Grace Kelly

[scriptgirl]

double exposure

 

[scriptgirl]

magna

 

[nmyngan]

welcome to the thread jdsnitch

ebay

 

[scriptgirl]

westpoint

 

[nmyngan]

snap

 

[kochie332]

she looked so pretty at the oscars


corbis

 

[Harumi]

There were some things posted a while back that I was dying to reply to but couldn't since I wasn't a member, but I feel it would be a little awkward to post such a delayed response now.

Welcome to the TFS. I hope you will enjoy the community.
Please, give your thoughts about past posts, it's not a problem at all and it add to the discussion. Simply, when you quote a message, try to edit it so that only relevant parts are quoted. Try not to quote it whole as to no clog the board.
Have fun!

 

[jdsnitch]

Thanks for the welcome, everyone!

I apologise in advance for the very long reply this will probably end up being.

One thing that I wanted to say was concerning the Hitchcock films you guys were discussing a few days ago. Some people were wondering why Grace didn't make more of his films. No one seemed to point out that by that time (North by Northwest, The Birds, etc.) Grace had given up her career to become Princess of Monaco. It wasn't a question of whether she wanted to or not, but that she couldn't. Whether you like it or not, there's a certain duty that comes with being a Princess, and it would not have been fitting for her to continue acting. Some people seem to think Rainier was cruel and controlling, but it wasn't exactly his decision. It's just the nature of the Princess role. If you don't agree with what is expected of you in that role, then you don't take it up. I think far too many of us have this romantic notion of the life of a Prince or Princess. I personally think it would be a terrible thing, to have one's life so restricted and bound to duty. It seems quite the burden for many who are born into it. I don't think Grace really knew what she was getting into when she decided to marry him. Indeed, I think, in the end, it was probably her greatest mistake, and she had to learn to live with that mistake.

Rainier was never really against her acting. He saw how dissatisfied she was and how she yearned to make another film, and he completely supported her in her decision to make Marnie. It was the Monegasques who were all up in arms about their Princess being "indecent" on the big screen, and it is because of them that she decided to pull out of the project. This devastated her as all hope of ever acting again seemed to die within her, and she became even more depressed. She got pregnant again and gave birth to Princess Stephanie not a year later, and she would refocus all of her energy in raising her children. In her later years, one can see that she was making her way back into the world of theatre, with her narration and poetry readings. Rainier supported her then as well. To call him cruel and controlling is just ignorant, in my opinion. He certainly wasn't perfect, but neither was Grace.

Another thing that has bothered me in a few posts (that I won't go in to great detail now) is how some of you seem to believe something to be 100% fact just because it has been published in a book. Just because someone wrote it in a book doesn't make it true. Most (if not all) biographies on Grace have been full of mere speculation and conjecture. There is not a "definitive" biography on her, and I don't think there ever will be. They're all horribly biased, none of them even attempting to give an objective account of her life. It's either "Grace was a huge homewrecking sl*t," or "Grace was a victim of the tyrant Rainier". She shouldn't be placed on a pedestal, nor should she be trampled upon for things she may or may not have done. Human beings are more complex than that. Just think, if someone wrote a biography about YOUR life, how much of it would really capture who YOU are?

 

[jdsnitch]

Yes, she looked beautiful at the Oscars. And she looks good next to Brando.

I'm so sick of people complaining about her not deserving her Oscar, or that she stole it from Judy Garland. As if SHE decided she would get it. The Oscars shouldn't be taken so seriously, to begin with. Acting shouldn't be a competition.

 

[kochie332]

Another thing that has bothered me in a few posts (that I won't go in to great detail now) is how some of you seem to believe something to be 100% fact just because it has been published in a book. Just because someone wrote it in a book doesn't make it true. Most (if not all) biographies on Grace have been full of mere speculation and conjecture. There is not a "definitive" biography on her, and I don't think there ever will be. They're all horribly biased, none of them even attempting to give an objective account of her life. It's either "Grace was a huge homewrecking sl*t," or "Grace was a victim of the tyrant Rainier". She shouldn't be placed on a pedestal, nor should she be trampled upon for things she may or may not have done. Human beings are more complex than that. Just think, if someone wrote a biography about YOUR life, how much of it would really capture who YOU are?

