Grace Kelly

April 21, 2009




One of the most formidable teams in Hollywood in the 1950's was Alfred Hitchcock and Grace Kelly. Their three movies, Dial M For Murder, To Catch a Thief and Rear Window are three of Hitchcock's best, and definitely Grace Kelly's best.

Comparing her performances in other non-Hitch films to the ones she did in these three movies, it is so obvious that Hitchcock somehow unleashed a totally different actress. While I love her other movies as well, there's no denying that she is much more at ease, and more fluid in her acting under Hitchcock's direction. Personally, I think she deserved the Oscar more for Dial M For Murder than for Country Girl (another Oscar mixup-- if either of the two stars deserved an Oscar I personally think it was Bing) and credit for that performance is partly due to Hitchcock, who pulled from her one of the best performances any of his leading ladies ever gave.

Surprisingly, seeing as how I am a devoted Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby & Louis Armstrong fan, High Society is not one of my favorite musicals at all. The entire production was sort of stiff and stagey -- plus, I was constantly comparing it in my own mind to the superior non-musical version The Philadelphia Story... but there is no denying that Grace Kelly was made for the role of Tracy Lord... It was a fitting way to cap off a marvelous, albeit short, Hollywood career.

A little trivia that will make Grace Kelly fans oh-so-jealous! Me and Princess Grace share a birthday :D

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Love it Kate! You never fail to disappoint. Although I just recently bought The Country Girl and am starting to appreciate her performance and that movie a lot more. (And I also agree with you about Bing).

And it's so cool that you guys share a birthday!

Terence Towles Canote said...

I think Alfred Hitchcock and Grace Kelly were the perfect team. He never did quite so well with any other actress and she never did quite so well with any other director (not that they were exactly slouches without each other--they just did their best with each other).

Nicole Newcomb said...

I'm quite jealous that you share a birthday with her, she's so enchanting! I always thought she was so beautiful and regal. The painting of her is fantastic!