Grace Kelly: What’s Your Favorite Grace Kelly Performance?

09.21.11 |
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Grace Kelly

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  • NameFrank DeCavalcante

    I never understood the appeal of Grace Kelly. She was pretty but was an unconvincing actress and always conveyed coldness to me. Although Hollywood tried to convince the public about her patrician background, the later revelation about her affairs with married actors destroyed that myth. Furthermore, her “breakout” performance in “The Country Girl” was, in fact, quite ordinary, and she did not deserve the Oscar she won. Sadly, the Oscar should have gone to Judy Garland for “A Star Is Born,” but Garland’s personal demons made her unpopular with her Hollywood colleagues.

  • john

    I agree with Frank. She came off cold and aloof much of the time.

  • Alice Lund

    Her appeal never appealed to me.

  • mike jaral

    I voted for To caught a thief, and my second choice was Rear window. what made her good was the leading men and the story itself. her cold acting was somthing that probably any good actress could have improved on. her good looks helped things along. I think she was pretty, but not beautiful.

  • marjorie

    I might pick The Swan as my favorite Louis Jourdan performance at first glance. Definitely a very interesting set of characters / feeling to attempt to portray predominantly with body language in many scenes.

  • http://www.facebook.com/whatever41 Cynthia LaRochelle

    A good but not great actress. Her roles were made good by her leading men, as Mr. Jaral remarked. She was born into high society & finishing school, so you can’t blame her for having class. Still she was a stunning woman and bore a lot of sorrow. I enjoyed watching her films. Thank you The top 3 get my vote also.

  • marjorie

    I think what you mistook for coldness was what other folks admiringly term her ‘poise.’ All people, no matter who they are have a wealth of passions boiling inside them, and there was a time when the acme of feminine grace was self-control. Like body image this is something that changes with time and environment.

    The next time some innocuous part of your anatomy itches and you scratch it, think how lucky you are that its now socially accepted and people don’t respond as though it’s a sign you have fleas. In The Big Sleep when Bogey catches Lauren Bacall rubbing her skirt against her knee trying to scratch without scratching it robs her of any ability to pull rank on him that she might have aspired to up till that point.

  • Joan Henn

    I agree with Frank, as well. I did not think she was a good actress either. She was too wooden and as far as I am concerned, she appeared conceited at
    best so she didn’t appeal to me. at all. Don’t make
    excuses for her as many other actresses at that time
    could show true emotion in different ways so if Grace Kelly had been as talented she would have shown it. Let’s face it, she should have chosen another type of work.

  • Susan

    I’m sure it isn’t always easy being a princess, which was in the final analysis her chosen profession. But she gave Hollywood a worldwide acceptance in the 1950′s and 60′s for a class and dignity it might not have otherwise achieved. Beyond that her acting wasn’t worthy of that Oscar, especially when one considers the dedication that Judy gave to her craft and enormous talent. It is a sin that A Star is Born was snubbed when Hollywood decided to punish Judy for whatever reasons. It is and was a masterpiece and over the years has demonstrated a staying power over a Country Girl. Too bad that Judy who was given so little, and Grace who was given so much couldn’t have known that the years would even out the score. Today so many see the unfair award as just plain wrong. I think that both would have been pleased that time has evened up that score, even just a little. Judy had the talent. Grace had the grace. Both had class.

  • Nina

    OUCH!! Such a tough crowd today!
    Grace seemed pretty down to earth to me when she was digging up the flower bed looking for body parts in Rear Window. Her emotions came through loud and clear while serving Jeff his lobster dinner.
    How about when she finds out her husband tried to have her killed in Dial M? I think she was a darn good actress.

  • Dave Sheehan

    Grace Kelly was a run-of-the-mill actress. Her Academy Award for Country Girl was a Holluwood scandal–so was her out-of-control libido. She nearly destroyed Ray Miland’s long time marriage. Her best performance was as a Serene Highness.Monaco’s gain was NOT Hollywood’s loss!

  • Mario Brescio

    I was never a big fan of Grace Kelly, I never understood her appeal. I wonder, if she wasn’t pretty would she have been in any Hollywood films at all?

  • Kai Ferano

    Well, I guess I’m being redundant, but I never was a fan of Grace Kelly. On screen she was bland and in her personal life she was selfish and lacking the morality that we (erroneously) associate with her affluent background. Give me a Sophia Loren or Diane Keaton, anytime!