It is too bad that there isn't an official or definitive biography of Grace. I have read two biographies on Grace and they both are very different. I think with any biography you have to remember that most of the book will probably be just speculation, and like you said most of them are biased


corbis

 

[Harumi]

Just because someone wrote it in a book doesn't make it true. Most (if not all) biographies on Grace have been full of mere speculation and conjecture.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
I certainly agree with you that everything shouldn't be taken at face value, but as far as Grace's earlier lifestyle in Hollywood is concerned, there are too many independent sources who give a similar portrait of Grace for it to be mere speculation, imo. Her promiscuity with married men (or men in general) is fact at this point. What is up to speculation is her motivations. She was reportedly very emotionally troubled and was a very complex and somewhat unhappy person. Nevertheless, we should not whitewash the fact that she caused distress to many other women.
As far as her life as a princess is concerned, this is, imo, the big interrogation point. You hear everything and its opposite about what was going on in this marriage. It's hard to get a clean picture.

 

[jdsnitch]

Oh, I certainly don't deny that she had her fair share of affairs, but to say she would go with any man she came in contact with is just insane. And the married men she had affairs with? They were known womanizers, and Grace wasn't the first nor the last of their mistresses. It doesn't make it right, but we have to put things into perspective here. I hate how it's always the woman who is the homewrecker when it takes two to tango.

 

[scriptgirl]

What the hell does Bette Davis have on her head and why? As far as Grace being a "homewrecker", I do agree that the blame is always placed on the woman and that is not always fair. Not all of the men Grace was involved with were womanizers, though. Her promiscuity really was at odds with her Catholic faith and I wonder what she thought about her fervent sex life when she was young when she was older and had such troubles with her daughters. She was quoted as saying she couldn't tell her kids not to sleep with married men when she had done so herself. I do think she was complex and I don't think she had a really happy life at all and for that, I am sorry. She should not have married Rainier. I think in the end, that brought her the greatest unhappiness.

wiki

 

[jdsnitch]

This is for the member who was looking for a larger version of this photo of Grace and Stephanie.

My own scan from The Grace Kelly Years

 

[scriptgirl]

sulzinger gallery

 

[Party_Vixen]

Yes, she looked beautiful at the Oscars. And she looks good next to Brando.

What movie did she win the Oscar for? Was it for best actress?

PS. Welcome to TFS .

 

[scriptgirl]

Yes. Grace won Best Actress for the film, "Country Girl", which in my opinion, hasn't aged well. She really help jumpstart the trend of attractive actresses uglying themselves for roles. Judy Garland was quoted as saying Grace stole her "f*** Oscar" and I think a lot of people were shocked that Grace won, cause Judy was favored to win. Lauren Bacall said it was a blow from which Judy never recovered and it helped to start her downhill slide.

corbis

 

[nel16]

I'm so sick of people complaining about her not deserving her Oscar, or that she stole it from Judy Garland. As if SHE decided she would get it. The Oscars shouldn't be taken so seriously, to begin with. Acting shouldn't be a competition.

Maybe it shouldn't be but it is, at least for the people who willingly participate in the competition for the Oscar. Obviously the Oscars were taken very seriously by Grace - didn't she cry when she won?

Yes. Grace won Best Actress for the film, "Country Girl", which in my opinion, hasn't aged well. She really help jumpstart the trend of attractive actresses uglying themselves for roles. Judy Garland was quoted as saying Grace stole her "f*** Oscar" and I think a lot of people were shocked that Grace won, cause Judy was favored to win. Lauren Bacall said it was a blow from which Judy never recovered and it helped to start her downhill slide.

See, I'm not a diehard Judy fan that villainizes Grace for winning, because yes, it wasn't her fault that she won, but it does annoy me because Judy had been in the business for such a long time, contributed so much to the history of cinema, and had such an awful life... here was this amazing performance she went all-out for, and then Grace, this girl who'd been in Hollywood only a few years and soon would disregard it for Monaco, who decided to frump it up a little and try a role slightly out of the norm and get awarded right away, first time she tries something a little different. I can understand why people are upset about that, though it does get a little ridiculous to place all the blame on Grace.

It was an okay performance and movie, but the fact that she got nominated for this and Mogambo (which she's incredibly stiff in, though yes, it's fun to see her, Gable and Ava in in a movie together) can be somewhat baffling. I think Grace had potential to improve in her acting, definitely, but sadly she left Hollywood too soon for us to ever find out.

 

[scriptgirl]

The Dorothy Hamil haircut does not work well on Caroline

world roots

 

[scriptgirl]

To be fair, Judy got a special Oscar in '39 for "Wizard of OZ". I do agree that Grace was not the greatest actress. Interesting to see what her career would have been like if she hadn't worked with Hitch.