Italian postcard by ASER, no. 137. Photo: De Antonis.
Italian postcard by Rizzoli, Milano, no. 1934-XII. Photo: Novella-Film. Nelly Corradi in La signora di tutti/Everybody's Woman (Max Ophüls, 1934).
West-German postcard by Ufa/Film-Foto, Berlin-Tempelhof, no. 1232. Photo: Pallas-Film. Nelly Corradi in Il conte di Sant'Elmo/The Count of Saint Elmo (Guido Brignone, 1951).
Everybody's Woman
Nelly or Nelli Corradi was born in Parma, Italy, in 1914.
She studied to become a lyrical soprano at the Conservatory of Parma. After graduating, she started to perform in operas.
In 1934 famous director Max Ophüls spotted her for the cinema and she made her film debut with the supporting part of Anna, the younger sister of Gabriella (Isa Miranda), in his La signora di tutti/Everybody's Woman (Max Ophüls, 1934). It is the only film Max Ophüls made in Italy. The film was a success and made Isa Miranda a star.
Soon followed also leading parts for Corradi in such films as the drama Luci sommerse/Dimmed Lights (Adelqui Migliar, 1934) with Fosco Giacchetti, and Le scarpe al sole/Alpine Love (Marco Elter, 1935), about a woman (Corradi) whose husband is at war during the First World War. It was Marco Elter's film debut and the film received many awards.
With Elter, Corradi made several films including Il torrente/The creek (Marco Elter, 1938) with Camillo Pilotto. and the Shakespeare adaptation Dente per dente/Measure for Measure (Marco Elter, 1943). The two married, but Elter died in 1945 while sojourning in Switzerland. He was 55.
Corradi also acted in films by other directors such as Gianni Franciolini's Fari nella nebbia/Headlights in the fog (1942), starring Fosco Giachetti and Luisa Ferida. Corradi mostly appeared in supporting parts. Parallel, Corradi performed as an opera singer and toured Italy and Europe.
Italian postcard by Rizzoli, Milano, no. 1934-XII. Photo: Novella-Film. Publicity still for La signora di tutti/Everybody's Woman (Max Ophüls, 1934) with Nelly Corradi, Lamberto Picasso and Maria Puccini. Caption: Film prescelta per la II Biennale Cinematograficia di Venezia. (Film selected for the second Venice Film Festival).
Italian postcard by Rizzoli, Milano, no. 1934-XII. Photo: Novella-Film. Publicity still for La signora di tutti/Everybody's Woman (Max Ophüls, 1934) with Enrico Benfer and Nelly Corradi. Lucia di Lammermoor
After the war, Nelly Corradi remained active on stage, sometimes in operettas too. She is probably best known for her post-war starring parts in opera films like Lucia di Lammermoor (Piero Ballerini, 1946).
Fisher L Forrest at IMDb: “This is a very cinematic rendition of the Donizetti favorite featuring beautiful people, beautifully photographed, in beautiful settings. One may cavil that the atmosphere seems more Italian than Scottish, despite a few jaunty feathers in a bonnet or two and Normanno sporting a kilt and tartan plaid. But, what the heck! It is after all an Italian opera. Nelly Corradi is likely the most beautiful Lucia one is likely ever to see on screen or stage. Moreover, she is a consummate actress.”
The success of the film soon lead to other opera films like L'elisir d'amore/Elixir of Love (Mario Costa, 1947), Il barbiere di Siviglia/Barber of Seville (Mario Costa, 1947) with Tito Schippa, La signora dalle camelie/The Lost One (Carmine Gallone, 1947) and La forza del destino/The Force of Destiny (Carmine Gallone, 1950).
She portrayed Margherita (Gretchen) in La leggenda di Faust/Faust (Carmine Gallone, 1950) and played an opera singer in Puccini (Carmine Gallone, 1953), featuring Gabriele Ferzetti. Her final film was Gli orizzonti del sole/The horizons of the sun (Giovanni Paolucci, 1955).
Just like her husband, Nelly Corradi died early, at age 53, in 1968 in Rome, Italy.
Italian postcard by ASER, no. 173. Photo: De Antonis.
Italian postcard by ASER, no. 170. Photo: De Antonis.
Sources: Wikipedia and IMDb.
This post was last updated on 27 January 2022.
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