  • Ellen Badders

    What is this, the morality police? Who cares about her social life, the question was about her performance. I think her performance in Rear Window was very convincing. I also think she was one of the great beauties of the silver screen. (I guess Ray Miland had nothing to do with the damage done to his marriage.)

  • Evie

    Not a Grace Kelly fan. She was never given rolls that were strong enough. Her characters were, as everyone said, cold,aloof and mediocre.
    I think most of us voted for Rear Window simply because we liked the movie.

  • KarenG

    I really liked her. She was a lovely woman, and a good actress. She was excellent as Tracy Lord, wonderful in Rear Window and Dial M for Murder. I don’t understand the haters here, but I’m a fan.

  • chris mattson

    THERE WAS SOMETHING ABOUT THE CARY GRANT/ MONACO CONNECTION OF TO CATCH A THIEF, BUT HER TEAMING WITH JIMMY STEWART IN REAR WINDOW WAS SPECIAL ALSO PLUS ADD THE HITCHCOCK THING WITH IT AND DIAL M FOR MURDER AND YOU HAVE NATURAL WINNERS.

  • Gary Vidmar

    Grace Kelly was the epitome of cool blonde elegance that was eventually fully realized in the extraordinary guise of French actress Catherine Deneuve. I’m sure she would have evolved into an equally surprising cinema icon had she not chosen a different path.
    Hitchcock would have probably uncovered Grace Kelly’s more under-appreciated gifts had he been able to cast her in NORTH BY NORTHWEST, VERTIGO, MARNIE and THE BIRDS. She would have astounded in all of them.

  • Michael J.

    I always thought that Grace Kelly was a good actress and one very beautiful woman as well. This is saying something since I am a man who has preferred women with dark hair, like Hedy Lamarr and Cyd Charrise (true knock-outs!). I had more respect for Grace than I ever have for Monroe.

  • Dwighjt J

    Who cares if she could act she was great to look at.She was no worse an actress than some of the “leading ladies”tgoday

  • Sue

    A great beauty but not a particularly great actress. She was good in “Rear Window” even though she had little to do with the part. I particularly liked the movie “Dial M” but she just didn’t come off very genuine as Margo.

  • Dana Adams

    I, too, agree with Frank and John. Could never figure out why everyone was so enamored with her. Her acting was so-so and she was pretty but not beautiful. Whatever loveliness she had seemed to be so washed out. I picked Dial M for Murder – doubtless because I so loved that movie (I love virtually anything by Hitch). But I never really cared for Grace Kelly. Perhaps her cold, aloofness was what attracted Hitch. It is well-known how much he loved icy blonds.

  • Johnny Bolin

    I cannot understand most of these comments, one of my all time favorite pre-60′s actresses who I have always enjoyed, in all of her movies. Was always sad she did not make more movies.

  • sally stark

    Here’s one FOR Grace Kelly. She was lovely, intelligent, humourous and didn’t take herself too seriously. She also worked her butt off. “Our Grace” DID take her Craft seriously. I never found her less than competent, and she was frequently more so. I also felt that her OSCAR was well deserved. It was a lot harder for Grace Kelly to get into “Georgie’s” character than it was for Judy to get into “Esther’s”. Grace Kelly always made me smile, but she also made me WATCH. GOD BLESS HER.

  • Ellen Urie

    I also agree with Frank & John. It was even hard to pick one movie where Grace Kelly did her best role – in my opinion. I ended up picking “Country Girl” and like others it was probably because the male stars were good. Her characters flash thru my mind, and they seem cold but mostly just not sincere. She was beautiful, & I do agree she was better than a LOT of actresses today. Hearing about her affairs, especially with Ray Miland was sad. We cannot help being interested in their personal lives. And I do NOT hate Kelly – just being honest, because I DID watch her movies!

  • richard finn

    I picked High Society. One of my favorite films, but more for the others in that movie. Louis Armstrong, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra. It was the only time I ever saw Sinatra and Crosby sing together. What a WOW!I believe High Society was a musical remake of a Cary Grant movie.

  • jpp452

    Whether you like her or not, she was an actress of very limited range. So was Ingrid Bergman, the most over-rated actress of her time. Neither of them had more than two tones of voice. You could almost watch them creak from one expression to another. That didn’t make either of them less popular any more than it made the one-dimensional leading men of the time less popular.

    For Grace Kelly, I thought her role in The Swan suited her film persona perfectly.

