Classic Movie Goddess Of The Month - Grace Kelly Part 2

Here are some noteworthy facts about Grace that most fans probably know about and maybe a few that don't.

Date of Birth: 12 November 1929 Philadelphia, PA
Date of Death: 14 September 1982 Monaco (car injuries)

Nicknames: Graciebird, Gracie
Height: 5'7"



Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history (#5). [1995]
Ranked #51 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list. [October 1997]
Hoped to return to acting in Alfred Hitchcock's Marnie (1964), but the people of Monaco didn't want their princess playing a thief and romancing Sean Connery.
Had three children with Prince Rainier of Monaco: Princess Caroline of Monaco (1957), Prince Albert of Monaco (1958) and Princess Stephanie of Monaco (1965).
Her movies were banned in Monaco by order of Prince Rainier of Monaco.
The inscription at her burial site in Monaco's cathedral does not refer to her as a princess. It uses the title "uxor principis" (prince's wife), which is traditional in the House of Grimaldi.
Interred at the Cathedral of St. Nicholas, Monaco.
Kelly's wedding gown was the most expensive garment that MGM designer Helen Rose had ever made. It used twenty-five yards of silk taffeta and one hundred yards of silk net. Its 125-year-old rose point lace was purchased from a museum and thousands of tiny pearls were sewn on the veil.
Was considered for the role of Maggie the Cat in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) that was eventually played by Elizabeth Taylor.


The so-called "wealthy" family Grace was born into was actually an immigrant family of bricklayers who had barely a generation of new-found business success. Grace's father and brother were both Olympic gold-medal scullers. Grace's cousin, former US Secy of Navy John Lehman, Jr. now chairs the Princess Grace Foundation, which supports young performing talent.
Attended and graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, New York.
The Country Girl (1954), the film that won Kelly an Oscar, was first offered to Jennifer Jones, who had to turn it down due to pregnancy.
When she left Hollywood, several roles she was slated to play were eventually filled by Lauren Bacall (Designing Woman (1957) and The Cobweb (1955)). Director George Stevens also wanted her for Giant (1956).

She was voted the 27th Greatest Movie Star of all time by Entertainment Weekly.
Referenced in the songs "Grace Kelly", by Die Ärzte; "Grace Kelly Blues" by Eels (Mark Everett),"Grace Kelly with Wings" by Piebald; and "Grace Kelly" by Mika.
The very first actress to appear on a postage stamp, in 1993.
Hedda Hopper reported that Judy Garland's loss of the Academy Award to Grace for The Country Girl (1954) was the result of the closest Oscar vote up till that time that didn't end in a tie, with just six votes separating the two. In any event, it was a heartbreak from which Judy Garland never really recovered and which has remained a matter of some controversy ever since.
Summoned Sydney Guilaroff, the chief hairstylist at MGM Studios, to style her hair for her marriage to Prince Rainier of Monaco in 1956.
She was voted the 12th Greatest Movie Star of all time by Premiere Magazine.
Was named #13 Actress on The American Film Institute's 50 Greatest Screen Legends
The road accident which led to her death was apparently caused by a stroke she suffered while driving.
Was romantically involved with fashion designer Oleg Cassini.
Is portrayed by Christina Applegate and Cheryl Ladd in Grace Kelly (1983) (TV).

2010 Preview

While I'm snowed in at my in-laws in West Virginia, I decided to write about the things I will be blogging abut this year. I will continue to do Screwball Wednesdays, which I will focus on one screwball comedy for that week or bi-weekly. Upcoming screwball films I will talk about include: The Women, The Thin Man, Bringing Up Baby, My Favorite Wife, and others. I will continue with my classic movie goddesses one per month with Grace Kelly already having kicking off the new year this month. Other actresses for the year will include: Liz Taylor, Greta Garbo, Myrna Loy, Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, Doris Day, Rosalind Russell, Carole Lombard, Ann Sheridan, Ginger Rogers, and Irene Dunne. I will also list my top 20 favorite actresses to go along with the my list of favorite actors I did back in December. Also debating about doing a western a month. Oh and a new topic focusing on the silver screen's best performances like Bette Davis in All About Eve and James Stewart in Mr. Smith and tons more. Plus polls, photos, trivia, film recommendations and whatever else strikes my fancy. Not to mention my other polls which I blog about or contribute to: Screwball Cinema, Hero Worship, and the other blogs. Hope to get started as soon as I get back home in Georgia. 2010 will be an awesome year.

