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María Corda is a Actor Hongroise born on 4 may 1898

María Corda

María Corda
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Birth name Mária Antónia Farkas
Nationality Hongrie
Birth 4 may 1898
Death 15 february 1976 (at 77 years) at Thônex (Suisse)

María Corda (Mária Antónia Farkas, 4 May 1898 in Déva, Hungary (now Deva, Romania) – 15 February 1976 in Thônex, Switzerland) was a Hungarian actress and a star of the silent film era in Germany and Austria.

She began her acting career in the theatres of Budapest in the early days of World War I and soon after the break-up of Austria-Hungary she also began to work in the film industry. Her first role was in Se ki, se be (Neither in, nor out) in 1919, directed by the Hungarian director, Korda Sandor, who would come to be known as Alexander Korda. She married Sandor, who was then the leading director in Hungary's fledgling film industry, in 1919. He featured her in White Rose (1919), Ave Caesar! (1919) and A 111-es (1919) all of which he directed.

The young couple was affected by the turmoil in Hungary that followed the end of the Austro-Hungarian empire. For a brief time, Hungary was a badly-run democracy, then a Communist dictatorship, and finally - with the support of Western forces—a rightwing dictator, Miklos Horthy was put in place, the first of Europe's Fascist dictators and an authoritarian anti-Semite. Maria and Alexander had continued making films, no matter who was in power, with Maria as the most famous actress in Hungary and her husband its most important director.

However, her husband was grabbed by Horthy's secret police one day and vanished, Maria managed to get to her brother-in-law, Victor Korda, and between the two of them, they learned where Alexander was being held, in a Budapest Hotel which was notorious for having a torture chamber in its basement. Maria went to the British Military Mission, whose Brigadier was also on the board of Korda's film company and "with all the considerable passion at her disposal," as her nephew, Michael Korda, was to write in his biography of the family, convinced him that her husband must be freed or there would be an international scandal, one that would quite likely expose the British government's role in setting Horthy up as regent.

Her husband was freed and they then fled the country, relocating to Vienna, a logical choice since German was the second language of Hungary. This is where both changed their names, he to Alexander Korda and she, for obscure reasons, to "Maria Corda" - with a C.
In Vienna, he made her a star of the Austrian silent screen in epic films like Samson und Delila (1922) and Michael Curtiz's Die Sklavenkönigin (1924). Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei (1926) saw her take a leading role in an Italian film of a similar style.

In 1926 she and her husband moved to Berlin where their success as a team - he directing, Maria starring - soon won them enough attention that Maria was offered a contract by First National, a Hollywood studio, and her husband was signed, also, as a kind of package deal. They sailed to America that year, and settled in Beverly Hills.

Unfortunately, Maria could not duplicate her European success in Hollywood. She appeared in Korda's early productions there, most notably The Private Life of Helen of Troy (1927) but none of the films were very successful. Unfortunately, like many another silent film star of the day, her Hollywood career came to an abrupt end in 1928 with the coming of sound, since she had learned little English and what she did know was heavily accented. When his own contracts were up, Alexander availed himself of the liberality of California's divorce laws and divorced her, in a marriage that had been tempestuous for many years. He returned to Europe, first Paris but soon London, where he established himself as the center of British filmmaking for the next twenty-five years.

Maria moved to New York, where she wrote a number of novels. The later years of her life were spent in the vicinity of Geneva in Switzerland. When her ex-husband was knighted in 1942, Maria insisted that she should be called "Lady Korda," though Korda was remarried by that time, and after Korda's death she made several highly publicized attempts to assert herself as his widow and claim an inheritance, but these failed in the British courts, since by then her husband had married for a third time.

Korda had paid her a substantial alimony until his death in 1956. She had saved his life in Hungary, when she was a top European star who could not be refused, and he was a Hungarian Jew about to be disappeared. According to his nephew's biography, this prevented Alex "from ever breaking Maria's hold on him" despite his subsequent marriages.

Best films

Usually with

Alexander Korda
Alexander Korda
(15 films)
Karl Hartl
Karl Hartl
(6 films)
Source : Wikidata

Filmography of María Corda (20 films)

