NORIS, ASSIA

(1912-1998)

Actress. Born in St. Petersburg, Russia, but raised in France, Anastasia von Gerzfeld, under the stage name of Assia Noris, became one of the leading Italian divas of the interwar period.

A chance encounter with maverick Italian producerGiuseppe Amatoled to her acting debut inMario Bonnard'sTre uomini in frac(I Sing for You Alone, 1932), where she played the part of a rich and spoiled American schoolgirl who wants to have her own tenor. Having been drawn into the world of cinema, she soon became romantically involved with a youngRoberto Rosselliniand they were (reputedly) married, although the marriage was quickly annulled.Noris's cinematic career, however, continued to blossom, particularly due to her leading role in a number of elegant romantic comedies directed byMario Camerini, in which she was paired with debonair leading manVittorio De Sica, among themDard un milione(I'll Give a Million, 1936),Il signor Max(Mister Max, 1937), andI grandi magazzini(Department Store, 1939). She subsequently took on more dramatic roles as inMario Soldati's directorial debut,Dora Nelson(1939), where she played both a spoiled Russian princess and a lowly worker, and inRenato Castellani's "calligraphic"Un colpo di pistola(A Pistol Shot, 1942), adapted from a short story by Alexander Pushkin. Outside Italy she appeared in Abel Gance's remake ofLe capitaine Fracasse(Captain Fracasse, 1943) and Louis Daquin's lackluster adaptation of a Georges Simenon novel,Le Voyageur de la Toussaint(The Traveler on All Saints' Day, 1943). She subsequently reappeared in Italy in a number ofwhite telephonecomedies, which included Mario Bonnard'sChe distinta famiglia!(What a Distinguished Family! made 1943, released 1945), in which she was paired with veteran male heartthrobGino Cervi.

Although long regarded as the sweetheart of Italy and something of a pinup girl for Italian soldiers during World War II, Noris only surfaced in two films in the postwar period:Amina(1950), made in Egypt byGoffredo Alessandrini, andCarlo Lizzani'sLa Celestina P.R. (1965), a less-than-brilliant film that Noris herself both wrote and produced, and in which she played the madam of a brothel.