-
(Music)
-
She was born into a prosperous
-
Philadelphia family.
-
Though she was a shy child,
-
she would live her life in the public eye.
-
"Don't try to be a hero!
-
You don't have to be a hero,
not for me!"
-
- "I'm not trying to be a hero..."
- By the age of 23,
-
her beauty and talent
-
took her to Hollywood.
-
She made eleven films in
three and a half years
-
and became one of the most
sought-after stars of her time.
-
She worked with Hollywood's
most important directors,
-
played opposite its top leading men.
-
"There's nothing quite so mysterious
-
and silent as a dark theater..."
-
Then, at 26, she turned her back
on make-believe.
-
But make-believe came true,
-
in a fairy tale shared
by the entire world.
-
Her name was Grace Kelly.
-
It became: Her Serene Highness,
-
Princess Grace of Monaco.
-
I don't think Grace really believed that
she was going to give up acting when
-
she became Princess Grace of Monaco.
-
I think that the reality of that probably
-
struck her some place in the middle of
-
the Mediterranean after
the honeymoon began.
-
She took everything so much in her stride,
-
nothing seemed to be too much for her.
-
Of any name, Grace, could not have been
-
more fitting,
-
and even her death, her tragic early death
-
made her enter even more into legend.
-
(Band plays)
-
Monaco, a principality of less than
-
five hundred acres on the French Riviera.
-
For centuries, the Monegasques
-
held on to their distinctive character,
-
and their pride.
-
But, to the world, this place was known as
-
a "playground for the wealthy"
-
who came to enjoy its beauty
and its gambling.
-
Monaco became a home of a young
American actress
-
who arrived in 1956 to be its Princess.
-
She brought her fame, her cool beauty,
-
her intelligence.
-
And she brought war,
-
a sense of purpose.
-
Well, this story of a Princess
was firmly anchored in reality.
-
A reality that had its origins
-
back in Philadelphia.
-
Competition came easily to the Kelly's.
-
Here along Kelly Drive
-
named after Grace's father, John B. Kelly,
-
they still race in the sport for which
-
Jack Kelly won an Olympic medal.
-
A statue erected by the citizens
of Philadelphia
-
commemorates that achievement.
-
Jack Kelly's father was a bricklayer from
-
Ireland who went on to make a fortune.
-
Young Jack soon joined
the family business:
-
construction and brick making.
-
He started his own business
-
and made his own fortune.
-
But he always professed pride in
-
his family's humble origins.
-
Jack Kelly believed the world
-
was what you made it.
-
Margaret Majer, who married Jack, had been
-
a model as well as a champion
swimmer and athlete.
-
Margaret and Jack were determined
-
to raise their children their own way.
-
(Music)
-
If you're good enough, you're sure
to reach the top.
-
It was drilled into the Kelly children
from their earliest years.
-
(Music)
-
As a family, we were always very close.
-
Four of us; Peggy, my sister, the oldest,
-
my brother Jack, Grace and then myself.
-
She was the baby for three and
a half years
-
and loved every minute of it.
-
Grace, when she was young,
was very shy
-
and a mama's baby.
-
There were many times
were we had pictures taken
-
that mother had to lean back
-
away from the camera so Grace
would not cry
-
to be taken away from her mother,
-
she was very sweet and soft, and
loved to be held
-
and cuddled and kissed, and loved.
-
I, on the other hand, and my brother
-
and older sister, were more
-
"don't get around me,"
-
we wanted to do our
own things.
-
We always had a place
at the shore when we were young,
-
and, at that time, I think we had
our best times together.
-
We just had a marvellous time,
-
and Grace, all her life, loved
being by the ocean and the sea.
-
Grace and all the family, we were
a competitive family.
-
I think we got that, I know we got that
-
from our mother and our father.
-
They instilled into us a deep sense
of competition
-
and the love of sports,
-
the will of winning,
-
but also taught us how to lose gracefully.
-
But the Kellys didn't intend to lose,
and there never was a better
-
drillmaster than Jack Kelly.
-
It was fun, family fun, and it left a
special kind of determination.
-
This determination didn't
manifest itself in Grace
-
as much in the sporting field.
-
But her determination sooner took
another turn.
-
She loved to sit by the hours and pretend
-
and create situations and say:
-
"Lizzie, you do this, and I'll be this,"
-
and, "I'll be the mother and
you'll be the baby,"
-
of course, I gave her a hard time
a lot of times because
-
I did not want to play her games.
-
For Grace, growing up wealthy
-
meant winter sport in Lake Placid.
-
It also meant the best private schools.
-
Working for causes you believed
in started young.
-
With modeling, it's
society fashion benefits.
-
But for Grace, these shows meant
more than fundraising;
-
They were theater.
-
She got most of her love from the
theater my uncle George.
-
He was a playwright and
he directed plays.
-
Very gracious, highly educated
person, well-read, and very witty.
-
And she just was fascinated with
-
all the tales of the
stage and the theater.
-
Her uncle George Kelly was a
great example to her.
