Elizabeth's Grace Kelly Page 2

Hitchcock became mesmerized by beautiful Grace Kelly, his leading lady in "Rear Window", and he asked her to star in another one of his films in 1954. It was the suspenseful thriller "Dial M for Murder", which was originally shot in 3-d. The film is about a psychotic husband, Tony Wendice, who plans to kill his cheating wife, Margot (played by Grace). So Tony hires an acquaintance, Mark Halliday, to kill Margot. Only the plan backfires, and Margot kills Mark in the struggle. "Dial M for Murder" stars Ray Milland as Tony, and Robert Cummings as Mark.

Later that year, Grace struggled to get the lead in the movie "The Country Girl". The part Grace wanted was Georgie Elgin, the frumpy wife of an alcoholic singer, played by Bing Crosby. It also features a great performance by William Holden, who plays director Bernie Dodd. Although people thought it would be a mistake for Grace to play Georgie, Grace insisted, saying that she would quit making movies if she didn't get the part. So Grace played a woman much older and more unattractive than herself. And it payed off too. When Grace won the Best Actress Academy Award for "The Country Girl", she shocked everyone. People expected Judy Garland to win for her comeback role in "A Star is Born". Grace Kelly became one of the biggest stars in Hollywood in a matter of two years.

Grace's next movie also starred William Holden. It was "The Bridges at Toko-Ri", which also starred Mickey Rooney and Fredric March. Grace continued to work with some big stars when she made another Hitchcock movie in 1955. It was called "To Catch a Thief", one of Hitchcock's most voyeuristic movies. It also starred another Hitch favorite, Cary Grant. Grace and Cary created beautiful sparks together, and created an amazing film. I definitely recommend this!

"To Catch a Thief" is special in a lot of ways. Not only was it Grace's final film with Alfred Hitchcock, but it was filmed in Monaco. It was here that Grace met Prince Rainier of Monaco. They started dating and soon fell in love. So the movie Grace made after this "The Swan" was really foreshadowing her future. In this comedy, co-starring Alec Guinness, Agnes Moorehead, and Louis Jourdan, Grace played a Princess.

Because Grace loved Rainier, who wanted her only to be Princess of Monaco, she realized that she would have to give up her film career. Her last film was "High Society", a musical remake of "The Philadelphia Story". It also starred Bing Crosby, Celeste Holm, and Frank Sinatra. This delightful romantic comedy, is, in my opinion, just as good as the Oscar winning original.

On April 19th, 1956, Grace Kelly became Princess Grace of Monaco, and the silver screen's ice princess retired. Tragically, on September 13th, 1982, Princess Grace died in a car accident, at the age of 52. If you've ever seen the movie "To Catch a Thief", recall the scene in which Frances (Grace) scares John (Grant) with her careless driving on Monaco's winding roads. It was on these roads that the beautiful Grace lost her life, and the world lost a legend. She truly was "Hollywood Royalty".

Links to other sites on the Web

Back to Page 1
Author's Note

Please take a minute to read my author's note...thanks!!

people have visited this site since March 6th, 2000

E-mail me at: [email protected]

� 2000-2001 by Elizabeth G.

Hosted by www.Geocities.ws