourite horse. She spoke with enthusiasm of America, liking the warm humanity of people in that country, its vast'space and the dauntless spirit of Americans.! She discussed the crumbling of Europe, and said she thought one reason was that ail the world is over-civilised. She has enjoyed making pictures, but has been disappointed with most of them —her last, " The Yellow Ticket," recently seen in Auckland, she thinks is her best. She. admires the work of Miss Garbo, Miss Dietrich and Ina Claire very much, believing the first to be glamorous, the others to be the more human. She says any roles appeal to her which portray real and natural people. She made pictures before coming to this country 'in England, France and Sweden, appearing altogether in eight productions. America, she believes, is far ahead of any other country in its pic-ture-making, both artistically and commercially. Germany is beginning to do iome good things, and Russia vsed to. She said the most beautiful picture she ever saw was " Light Over Asia."