-
He was sensitive and kind, and talented,
-
and I think of all the men she ever
knew,
-
rather than going for the
"athletic macho type,"
-
I think her ideal man was
her uncle George.
-
My recollections with her father,
John B, Jack Kelly
-
were of an enormous man with
-
a tremendous amount of gusto,
everything up front,
-
everything in the open, move ahead.
-
A nice man, but not a tremendous
amount of internal sensitivity.
-
Her father believed absolutely that Peggy,
-
the elder sister, was gonna be
-
the big star of the family and
succeed,
-
and he never paid any attention
-
to basically the middle of the
family and his four children,
-
and she was quiet, observant of
-
the others and adored
her older brother too Kell,
-
John B. Kelly Jr., an also an athletic
star, great racer,
-
her father thought he was great,
-
but Grace, he just accepted, and I
don't think
-
he understood her at all,
-
but she adored him.
-
And yet, one wonders, when you
don't
-
get from a parent, what it is
-
perhaps what you need, if that isn't what
-
creates a great deal of the drive in you
-
to go out and become the
fullest part of yourself.
-
She decided to go to New York, and my
-
mother and father were
especially surprised
-
because she was a shy and retiring girl.
-
My mother and father were a little
wary of New York and on her own,
-
but mother said: "Jack, it's not as if
-
she is going to Hollywood or to
California."
-
Grace knew that her father didn't
think much of an acting career.
-
They allowed her to go, to get it
out of her system.
-
"Let her go, it won't amount to
anything."
-
Grace was accepted into the
-
American Academy of Dramatic Arts
-
and then housed in
Manhattan's Carnegie Hall.
-
It was 1947 and Grace Kelly was 18
years old.
-
She supported herself by modelling.
-
She got her portfolio,
and little by little,
-
she started getting jobs.
-
So that she didn't have to ask
for the favor of being supported
-
in her efforts
-
so that she could justify her own
existence
-
by her own earning power.
-
Grace also appeared in
commercials.
-
She was the girl-next-door,
-
the girl a man hoped they could
marry.
-
After graduating from the
American Academy,
-
Grace found parts in stock
companies
-
and her first professional role
-
in her uncle George Kelly's play:
'The Torch-Bearers'.
-
Then, came her first Broadway role
-
in a Strindberg play.
-
We all went up to Philadelphia
to see the opening night,
-
and dad did not know that
Raymond Massey was in the play.
-
Grace introduced her father to
Raymond and he said:
-
"Oh! Jack! How are you?" And he said:
-
"Is this your daughter?
I did not know that!"
-
So she did everything on her own
and did not want any help
-
from any of the family
-
because she said: "If I don't
do it myself,
-
I don't want to do it at all."
-
I was very taken by the way
she looked,
-
and the way she walked,
-
and specially her lovely voice.
-
She had a beautiful voice.
-
Except for the speech was not
yet
-
as an actress, blended with her
posture
-
with that stately figure that
she projected.
-
She studied,
-
she really applied herself to the
characters
-
that she was working on.
-
I met Grace Kelly early in her career
-
back in 1950 when I was directing
'Danger' for CBS Television.
-
Her mother came up, and I think
her brother
-
came up to watch her rehearsal,
-
and when the rehearsal was over,
-
I heard her mother say:
-
"Darling, your speech is affected
a little bit, can you, kind of, make it
-
more natural?"
-
and she said
"Mother, I'm working on it."
-
"Your city is full of sounds, listen..."
-
"I don't hear a thing."
-
"There is an automobile going past,
and a horse
-
and a boat in the harbour"
-
She played the lead in the 'Rich
Boy' for me.
-
"I'll take you."
-
"Will you?..."
-
Under the pressures of live television,
-
no retakes,
-
no ability to go back and change.
-
Television when they had flats
fall down on tea tables
-
and everybody was out there
improvising.
-
She performed absolutely
brillantly
-
and very quickly became one of
the
-
leading members of the so-called
-
"stock company,"
-
those actors that we would tend
to cast
-
over and over again.
-
"... basic I would say.
-
Oh, I must sound very snobbish
about the West."
-
"Oh! No! I'm interested,
-
I just never thought about it that way."
-
"Well, people in the West are more open."
-
"I'm open."
-
"That's because you've had a lot to
drink.
-
You drink a lot, don't you?"
-
"No!"
-
"I was watching you across the room,
you kept filling your glass."
-
"You were watching me?"
-
"And so were the other girls.
-
"Some men are like that,
-
they compel attention."
-
"I didn't even see you until just a
few minutes ago,
-
and I couldn't wait to be introduced."
-
"Some men are like that..."
-
The first time I saw Grace, I would
be hard-pressed
-
to describe her as the glamour
queen of the world.
-
During the rehearsal, she had a
pair of glasses on,
-
and they were just a little bit down
her nose,
-
and she had a terrible cold.
-
And she was quite withdrawn.
-
I remember we shook hands, but it
wasn't a very hearty handshake,
-
it was the handshake of a little girl.