Visiting Family in West Virgina

Forgot to tell everyone I would be away from home, visiting family in West Virgina. Well I was on my way back home on Saturday when I had an accident on the interstate. My car hit a patch of ice, I spun out of control and hit the wall. Did some damage to front of the vehicle but it's still driveable. Same thing happened with my wife except her car was severely damaged. We were both unharmed though. Waiting for her insurance company to check out her vehicle and for the weather to be a little better before coming home. She was gonna stay an extra week and that's why we took two cars. But we're ok and that's the important thing. I miss all of you guys that are following my blogs and will be back at it soon. Did want to remind classic movie fans that TCM is airing several of Jane Wyman's movies on Monday Jan 4th starting at 6am. She is one of my favorite actresses. Check her out if you can.

Classic Movie Goddess Of The Month - Grace Kelly

The classic movie goddess for the month of January is Grace Kelly. Her Hollywood career may have been shortened once she married Prince Rainier of Monaco, but her impact was still very powerful. And the tragic auto accident that ended her life prematurely at age 52, only strengthen her image and body of work to millions of fans. Here is a quick bio of Grace's life and work.

On November 12, 1929, Grace Patricia Kelly was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to wealthy parents. Her girlhood was uneventful for the most part, but one of the things she desired was to become an actress which she had decided on at an early age. After her high school graduation in 1947, Grace struck out on her own, heading to New York's bright lights to try her luck there. Grace worked some as a model and made her debut on Broadway in 1949. She also made a brief foray into the infant medium of television. Not content with the work in New York, Grace moved to Southern California for the more prestigious part of acting -- motion pictures. In 1951, she appeared in her first film entitled Fourteen Hours (1951) when she was 22. It was a small part, but a start nonetheless. The following year she landed the role of Amy Kane in High Noon (1952), a western starring Gary Cooper and Lloyd Bridges which turned out to be very popular. In 1953, Grace appeared in only one film, but it was another popular one. The film was Mogambo (1953) where Grace played Linda Nordley. The film was a jungle drama in which fellow cast members, Clark Gable and Ava Gardner turned in masterful performances. It was also one of the best films ever released by MGM. Although she got noticed with High Noon, her work with director Alfred Hitchcock, which began with Dial M for Murder (1954) made her a star. Her standout performance in Rear Window (1954) brought her to prominence. As Lisa Fremont, she was cast opposite James Stewart, who played a crippled photographer who witnesses a murder in the next apartment from his wheelchair. Grace stayed busy in 1954 appearing in five films. Grace would forever be immortalized by winning the Academy Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of Georgie Elgin opposite Bing Crosby in The Country Girl (1954). In 1955, Grace once again teamed with Hitchcock in To Catch a Thief (1955) co-starring Cary Grant. In 1956, she played Tracy Lord in the musical comedy High Society (1956) which also starred Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby. The whimsical tale ended with her re-marrying her former husband, played by Crosby. The film was well received. It also turned out to be her final acting performance. Grace had recently met and married Prince Rainier of Monaco. By becoming a princess, she gave up her career. For the rest of her life, she was to remain in the news with her marriage and her three children. On September 14, 1982, Grace was killed in an automobile accident in her adoptive home country. She was just 52 years old.

So I will be honoring Grace all month long with pics, facts, personal reviews of her films, and other assorted good things. A one of a kind woman and mother and princess.

New Blog Started

Welcome To Screwball Cinema

Welcome everyone to this new blog called Screwball Cinema. Screwball comedies are my favorite type of movies, so this blog will be dedicated solely to this fun and entertaining genre. Covering all the classics and little known screwball gems that some people might not know about. We will also discuss the actors and actresses who contributed to this genre and excelled at it. I hope this will be one of the more interesting blogs out here. Just click on the title Welcome to Screwball Cinema and the link will take you directly there.

Sister Blog To All Good Things

 While my main blog deals solely with classic films and actors, I needed another blog where I could talk about my love of sci-fi, fantasy, horror and comic books and stuff of that nature. The title is called Hero Worship. And my love of all things sci-fi and fantasy, especially Star Trek, makes that an appropriate title. Well, I had to call my blog something and I didn't want to go with some generic title like The Sci-Fi/Fantasy Page. Anyway. I hope to run into several fans and like minded people on that blog. Will cover everything from Trek, Star Wars, Buffy, Firefly, Supernatural, X-Men, sci-fi films and tv shows and comic books and more. The link to the blog is down below.


http://heroworship1.blogspot.com/

Merry Christmas To All From Virgina Grey

Actress Virgina Grey circa 1939

Classic Movie Photo of the Day - Holiday Inn

Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire, Marjorie Reynolds, Virgina Dale in

HOLIDAY INN (1942)

Christmas In Connecticut is one of my favorite films....