  • Omar Soliman

    I picked To Catch A Thief because I thought it gave her the most prominent role to shine in. She held the screen well with Cary Grant. I also thought that she was wonderful in kind of a thankless role in High Noon. Another actress would not have been as strong. She is very loose and down to earth in High Society,.. for those who wanted her to display that facet. How many of the men in that movie wanted to possess her anyway?? But I would say that Dial M for Murder is probably her best performance for me. There was a murkiness to everyone in it.

  • Omar Soliman

    Ingrid Bergman has limited range?!!! You ought to get some responses to that one. I think that you need to see some of her very early performances and some of her later ones. But I have heard the same accusations of Ava Gardner, she is not a good actress. Or Marilyn Monroe, she has limited range. And many other great, great hollywood legends. These ladies, both of whom I mentioned, held your attention on the screen better than some of the greatest “actresses” alive. There are little gems in their screen history that does show their range. Also I think that there is much more going on between a performer and what the camera sees/conveys than we are aware of. Ava Gardner and Ingrid Bergman were both capable of imbuing their characters with a sugggested inner life beyond what the roles demanded. And that is another key to making us believe there is a real character that we are watching. And not just an actor playing a cardboard cutout of one.

  • Pat

    Hey, I liked Grace Kelley. She was such a lady always. I think my fave role was in “High Society”, but I always went to see all of her movies. She was a lovely princess, too.

  • Cindy Urban

    I always thought Grace Kelley was “Miscast” as Gary Coopers’ wife in High Noon,that fake Patrician accent in a “Western” was just sooooo wrong ! I never thought she was a great actress,and none of her performances were “Oscar worthy”,her leading men “carried” her in all her films.

  • sugarpussoshea

    My vote was for the top choice, Rear Window – that girl knew how to wear clothes!! That’s why she “worked” in To catch thief and High Society. But, I never cud figure why Clark Gable wud rather have had her than Ava Gardner in Mogambo and can’t for the life of me figure out why she wanted to do Country Girl and how the hell she got an oscar for that role!! Gotta go with Frank and John on that – and glad to see someone who feels the same as I do about the totally undeserved oscar.
    But – the role of Princess was made for her. And I’m sorry that role was all too short for her.

  • R.D.Cochran

    I liked To Catch a Thief,Rear Window and High Society. That being said, Grace Kelly was pretty and ok as an actress, but nothing more. It helped that she had strong leading men as I don’t think she was capable of carrying a picture on her own.

  • Ingrid Nuernberg

    I agree with Frank and the others. Never been a big Grace Kelly fan, although she’s fun in REAR WINDOW.

  • alfred j pisani

    I PERSONALLY DIDNT LIKE GRACE KELLY SHE ONLY GOT WERE SHE WAS BECAUSE SHE SLEPT WITH MOST OF THEM, I THINK COUNTRY GIRL WAS ONE OF THE WORST .ALF

  • Ken Johnson

    I liked Grace Kelly and I believe we probably didn’t see what she was capable of, she certainly was a plus in some fairly ordinary films. I also believe she put some magic into her best role as Princess,wife and mum. God bless her.

  • Kevin

    She was a good actress, but I certainly would not call her one of the great actresses of all time. Also, the 1954 Oscar should definitely have gone to Judy Garland. However, keep in mind, Kelly’s career was extremely short, so it is rather hard to judge how she would have developed as a performer.

  • ChrissyS

    I thought Grace Kelly was beautiful and her reserved, most elegant, ladylike manner and slow diction only enhanced the characters she played and enhanced the movies by giving them a very professional quality to them.

    I wished she hadn’t married Prince Ranier, I think she gave up what she loved the most when she did, and we got robbed of seeing her full potential, which I think went undiscovered.

  • Alfie

    Whenever lists of the ‘most beautiful all-time’ female stars come out, Grace is always up there. She was gorgeous, but as to acting talent – it was mediocre, at best. But, oh, how we [men and women] loved to look at her on the screen! Apparently, directors and producers were onto this and continued to cast her opposite strong/popular leading actors. Grace was not a great actress. She is remembered as a great beauty.

  • fred buschbaum

    Not a Grace hater or lover. While looking through the list of her films, I couldn’t get a clear picture of her image. those films sit in my mind by plot and the male lead. Like others, I can picture her as “princess” done well. Whether she could have developed a great talent staying in films or not is a dead horse. As to her love of career, a princess fit with her background and I think she did it well.