-
And I thought: "Ooh, what a nice
school teacher!"
-
She's from Philadelphia, and that was
my first impression of Grace.
-
Grace was given a small part in
the movie 'Fourteen Hours'
-
in which she was hardly noticed.
-
She returned to television and to
stock theater.
-
Her big break came almost by
chance.
-
I met Grace in 1953 actually, going
through the receiving line
-
of my wedding to my then-
husband Jay Kanter,
-
who was her agent.
-
I was intrigued by her looks in the
photographs that Edie sent me
-
by her background, and probably
more by the fact that
-
she absolutely would not accept the
long-term studio contract
-
He was a young agent
I was a young producer
-
and he brought to me Marlon
Brando,
-
then he sent me a photograph of
Grace Kelly
-
at the time we were casting 'High Noon'.
-
Now, I wanted an unknown girl. I
asked to see her.
-
She came in from Denver for an
interview.
-
For an interview for a part in a
Western with white gloves
-
no less.
-
That goes way back when we were
children.
-
My mother insisted every time we
went into town:
-
"You wore hats and gloves."
-
That's not only my mother,
we were brought up at a convent,
-
and the nuns insisted that you
wore white gloves
-
on special occasions.
-
I went overboard because she had
that lady-like quality,
-
that kind of dignity, which was in
contrast to the Western scene,
-
which works so well. These are the
corporate.
-
"... Your lawful wedded husband,
-
to have and to hold, from this day
forward."
-
The reason I think she was miscast is that
-
Cooper was much older than Grace Kelly,
-
he was too old for Kelly, actually,
in the role.
-
She didn't believe that she did well
in the film,
-
I didn't think so either.
-
There was a girl in the film named
Katy Jurado,
-
who played the Mexican gal in the town,
-
Katy Jurado was dynamic and overpowering,
-
and yet, Kelly wasn't swallowed
even in her miscast
-
because this lady-like thing came through.
-
"... they were on the right side, but
that didn't help
-
when the shooting started.
-
My brother was 19.
I watched him die..."
-
For Grace Kelly was her first big break,
-
and for me, it was my first American
picture
-
making here in Hollywood.
-
I was two years older than she was,
-
I have seven years making pictures
-
in Mexico, but there was something
-
so different between Grace and I,
-
we could not really explain that we
could not be very close,
-
but I could see a girl with a lot of
dignity, and a lot of character
-
because she wants to be
somebody in movies
-
and she worked very hard in that picture.
-
She looked weak and very tiny, but
she was a very strong person.
-
I believe she was one of the
strongest movie stars I worked with.
-
She knew what you want,
and she did it.
-
(Music)
-
Gary Cooper went on to win an
Academy Award for Best Actor of 1952,
-
but there were no laurels for
Grace,
-
and she promptly headed back to
New York for more study.
-
She was a Kelly, and she had to do better.
-
We both probably read the thing
where she says that
-
"You can see everything in Gary
-
Cooper's eyes"
but that her eyes were
-
"flat and dull, and dead"
and that she didn't like them
-
she couldn't tell what the
character was feeling.
-
She began to work harder on
concentrating on her objective.
-
In other words, that would've
-
eventually be the cure for the way she
-
attacked her characters, to make
them come alive
-
to make her eyeballs shine with meaning.
-
She always had this inner image of
being an old-fashioned actress
-
with the kind of glamour that you
have on Broadway.
-
Grace was eager for a lead role in
-
a New York production of 'Cyrano
de Bergerac'.
-
I wanted to have Grace as Roxanne,
-
I wanted her, not because of her
great acting ability, but
-
because of that discipline that she
appeared to have.
-
Unfortunately, she never did
realize that
-
every part she went up for on
Broadway,
-
with the exception of 'The Father',
she lost.
-
And when she didn't get it, there
-
were mentions of it in the columns
and so on.
-
She was very, very distressed
-
and she picked herself up, and went on.
-
'Mogambo' was a picture that
Grace apparently
-
wanted to do very badly because
she was willing to
-
sign a long-term contract with
MGM to do the picture.
-
"Is that all you're going to do for
him?!"
-
"What do you expect me to
do, Mrs. Nordley,
-
crawl in bed with him and hold his
hand?"
-
The thought of playing opposite of
star-like Clark Gable
-
being directed by John Ford, a
fellow Irishman.
-
And I also think she was intrigued
with the idea of going to Africa.
-
On location for 'Mogambo', Clark
Gable described an incident
-
to Rupert Allan - then Look
magazine correspondent.
-
Grace was alone and was
discovered by Gable.
-
She turned to him and he saw that
she was crying,
-
and he said: "Why are you
crying, Grace?"
-
She says, "So beautiful. I'm reading
'The Snows of Kilimanjaro'
-
by Hemingway, and I looked up
and I was just reading about this
-
frozen leopard I think they
found way up in the snows
-
of this highest mountain in Africa,
-
and I looked up from my book
thinking about
-
what a beautiful picture it was
inside Hemingway,
-
and then I saw a lion walking along
the seashore.
