Grace Kelly
Some people are famous for 15 minutes, others are famous to 15 people but it’s only a chosen few who get to be legends of the Silver Screen. Each month, Jo Mama selects a star and celebrates their life and work. This month: Grace Kelly. Illustration by Leonie Woods
Grace Kelly only made 11 films but there are all worth watching and are unlikely to be forgotten any time soon. She was born into a rich family in Philadelphia on November 12th in 1928. She received a good education and found it easy to get work as a model in New York. Her debut movie was called 14 Hours which is about a man being talked out of committing suicide. The man spends 14 hours atop the ledge of a 15 storey hotel as a police officer tries to talk him down. Kelly has a small part as a young woman about to sign divorce papers who decides to reconcile with her husband after witnessing the nail-biting events.
Kelly was wonderful in the classic western High Noon and quickly became famous.
In 1955 Grace Kelly surprised many by receiving the Best Actress Oscar as Judy Garland had been nominated for A Star Is Born and seemed a dead cert to win. The second most likely winner was Dorothy Dandridge who had been amazing in Carmen Jones. Possibly Kelly won as she represented everything a Hollywood Actress should be – a natural beauty, sexy but not vulgar and the perfect partner who was always up for adventure, and Kelly’s role in The Country Girl was her one and only non-glamorous departure. Grace was very good in her part of a long suffering wife of an alcoholic actor but maybe not quite as fantastic as the African American Dandridge or the troubled ex child star Garland.
The three films that Kelly is best known for were all directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Hitchcock expert Patrick Humphries believes that Kelly’s coolness and perfectness in Dial M For Murder haunted the director for years. Although Hitchcock hadn’t exactly been bowled over by her acting in previous films he apparently became a little obsessed by her when they began working together. According to Humphries, “Hitchcock was fascinated by her icy beauty and ‘potential for restraint’. From her very early scenes in Dial M For Murder his camera gently ravishes Kelly, who is dressed in beautiful gowns.” The critic Neil Sinyard quipped the film should have been called Dial M For Misogyny, and dislikes the sinister way Hitch tries to thaw the ice-cool blonde by sadistically putting her through “purgatorial fire.” Their next film together, Rear Window is one of Hitchcock’s best and one of the best films there has ever been, although it must be said Kelly’s role is a little on the small side. The third and final film she made with Hitchcock, To Catch A Thief is rather lightweight but it’s fun to watch the chemistry between Kelly and her co-star Cary Grant. Kelly looks immaculate and stylish throughout – one of the most memorable moments is when she offers Grant a choice of leg or breast. The film, which is about diamond snatching, is thought to be the inspiration for the long running Pink Panther series of films.
In 1956 Kelly would make one more film before marrying Prince Rainier the 3rd and becoming Princess consort of Monaco, and that film was the classic, High Society. The combined talents of Kelly, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra and Louis Armstrong make High Society a must see movie. There are rumours that, like Hitch, Old Blue Eyes also developed an unhealthy crush on Grace and struggled to remain professional.
After leaving Hollywood Kelly opened a hospital, set up The Princess Grace Foundation and spent much of her time visiting old people in care homes. When asked how she’d like to be remembered, Kelly replied, “... as someone who accomplished useful deeds, and who was a kind and loving person. I would like to leave the memory of a human with a correct attitude and who did her best to help others.”
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