  • maria

    I loved Grace Kelly in most of her films, High Society being my favorite because it was such a great fun story and she was such a delight to watch. Her style of beauty was very much in vogue at the time and I don’t think that hurt to make her a big star. Blondes may come and go on the Hollywood scene but I think that Grace had something special. It may have been the lilt of her voice or that special smile she gave her male co-stars. Whatever her charms were they worked very well on the big screen and the films she gave us will be her lasting legacy.

  • Van Hamlin

    I believe that she was fit the prototype for a Hitchcock blonde; Tippi Hedron and her.

  • chris

    i never liked grace kelly. she was arrogant and snobbish. i never watch a grace-kelly movie, never.

  • E. Moore

    She did great work as Princess Grace but was no great screen talent.She had one voice and one emotion as an actress.She was pretty but in a bland fiftees way. She was cold not cool,Ava could play cool but you knew she had an inner heat .And thanks to the people who think Ms.Bergman just average I thought it was just me!

  • Linda Rosen

    WOW….Miss Kelly was no better or worse than most Hollywood actresses……compared to who is on the screen today, her worst performance out shines today’s Hollywood “A” list actresses! I picked “High Noon” because that was the movie I could remember that she starred in. Yes, I contradict myself by defending her then admitting her name conjures up Monaco rather than Hollywood. Whatever my opinion is, Grace Kelly left us with some films that will be icons forever…leading men whose careers were enhanced by her performances…and enough fuel for us to be discussing her YEARS after her untimely death……

  • christine esposito

    Breaking into acting is extremely difficult. Ask any actor how long it took them to get their first gig.
    Yes, she broke into acting thru modeling but it was her ability to ACT that kept her jobs coming. As far as her looks go, lets just say that hearing I had a slight resemblance to GRACE KELLY was and still is the BEST compliment of my life. (I won 2 beauty pageants, not too shabby!) Her generosity lives on thru her family who constantly give and share. OH YE LITTLE ONES! Do some research!

  • mark

    I think she’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen!

  • Ellen Urie

    Just wanted to add that I agree with those who think Ava Gardner was a really great actress. She could play many different characters & all were believable. I enjoyed all her movies.

  • VINCENT SANTANGELO

    GRACE KELLY’S PERFORMANCE IN THE COUNTRY GIRL IS A CLASSIC. MANY TRAINED ACTRESSES PERFORMED THIS PART AND NONE WERE AS YOUNG AS KELLY. HER SCENES WERE ELECTRAFYING. THIS IS WHY SHE WAS RECOGNIZED BY HER PEERS. SHE, AND POSSIBLY ALFRED HITCHCOCK, CREATED THE COOL ICEY BLONDE PERSONNA TO SET HER APART FROM LESS TALENTED ACTRESSES. THEY SUCCEEDED. SHE MADE HER LEADING MEN LOOK GREAT AND BROUGHT OUT THE BEST IN EACH AND EVERY ONE. HER CLASSIC LOOKS AND COOLNESS FIT ALMOST EVERY ROLE SHE TOOK. THIS IS WHY SHE WAS CONSIDERED GREAT AT 25 YEARS OLD BY BOTH HER PEERS AND CRITICS AND DIRECTORS SUCH AS HITCHCOCK.

  • Hilary

    I picked “Rear Window” as my favorite. I think all of the top three are good choices. Some people like her, and some don’t. I personally do enjoy all of her films. She’s considered a Hollywood icon, so she must of done something right. She’s better than most of the actresses that are out there today.

  • Susan

    Funny how Jimmy Stewart was considered a great Actor (which I agree with btw) and yet most of the things Grace Kelly has been vilified here for were what endeared us to Mr. Stewart. In those days Actors and Actresses had a persona and it was what the public expected from them. She played her part well and a few times great imho. Back to my original comparison no one ever panned Jimmy Stewart for a lack of smouldering sexuality or extreme machismo on the screen. Well while Miss Kelly is being critiqued as a one note actress go back and watch To Catch a Thief and tell me she didn’t deliver her line well when offering Cary Grant a leg or a breast (of chicken)but clearly that was not the intent she conveyed!! Watch her in The Philadelphia Story, Funny, Cool, Sexy and Vulnerable she displayed them all and quite well. I’d rather see some individual personality such as stars of the past then the cookie cutter actors we have today, they are all now called actors because half the time it wouldn’t matter if indeed it was a man or a woman playing the parts. Long live classic movies with REAL STARS, such as Miss Grace Kelly.