-
It's just too beautiful."
-
She gave human personalities to
her animals
-
and very often she gave animal
personalities to humans.
-
She used to call some of her close
friends bird and she called
-
Rita bird, Jay bird, this bird, that
bird.
-
I mean, people and animals
-
became interchangeable with Grace.
-
Grace's role in 'Mogambo' earned
-
her an Academy Award
nomination as Best Supporting
-
Actress of 1953.
-
"What are you saying? You're
drunk!"
-
"You know how it is on safari.
-
It's in all of us, a woman
always falls for the White Hunter
-
and we guys make the most of it,
can you blame us?
-
Oh, when you come along with that
look in your eye..."
-
Some critics called her a star in
the making.
-
Few realized how luminous that
star would become,
-
and in how short a time.
-
Hollywood, as far as Jack and
Margaret Kelly were concerned,
-
was no place for a girl on her own.
-
On Sundays many times, we used
to go to church,
-
and then uncle George who lived
in Southern California
-
would come pick us up
-
and take us for a ride around and
take us to lunch,
-
and she enjoyed those rides with
George so much.
-
That I would sit in the backseat
and maybe take a little nap,
-
but the two of them would talk
theater and books and poetry.
-
Some of the people in town, the
studio heads,
-
were quite mystified by her,
they didn't understand why
-
she didn't wanna go their dinner
parties
-
and be seated next to all the 'A
people' that young actresses
-
should want to be seated next to.
-
She didn't rush out effusively
-
and reach forward to make lots
and lots of friends.
-
She got up five o'clock in the
morning, went on set, came home
-
and grabbed something to eat.
-
Usually a hamburger which was
Gracie's favorite food.
-
And then went to bed.
-
She was always charming, she was
never cold, she was never icy to
-
anybody on the set.
-
She could give that appearance of
coldness, of being sort of
-
above it all at all times, but inside,
she was a very often seething.
-
And she was a volatile person but
always under control.
-
Alfred Hitchcock used to say
about Grace Kelly
-
with his usual wit that her
apparent virginity was like
-
a mountain covered with snow,
-
but that the mountain was a
volcano.
-
In 1953, director Hitchcock found
in Grace his perfect heroine
-
It was a scene in 'Dial M for Murder'
where he wanted her to answer the phone
-
by putting on her bathrobe
-
and she said there was no reason for
her to put a bathrobe on, just to answer
-
a telephone, with no one else in the
house but her"
-
And he said: "What would you wear?"
She said: "I'll wear a night gown"
-
He said: "All right".
And it worked out very well
-
"Hello...
-
She seemed to know the movements
before Hitchcock
-
had anything to say about it
-
and I think Hitchcock liked that
-
I think everybody liked it
-
In the picture "Rear Window" Hitchcock
said to Grace,
-
"Now, you're going to go have to
go across and get into the room"
-
and Grace without any direction,
she just went over,
-
climbed up the fire escape
-
climbed in one of the windows and
sneaked in through the door
-
and then, looked over across
the way to Hitchcock and said:
-
"Is that what you mean?"
-
Well, everybody applauded, and she
deserved it because
-
this was exactly what Alfred Hitchcock
wanted
-
What Grace brought, as an actress,
was, Grace brought the actual young
-
women of the '50s into
a vision of glamour
-
It was a very proper era, in a way
very premier
-
Underneath that, of course, there was
always the sense of flirtatiousness
-
of young women, and the sense of fun
-
Grace had trully arrived
-
She appeared on the covers of
national magazines
-
But success meant more time spent
in Hollywood
-
She was really a family person,
she didn't like to be alone
-
I remember when she first went to
California to make films
-
she lived alone, and suddenly she asked
Rita Gam to come and live with her
-
and Grace let me in, and there she was
wearing the same Philadelphia skirt
-
same sensible shoes, the same tied
back hair, except now, she was becoming
-
a very valuable property, I had no idea
that her background was one of opulence
-
I thought of her as a coworker
an actress
-
Then, out of the clear blue sky,
and very directly, openly and warmly
-
she said: "Would you like to share the
flat?
-
How would that fit in with your
schedule?"
-
I said, "Well I get up at 5am"
-
She said "I get up at 5 too"
I said: "We can both go to sleep at 9"
-
She said "Terrific! that's it"
-
I think, the thing that most people forget
is that when all of this was happening
-
to Grace, this extraordinary excitement
about her career being generated
-
and roles with the world's most famous
leading men
-
and the world's most respected directors,
-
she was just a girl in her early 20s
-
One time in Hollywood, we were invited
to what turned out to be
-
a dinner party with two bachelors
-
We thought it was going to be this
grand party with a lot of people
-
and, there we were, and the lights were
getting lower
-
and the wine was getting heavier, and
I was getting very nervous
-
and I knudged Grace under the table
-
Grace had her glasses on, I think that
was her protection
-
mine, was sort of chatting nervously
and say "let's go, let's go Grace"
-
and she whispered back "Let's wait
until after dessert, it might be good"
-
'The Bridges at Toko-Ri' gave Grace
the opportunity to play opposite
-
an actor she admired: William Holden
-
"Harry, you've got to tell me about
those bridges"
-
The kind of concentration that a
good actor was capable of
-
would definitely infect her
-
"I know we're not going to fly
above the mountains"
-
"We're going to fly between them"
-
It would make her respond, and in that
way you could see that she had a nervous
-
system that was similar to ?
