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Grace Kelly starts her career for the first time 40 years after her death


Grace Kelly starts her career for the first time 40 years after her death

Grace Kelly starts her career for the first time 40 years after her death

Everett Collection

From screen goddess to real-life princess, Grace Kelly will be remembered as a glamorous icon who has been the subject of countless books, articles and exposés since her untimely death in 1982.

One of the great leading ladies of Hollywood’s Golden Age, Kelly embodied her name for generations of film fans during her relatively short film career, starring in no fewer than three of Alfred Hitchcock’s great thrillers. Although she served on the board of 20th Century Fox in the last years of her life, she retired from the screen when she married Prince Rainier III of Monaco and accepted royal responsibilities in place of the Hollywood lifestyle. She died in 1982 after a car accident in the principality.

For a star of her stature, Kelly left behind a surprisingly small film legacy—about a dozen films in total—but many of them have become revered classics in the decades since their release. On Saturday, August 24, she will celebrate her first career launch when Turner Classic Movies honors her in its annual Summer Under The Stars (SUTS), where she will finally have a day dedicated exclusively to her. Noticeably absent from their program is the 1952 western Twelve noonin which Kelly plays the impatient young bride of Gary Cooper, a now-retired lawman whose honeymoon is interrupted by news of an approaching criminal gang. Rest assured, however, that Kelly’s program also includes the rest of her classics and a few surprises.

Summer Under the Stars: Grace Kelly (Saturday, August 24 on TCM). Here are the 12 films airing:

FOURTEEN HOURS, James Warren, Grace Kelly, 1951, TM & Copyright (c) 20th Century Fox Film Corp. All rights reserved

20th Century Fox Film Corp./Everett Collection

1. Fourteen Hours (1951) at 6 a.m. ET

Also known as The man on the edgeThis film was Kelly’s film debut, albeit in a small role. Kelly plays a woman who is about to sign her final divorce papers at a lawyer’s office across the street. She witnesses the events and is so moved by the tragedy of it all that she decides to stay with her husband. (Kelly is pictured above with James Warren)

2. Mogambo (1953) at 8am ET

The film, directed by John Ford, features a trio of Hollywood glamours – Clark Gable, Ava Gardner and Kelly. It was a remake of the film Red dustabout an African hunter who is torn between two women – a lustful showgirl (Gardner) and a married woman (Kelly).

HIGH SOCIETY, from left: Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, Frank Sinatra, 1956

High Society / Photo credit: Everett Collection

3. High Society (1956) at 10 a.m. ET

Kelly leads an all-star cast in this charming musical comedy about a Newport socialite who is about to marry the wrong man. Cole Porter’s songs for this film are “True Love” and “You’re Sensational.” The film also stars Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra (both pictured above with Kelly), Celeste Holm and Louis Armstrong.

4. The Country Girl (1952) at 12:00 p.m. ET

Kelly won an Oscar for her varied role in this film as the boring wife of an alcoholic singer who refuses to abandon her husband. Also starring: Bing Crosby and William Holden.

5. The Bridges of Toko-Ri (1955) at 2:00 p.m. ET

In this Korean War-era drama, Kelly is on edge as a wife and mother whose husband (William Holden) must give up his vacation to carry out a potentially deadly mission.

GREEN FIRE, Stewart Granger, helps Grace Kelly with her hair, on location in Colombia, 1954

Everett Collection

6. Green Fire (1959) at 4:00 p.m. ET

Kelly plays the role of a coffee plantation owner who helps a miner attacked by bandits, who later becomes involved in an explosive action. Pictured above, she is on location in Columbia, where her co-star Stewart Granger tries to help her with her hair.

7. Dial M for Murder (1954) at 6:00 p.m. ET

Tony Wendice (Ray Milland) plans to have his unfaithful wife Margot (Kelly) murdered. When his plan goes awry and Margot kills a hitman in self-defense, Tony improvises and accuses his wife of premeditated murder.

8. To Catch a Thief (1955) at 8:00 p.m. ET

Kelly shone in this thriller, which stars alongside Cary Grant and was beautifully shot in Monaco, where she eventually met, married and spent her retirement with Prince Rainier III.

Rear Window, from left: Grace Kelly, James Stewart, 1954

Everett Collection

9. Rear Window (1954) at 10:00 p.m. ET

Kelly is arguably at her bravest and most glamorous in this film (pictured above), one of Hitchcock’s greatest moments, in which she plays a society lady who uses her charm to win the favor of Jimmy Stewart’s photojournalist, who has a lame leg, a window overlooking a courtyard, and a sense of curiosity and voyeurism that outweighs his caution.

10. The Swan (1956) at 12:15 am ET

When this film came out, the world was thrilled to see the fairytale romance between movie star Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier of Monaco. Kelly played a beautiful princess who tries to get a prince to propose to her. Obviously, she didn’t need an acting role for this. Notably, in this film, the Biltmore House in North Carolina served as the backdrop for the palatial home of European royalty.

11. High Society (1956) at 2:30 p.m. ET

This is an encore broadcast. See number 3 above.

Wedding in Monaco, Grace Kelly, Prince Rainier, 1956

Everett Collection

12. Wedding in Monaco (1958) at 4:45 a.m. ET

This short film features real wedding footage from the wedding of Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier.

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