Display filmography as list

Actress

Love and the Devil, 1h10
Directed by Alexander Korda
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Melodrama
Actors Milton Sills, María Corda, Ben Bard
Roles Giovanna
Rating24% 1.226461.226461.226461.226461.22646
Lord Dryan épouse Giovanna, une belle italienne chanteuse d'opéra, et l'emmène vivre avec lui en Angleterre. Giovanna est profondément amoureuse de Dryan, mais le climat anglais la déprime et bientôt elle rêve au soleil et aux applaudissements de son ancienne vie, et persuade son mari de retourner avec elle à Venise. Barotti, son ancien partenaire, conspire avec sa bonne pour atteindre la chambre de Giovanna la nuit sans qu'elle le sache. Dryan les trouve ensemble et blesse Barotti. Dryan ne croyant pas qu'elle lui ait été fidèle, Giovanna disparaît. Dryan est accusé de son meurtre, mais est acquitté. Dryan veut tuer Barotti, mais le ténor tombe en essyant de lui échapper et se tue. Dryan et Giovanna se retrouvent alors.
The Private Life of Helen of Troy, 1h27
Directed by Alexander Korda
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Historical
Themes Films based on mythology, Théâtre, Films based on Greco-Roman mythology, Political films, Films based on plays, Films based on Greco-Roman mythology
Actors María Corda, Lewis Stone, Ricardo Cortez, George Fawcett, Alice White, Charles Puffy
Roles Helen
Rating58% 2.912332.912332.912332.912332.91233
Hélène, reine de Sparte, s'ennuie, son mari Ménélas lui montrant peu d'intérêt. Elle s'enfuit à Troie avec Pâris. Ménélas déclare alors la guerre à Troie. Après la victoire, Hélène revient à Sparte. La coutume voudrait que son mari la tue lui-même, mais son charme opère et il la laisse en vie. Toutefois il ne s'occupe pas plus d'elle qu'auparavant et Hélène flirte avec le prince d'Ithaque.
The Last Days of Pompeii, 3h1
Directed by Amleto Palermi, Carmine Gallone
Origin Italie
Genres Drama, Historical, Peplum
Themes La fin du monde, Volcanisme, Films about volcanoes, Disaster films
Actors Victor Varconi, Rina De Liguoro, María Corda, Bernhard Goetzke, Emilio Ghione, Gildo Bocci
Roles Nydia
Rating63% 3.186133.186133.186133.186133.18613
À cause d'une rivalité amoureuse, Glauco, un bel Athénien aux multiples conquêtes, devient le pire ennemi d'Arbace, grand prêtre égyptien du temple d'Isis. Ce dernier a déjà éliminé un de ses proches qui menaçait de faire des révélations sur son compte et s'arrange pour faire accuser Glauco à sa place, qu'il fait jeter dans la fosse aux lions. Mais peu après, le Vésuve entre en éruption.
Her Dancing Partner
Directed by Alexander Korda
Origin German
Genres Comedy-drama
Themes Théâtre, Films based on plays
Actors María Corda, Victor Varconi, Willy Fritsch, Hermann Thimig, Olga Limburg, Marlene Dietrich
Roles Lucille Chauvelin
Rating56% 2.8141152.8141152.8141152.8141152.814115
Lucille Chauvelin décide d'aller seule au bal avec Claude, un ami de son mari, car Edmond, le mari, n'aime pas danser. Au bal, elle rencontre Max de Sillery, le meilleur danseur de Paris. Ils dansent ensemble jusque tard dans la nuit, puis continuent la soirée chez l'actrice Yvonne Trieux, qui vit près de chez Lucille. Le lendemain, Edmond, jaloux, veut séduire Yvonne pour se venger de sa femme. Il y renonce finalement, choisit d'apprendre à danser, et tout rentre dans l'ordre.
Everybody's Woman, 1h30
Directed by Alexander Korda
Genres Drama
Actors María Corda, Harry Nestor
Roles Marie Celeste

Moon of Israel, 1h43
Directed by Michael Curtiz
Origin Austria
Genres Drama
Themes Films set in Africa, Films about slavery
Actors María Corda, Adelqui Migliar, Arlette Marchal, Oscar Beregi, Sr., Oscar Beregi, Hans Marr
Roles Merapi, The Moon of Israel
Rating57% 2.8743352.8743352.8743352.8743352.874335
En 1230 av. J.-C., les Juifs sont esclaves en Égypte. Une jeune esclave juive, Merapi, tombe amoureuse du Prince Seti, fils du pharaon Menapta. Cette liaison inappropriée socialement mène à de nombreux problèmes, et, à la fin du film, Moïse fait traverser à son peuple la Mer Rouge pour les mener vers la liberté.
The Unknown Tomorrow, 1h30
Directed by Alexander Korda
Origin German
Genres Drama
Themes Films based on plays
Actors Werner Krauss, María Corda, Olga Limburg, Friedrich Kühne, Paul Lukas
Roles Stella Manners

A wife is wrongly believed of adultery by her husband who leaves her. She then struggles to prove her innocence and win him back while foiling the machinations of an admirer of hers who wishes to keep her apart from her husband.