-
She reacted immediately
-
"You didn't want to tell me because
you didn't want me to worry
-
well, I don't want you to worry either
about me, I mean"
-
"I know what the admiral was trying to
tell me,
-
I had to face those bridges too"
-
Director George Seaton was impressed
by Grace's performance
-
and wanted her for the demanding role
of the wife in 'The Country Girl'
-
But, before releasing her, MGM insisted
she appear in 'Green Fire'
-
Which, wasn't one of her favorites films
she was tired when she started
-
She had done about 6 pictures in a row
and she had to go to South America
-
A film like 'Green Fire' that absolutely
made her blazing mad
-
I mean, she said: "This is not what I
wanted to be an actress for"
-
But she did do it in order to get the
part in "The Country Girl"
-
"At the moment all I want is for you to
get dressed so we can get out of here"
-
"Who is in New York?"
-
"Frank, I am warning you, I'm going to hit
you with the first thing I pick up"
-
The greatest expression of courage that
Grace demonstrated was the throwing
-
away of her mask of beauty and
of her elegance
-
Nobody understood at all, I mean
why would this gorgeous creature
-
want to be seen in an old tacky
sweater with her hair pulled back
-
in a bun, looking haggard
-
She desperately wanted to be this
great actress
-
"You'll be in the strong, sober hands of
Bernie Dodd"
-
"Can you stand him up on his feet
again? Because that's where all my
-
prayers have gone; to see that one holy
hour when he can stand alone again"
-
"Listen"
-
"And I might forgive even you
Mr. Dodd, if you can keep 'em up long
-
enough for me to get out from under"
-
"All I want is my own name and a modest
job to buy sugar for my coffee"
-
"Would you listen-"
- "You can't believe that, can you?
-
You can't believe that a woman is crazy
-
out of her mind to live alone, in one
room by herself"
-
"Listen to me, listen to me"
-
"Why are you holding me?
I said you're holding me!"
-
"How could you be so angry, someone
who didn't even know?
-
In the single year of 1954, she had
completed 4 major films
-
"Grace Kelly for 'The Country Girl'"
-
and won an Academy Award
-
She was pronounced one of Hollywood's
major stars
-
She was 24, but it seemed she had it all
-
This is after Grace had enormous
success in films and bought a very big
-
posh apartment, and I have an image
of her father walking through the lobby
-
and Grace peering out saying:
-
"There he is, he's coming"
and it was as if this fictional character
-
the Great Gatsby, had come down to look
at her apartment
-
and she really wanted to prove to
him that she had accomplished a
-
great deal, and that was the first
time I got a sense of an undercurrent
-
of something other than this picture
of family
-
Grace dated, but no one really seriously
until the latter part of her career
-
There were so many people that were
in love with her
-
Most men were
-
She had that quality of, I don't know,
turning men on
-
She was going to be my maid of honour
and when I, baby sister
-
was getting married,
she started to think about
-
"Well, I want to get married too"
-
I was married in June, and I think I
broke the news that I was pregnant
-
and am going to have a baby in May
and she said: "Lizzie, you are going to
-
have a baby! Oh! I want a baby,
I'm missing things"
-
In 1955, Grace would appear in a film
that would change her life
-
Location worked for 'To Catch a Thief'
to a place near the ancient principality
-
of Monaco
-
Her co star would be Cary Grant, once
again, she was directed
-
by Alfred Hitchcock
-
What he extracted from her
combination of the cool beauty
-
who held it all back and then just
gave that just enough to be tantalising
-
and just enough to make the leading
man and the audience want a little more
-
"Ever had a better offer
in your whole life?"
-
"One worth everything?"
-
"I never had a crazier one"
-
"Just as long as you are satisfied"
-
"You know as well as I do
this neckless is an invitation"
-
"Well, I'm not"
-
She had a lot of beau's and
boyfriends who were actors and
-
human beings, and dress designers, and
this and that but there wasn't
-
this one person who could fulfill
this childhood image that many
-
of us have about wanting that one man
in our life to be special and
-
really, to be the old prince on the
white ?
-
A French magazine had decided the
palace in Monaco would be a perfect
-
background for Grace or a publicity
layout
-
And then, Prince Rainier indicated he
was willing to meet the beautiful star
-
Though he was known as a shy and
modest man, Prince Rainier III was called
-
Europe's most eligible bachelor
-
And his meeting with Grace
immediately provoked interest
-
"Rumors linking you with, virtually
everybody, and the latest one is
-
with Grace Kelly, would you comment on
that for us?"
