María Corda — Biographical Sketch (1927) 🇺🇸

September 10, 2024

Unless all signs and prognostications fail, the name of María Corda will be as well known to motion picture fans of the United States as that of any of the leading stars.

María Corda is a comparative newcomer. She was brought here only recently from Hungary under contract with First National, in which company’s pictures she is now being featured.

Miss Corda was one of the most popular of all European players before she departed for America. Extremely beautiful, she is known the length and breadth of Europe, both as a dancer and a motion picture actress. She was declared one of the three most popular European cinema actresses.

Miss Corda is as well educated as she is talented and she had a leaning toward the stage and pictures from early childhood. She was born in Budapest in 1902, the daughter of a well-known concert violinist, and she was educated in the Convent of the Sacred Heart. After leaving the convent she took up ballet dancing and appeared with the Opera Royale ballet in Budapest, after which she went to Rome. She returned shortly to Vienna, where her beauty won her a place in motion pictures. She appeared in Vienna for a year and then was signed with UFA, the great German motion picture concern.

In private life Miss Corda is Mrs. Alexander Korda. Her husband [Alexander Korda] is a noted director and has directed her in most of her pictures. It was he who handled the megaphone for her on “Her Dancing Partner,” and “A Modern Du Barry,” both UFA productions that scored heavily throughout Europe. “The Last Days of Pompeii,” a Cines production made in Rome, is another of her successes.

Miss Corda is described as essentially a comedienne. Her most recent comedies in Europe are “Madame Wants No Children” and “The Lost Love.” Richard A. Rowland, general manager of First National, brought Miss Corda to America, and he brought her husband with her to direct her in The Private Life of Helen of Troy, which is expected to create a sensation.