If I had to choose one Christmas movie to watch during the holidays I would probably choose Christmas In Connecticut (1945). I know there have been countless blogs and posts written about this classic so I won't add another review of this by now familiar tale. Suffice to say, this film works because of just two little words: Barbara Stanwyck. She is positively amazing as columnist Elizabeth Lane, viewed today as the Martha Stewart of her day. Except for the fact that Ms. Lane's description of herself and her abilities is all lies. She can't cook, doesn't know a thing about decorating or antiques, and definitely does not live the family life on a farm in Connecticut as she has told all her loyal readers. Needless to say her lack of skills will be tested when her publisher puts her on the spot to cook a family Christmas dinner for a wounded returning soldier (Dennis Morgan). I simply think this is one of the best of the Christmas films from yesteryear. And when you think about it, the film really is not about Christmas per se, but it's story just happens to take place during  Christmas. That won't stop anyone from enjoying this film though. But you will find hearty laughs and a nice comfort feeling while watching this film. As I stated before Barbara Stanwyck is definitely the star of this movie and she carries it like a seasoned professional. Her comic timing, which was not used nearly enough in her stellar career, is perfection. She looks absolutely stunning and plays off her fellow co-stars with ease. Delivering some of the best lines with that sly twinkle in her eyes. One of the scenes I love is when the owner of the magazine requests that she do her sensational high pancake flip that she is famous for. Of course Elizabeth has never tossed a pancake in her life, so the look of her face as she steps up to the stove and grabs the pan to flip the pancake looks like a person marching to the electric chair. I recommend Christmas In Connecticut as a perfect movie to view with friends and family over the holiday. You won't regret it.

Screwball Wednesdays - Theodora Goes Wild (1936)

I started thinking about weekly blogs based on a specific day for a specific genre. And since Wednesday is known as hump day, where most people are trying to get through another trying week on their job, school, family, etc..what better genre than screwball comedies to get you through the day. Screwball comedies are probably my favorite type of movies. I just love the zany situations the characters find themselves in. So every Wednesday I will blog about a screwball comedy, of which there are tons of them. And to kick it off, I just watched the 1936 classic Theodora Goes Wild with a marvelous Irene Dunne.

Dunne plays small town girl Theodora Lynn, who lives with her two aunts in the quaint little town of Lynnfield. The town is small and pretty much ran by the women who likes to keep things simple and nice and decent. The women's literary club are at constant odds with the local newspaper who likes to run articles about the author Caroline Adams, who is a famous writer, known for her scandalous stories. The catch is Theodora is actually Caroline and lives a double life, keeping her family and townspeople in the dark about her other half. Theodora visits her uncle in New York, who has been written off by the family because of his own reputation. She uses that as her cover to see her publisher, who constantly tries to convince her to meet her adoring fans. Theodora holds her ground and ends up meeting Michael Grant, who is her book jacket illustrator, played by the always entertaining Melvyn Douglas. Once Theodora leaves New York to head back home, Michael follows her and makes life for her very complicated. The nosy townspeople wonder what he's doing in town and Theodora quickly puts him to work around her family's house. Of course things become harder and harder to keep secret especially when Theodora falls in love in Michael. There are a few dramatic scenes in this movie, like when Theodora goes off on the other women in town about her relationship with Michael. And a subplot involving a friend of Theodora who is run off from town because of the man she chose to marry, and eventually have a child with. But there are lots of moments of screwball hilarity that will have you busting a gut. Irene Dunne, one of my favorites, excels in these types of roles and she hits the mark again with this one. Her natural flair for comedy is most evident in her scenes with Douglas. They make quite the charming pair.

Theodora Goes Wild is one of the best screwball comedies ever made. And Dunne proves she is definitely one of the queens of comedy. I would rank her right up there with Carole Lombard and Myrna Loy. I enjoyed this film from start to finish. I loved the dog that Douglas's character picked up on the way into town and named him Jake...and the bond the two formed. I loved Theodora's two aunts, who were at first like all the other women in town, wound too tight and didn't care for any signs of questionable characters. But once they found out that their niece was the scandalous novelist, they didn't hesitate to have Theodora's back and slam anyone else for thinking bad of her. I also loved the newspaper editor who liked irking the Women's Literary Group just for the heck of it. All so many little things and other characters made this a highly entertaining movie. One I could watch over and over. Theodora Goes Wild will definitely make those Wednesdays much more bearable.