-
"No, I just met Grace Kelly,
she came to the palace when she was
-
at Canne's, for the festival, and that's
all of it"
-
"Although, many stories say that you
are actively seeking a wife
-
would you care to comment on that?"
"No, I'm not"
-
"What if you did meet a girl that you
like? Would the publicity about it
-
prevent you from do anything about it?"
"No, it shouldn't, I don't think it should
-
"If you were to marry, what kind of girl
do you have in mind?"
-
"I don't know, the best"
-
Being the best is a lesson Jack Kelly
had drilled into his children
-
Grace had excelled, she had reached
the top of her profession
-
But, for Grace Kelly there had to be more
-
MGM had no idea of Grace's future
when they cast her in a film that was
-
oddly prophetic
-
'The Swan'
-
It was based on a play by Molnár and
the story was very simply the story
-
of a princess
-
"I want to be so good to you"
-
"Oh, I want a hundred things, I want to
tell you everything that's in my heart
-
all my secrets, I adore Napoleon too"
-
"Yes, Princess"
-
"I want to hear you call me by my name"
-
"Alexandra"
-
"Alexandra"
-
There was an innate aristocracy,
elegance about her
-
not only in comportment, in manners
but also in thinking, in being
-
It has been a cliché to say that
Grace Kelly looked like a Princess
-
but, she did
-
There was another element in
Grace Kelly that was all important
-
she had this extraordinary sense of
humour not only, and first of all
-
about herself
-
Never taking herself seriously
-
During filming of 'The Swan'
Alec Guinness had an Indian tomahawk
-
smuggled into Grace's bed, and she
quickly returned the compliment
-
the joke would continue for years
-
They never spoke about finding it
nor passing it along
-
It just dissapeared, it went from one
to the other
-
I get back home one night, I'm playing
in a show, get into bed and I
-
say to my wife: "For God's sake, why
on Earth do we need a cold hot water
-
bottle? Why do we need
the hot water bottle?"
-
She said "I don't know what you're talking
about." It was this identical tomahawk
-
Somehow, Alec Guinness got it
into the Palace, at least once into
-
Grace's bed
-
"So, while she was downstairs, the
tomahawk was put under the ?"
-
So, she ended up with the tomahawk.
She read in the papers in Europe
-
that he was being honoured by the Academy
-
of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
-
I stayed at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel
clasping my Oscar
-
got back at 3 in the morning or whatever
it was, and there in my bed
-
in the Wilshire Hotel was the tomahawk
-
Out of this extraordinarily withdrawn,
glamorous, glacial personality
-
poured forth this sense of the ridiculous
that only the British currently
-
appreciate, or a 5 year-old child
-
"? that finnishing school,
I think they finished her there"
-
"Come on mother"
-
Jessie Royce Landis played Grace
Kelly's mother in two films
-
and when Grace married Prince
Rainier she said:
-
"I'm the one who advised her to marry
him
-
and told her 'that would be your
greatest role'"
-
And one Monday morning she came into
LB Mayor's office
-
and said:
-
"Mr. Mayor I'm going to get married"
-
Well he said: "Jeez, that's wonderful I'll
have a big reception for you upstairs
-
with everybody in Hollywood"
"No" she says
-
"Mr. Mayor, you don't quite understand"
-
Grace Kelly had been news worthy as
a movie actress
-
but now, her importance soared
-
"Grace Kelly, how are you feeling on this
occasion?"
-
"Needless to say that I am very
very happy"
-
"How about you Mr. Kelly?"
-
"Well, I think you can't interfere
with love if you're in love
-
with each other"
-
"I gave my blessing"
-
Reporters hung on every word
and were alert to every move
-
made by Grace or Prince Rainier
-
"Will you continue with your career
after your marriage?"
-
"That decision will be made by
the Prince"
-
"Is Mrs. Kelly going to make any more
movies as far as you know?"
-
"I don't think so"
-
He did come to the house that
Christmas and Don and I had
-
our own little apartment, and we asked
them over for dinner
-
and he fit in very well
even helped with the dishes
-
When we first met him, he might have been
shocked, when we'd say: "Come on Raini"
-
you know, but he
-
just fit into the family beautifully
-
"George, lie down here please"
-
"Crazy!"
-
In 1956, Grace made her last Hollywood
film
-
'High Society'
-
In it, she proudly wore her new
engagement ring
-
The sense of style
-
"How do you do? I'm Tracy Lord"
-
High comedy performances
she gave in 'High Society'
-
vastly different from anything that she
had ever done before
-
"Did you get lost finding us?"
-
- "No, not at all, we had good directions"
- "Good"
-
- "You don't mind our being here for your wedding?"
- "Oh, I'm delighted
-
we have so much cake"
-
"What is your name dear?"
-
Grace's sense of fun would never again
be as publicly revealed
-
"My name is Elizabeth Imbrie"
-
"Elizabeth Imbrie"
-
"Oh! It sounds like a medieval saint who
was burned to death"
-
"And you?"
-
She had made this extraordinary
luminous climb to the absolute top
-
apex of the industry
-
A lot of people have this quality,
and have no electricity
-
She combined them
-
She could have called the shots
from then on, I mean
-
she was finally in a position
not to have to argue about the
-
films she wanted to do, people would
have bought things for her
-
they would have planned productions
around her, they would have done anything
-
and she fell in love, and she said:
"Bye! I'm going off to be
-
Mrs. in this case, the Princess of
Monaco
-
and, before we all knew it, she
was gone
-
Grace Kelly had never really enjoyed the
publicity that came with stardom
-
Now, she would feel the burden of true
international celebrity
-
I don't know how she was able to
protect that small
-
core that's so necessary,
that keeps you sane, but she did
-
She was able under the most
extraordinary mirage of the press
-
and personal need that people
had, I mean, people just
-
I don't know why they do it, but
they seem to want to get inside
-
particularly, the press, of a person's
soul, and Grace had the extraordinary
-
ability of not rising above it -
separating herself from it
-
It was almost a mystical kind of
ability she had to be the quiet
-
eye in the middle of a horrendous
hurricane
-
And, there she was, just firm and
sure and calm
-
"... exciting thing and I am
very very happy, sometimes a little sad
-
to be away from home, but I hope
to be back quite often"
-
She chose as any average young woman
would, her 6 best friends and her sister
-
to attend her at her wedding to the Prince
-
And then, Grace Kelly of Philadelphia
with most of her family, and many of
-
her closest friends, sailed away
to become a Princess
-
Prince Rainier's yacht bears his betrothed
into the harbour at Monaco
-
a few hours earlier, Grace Kelly...
-
Once we arrived in Monaco it was, of
course, all the madness that one has seen
-
over the years of what went on
-
They came by the thousands, to
welcome and to judge
-
She was rich, she was beautiful
but, she was an American
-
and, to some of them, just an actress
-
I think Grace had tough job being
a movie star from America
-
moving into the life of the symbol
of Southern countries
-
Constant round of parties and being part
of this glamorous and mythological event
-
and just simply being around royalty
was new to all of us
-
As Grace took up a totally new role,
some who did not know her watched
-
and waited for her to fail
-
It was like a fairy tale, all of it and
that's the part that we got to
-
be part of
-
It was not a fairy tale
-
Grace relaxed at her husband's side
-
but she knew to the Monegasques she
now had to prove herself worthy
-
of being the wife of their ruler
-
Prince Rainier III
-
The last time I saw Grace was in my own
imagination when she was on the yacht
-
chug chug chugging away into the
Mediterranean after the wedding was over
-
and I realized that there was no more
Grace Kelly
-
Grace Kelly was a memory, Grace Kelly
was history, there was only
-
Princess Grace of Monaco
-
Then we all went home and she stayed
there
-
This was a very hard challenge for her
because, not only the language barrier
-
but in a foreign world, foreign customs
-
and the principality, the formal way of
doing things
-
She kept studying things that would
enforce her position as Princess
-
She utilised everything around
her, she improvised on being a Princess
-
the way a really good actress would
improvise on a part
-
For example, she always tried to
simplify things
-
Alexandre, the hairdresser in Paris, fixed
for her a number of special pieces of
-
hair attachments
-
So, when she would travel with all
these fancy aristocrats
-
while they were making appointments
with hairdressers, everywhere we went
-
Grace was always ready with one of
these hairpieces that she was making
-
into some kind of a wonderful hairdo
-
Never took extra time
-
Since she was, fundamentally
a working woman
-
She did everything with a great
purpose, and sense of responsibility
-
On cultural or diplomatic occasions
-
with Presidents
-
or with Popes
-
she was expected to be perfect
-
in bearing,
-
and often, in her newly acquired language
-
(Speaking French)
-
It was something that I am amazed that she
-
could handle
-
I wondered so many times,
'Oh, I could never do that'
-
but she was determined
to make the best of it
-
"Can I ask you to explain what will
happen in the event twins are born
-
a boy second, and a girl first
-
Who would be the ruling monarch?"
-
"The successor would be the eldest
child, even if it's a girl
-
but that doesn't mean that
she will rule, because
-
she can always resign or abdicate
in favour of her younger brother
-
and he would then rule"
-
"Are twins expected?"
-
"Not that I know of"
-
"Princess Grace, is your life how you
imagined it would be before you became
-
a princess?"
-
"Well I became Princess before I had
much time to imagine what it would be"
-
With the birth of a daughter, Caroline,
on January 23rd 1957
-
The line of succession was secure
-
Just 15 months later, a male heir, Albert
-
arrived to even greater celebration
-
I think the major thing came
when she had the children
-
and they did come very quickly
-
She wanted the children, she loved them
-
and we had so much fun
rough-housing together
-
Her children and mine are the same age
-
and they've gone to camp together
-
Don and I have been to Monaco
several times with the children
-
and they've come here to Ocean City
-
Their needs were the same
-
for closeness, and for family
-
In addition to her own children
-
Grace would always have the Kelly's
-
Prince Rainier soon found himself
an accepted part of that family
-
Grace always adored
-
children, and she almost
over-adored her own children
-
she was the typical loving
-
sometimes too disciplining
-
but always giving, mother
-
Private time was essential for them both
-
family life was a retreat
from the formalities of state
-
Grace was determined
to keep her family a success
-
No matter how demanding
her official schedule
-
there was always time for her children
-
There were the trips home
-
often with Prince Rainier
-
There was the anniversary
for Margaret Kelly
-
and her growing brood of grandchildren
-
For Prince Rainier, cruises on his yacht
-
meant he could indulge
his passion for fishing
-
Then, there was the time set aside
for enjoying the palace pool
-
with children and friends
-
I think she held on to her old friends
-
in those beginning years because
-
they were her reality as Grace Kelly
-
and she didn't want to lose Grace Kelly
-
There was never any loss of the sense
that she was Gracie from Philadelphia
-
She was
-
a girl with an American soul
-
and heart, and she brought that
to Monaco with her, and she never
-
she never chipped away at that at all
-
In the back of Grace's mind was always
the possibility of going back to being
-
a film star
-
I think she kept it there for those rainy
nights
-
I would occasionally read a script
-
that would intrigue me
-
I'd call her and send it on
-
The opportunity arose to do 'Marnie'
I think she leapt at it
-
I couldn't understand why she would
want to do it, and why Hitchcock
-
would want to do it
-
The Monegasques were absolutely,
completely undone because
-
they thought that she had abandoned
them
-
I think, that the thing that convinced her
that she couldn't do it was that she was
-
the Princess of the Church
-
once she believed that
-
dignity of being the Princess of the
capital Church was more important than
-
being an actress
-
she accepted it, but I think it took a
long time
-
In 1965, seven years after the birth of
Albert,
-
Stephanie was born
-
Once Grace's life as a performing artist
-
seemed to come to a close as she became
Princess of Monaco
-
She didn't discard her feelings for the
arts, any part of them
-
I got a letter from Grace saying that
she was going around doing poetry
-
readings for
-
a theatre in London that was being built
-
So, basically, Grace was an artist
-
and she did it through poetry
-
she wanted very much to have Monaco
be a cultural centre
-
Grace established a foundation to
further her goals
-
The Monegasques had been without
a playhouse for many years
-
a new one was built
-
Today, this theatre draws drama
companies from around the world
-
Once, the famous Ballet Russe of
Montecarlo danced here
-
Grace was determined to bring those
great days back
-
A ballet company must have a school
-
Through the Princess Grace foundation
a small school
-
run by one of ballet's foremost teachers
-
has been transformed into a
world-class academy
-
Both Caroline and Stephanie had
studied here as small children
-
Grace was frequently more of an onlooker
-
I remember a particular
-
general rehearsal when she asked me
"Do you think I could make them up?"
-
And all the little children gathered
around her
-
all the faces stood towards the Princess
-
and she was putting a little bit of rouge
on the
-
cheeks, and a little bit of lipstick
on the lips
-
It was a love of children and of
ballet that led to one of Grace's
-
few returns to film
-
The 1979, Earle Mack documentary
'The Children of Theatre Street'
-
about young dancers in Leningrad
-
They are the protagonists
-
but as their predecessors have
demonstrated
-
perhaps the greater protagonist is
the school they go to
-
"Angelina has practised these movements
hundreds and hundreds of times"
-
In the next 6 years, she will repeat them
thousands of times"
-
What makes it worth it is this"
-
Grace knew the demands of great
performance
-
but for the Monegasques, Grace herself
had gone beyond performance
-
Through the years, by her diligence, her
constancy
-
she trully was her Serene Highness
Princess Grace of Monaco
-
I don't wake up in the morning
thinking I'm living a fairy tale
-
I have a job to get done and children to
raise
-
and a lot of responsibilities and
obligations
-
I like to think that they would
consider me a professional at my job
-
no matter what it would be
-
If I take on something, I like to do it
well, and I like to do it completely
-
As some people often say that Grace
made a great sacrifice of her career
-
in becoming the Princess of Monaco
-
I don't think she ever felt that way
-
Well, I say
-
she made a
-
she made as good as princess as if she
was a movie actress
-
even better
-
You know, in fairy tales
-
one has to invent the prince and
the princess
-
but here, we have them
-
we had them
-
"It was in the rugged hills along the
border with France that Princess Grace's
-
car went out of control in a curve that
has seen many accidents"
-
"According to the official version,
princess Grace was driving her
-
17 year old daughter, Stephanie
when the brakes failed"
-
"A young Monegasque woman put her
feelings about princess Grace this way
-
"She was never a problem for us, there
were no ?, no scandals
-
but she was, after all, a lady"
-
I think she won the hearts
-
and the love of the Monegasque people
-
because, when she died I have never
seen such true sorrow
-
(Choir sings)
-
For me, I just had a great sister
-
and had a loving sister
-
(Choir continues)
-
Before she was a Princess
-
she was an actress
-
and before that
-
a girl from Philadelphia
-
a family girl
Captions Requested
