High Society: Grace Kelly and Hollywood - Hardcover

Spoto, Donald

3.63

2,489 ratings by Goodreads

9780091796396: High Society: Grace Kelly and Hollywood

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0091796393 ISBN 13: 9780091796396

Publisher: Hutchinson, 2009

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In just seven years (from 1950 through 1956), Grace Kelly made eleven feature films. They established her as one of the screen's iconic beauties, and as a performer of rare intelligence and wit. Initially, she was sustained by the old studio system, which exerted often punitive control over the life and work of its contract players. But Grace Kelly was not a woman who believed in being subservient to anyone or anything. She refused to submit to the pervasive influence of the movie moguls,thus effectively changing the old rules about how actors ought to behave. After her departure from Hollywood, the film-making capital of the world was never the same again. Drawing on a series of taped interviews with Grace Kelly which have never been published anywhere, Donald Spoto examines the transformation of a convent girl from Philadelphia, raised in wealth during the Depression, to New York print model to television actress to the last star of Hollywood's Golden Age to European princess. Grace Kelly confided in Donald Spoto, they remained friends until her death, and she wrote the Foreword to his first book, The Art of Alfred Hitchcock. To tell her story, Spoto also draws on interviews conducted with a range of people – from James Stewart and Cary Grant to Fred Zinnemann, who directed Grace in her first major movie as the wife of Gary Cooper in High Noon. Much has been written about her personal life, and there have been wild allegations about the number of her sexual partners. Most certainly, Grace Kelly was a passionate woman. She had a liking for the style and manners of European men, which culminated in her marriage to Prince Rainier of Monaco. With great tact and insight, Donald Spoto examines her key relationships, not only with the men who loved her, but with great directors, like Alfred Hitchcock and John Ford, who helped make her an enduring star of motion pictures.

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Review:

"She was a great lady, and also great fun."
--Ava Gardner
"She was anything but cold. Everything about Grace was appealing. She had those big warm eyes, and if you ever played a love scene with her, you knew she wasn't cold."
--James Stewart
"In two senses, she didn't have a bad side-you could film her from any angle, and she was one of the most untemperamental, cooperative people in the business."
--Cary Grant
"The subtlety of Grace's sexuality-her elegant sexiness-appealed to me. . . . With Grace, you had to find it out-you had to discover it."
--Alfred Hitchcock
"You couldn't work with Grace Kelly without falling a little in love with her."
--Fred Coe
"I thought she was the most gorgeous creature I ever met. . . . She was so entirely unaffected, completely without vanity."
--Rita Gam
"She was a delight to have in the company-a rare kind of young person who had a hunger to learn and to improve herself."
--Raymond Massey
"I saw the utter perfection of her nose . . . the long, elegant neck . . . the silky, diaphanous blond hair. . . . A very aristocratic-looking girl . . . not the sort you simply called for a date."
--Oleg Cassini

"From the Hardcover edition."

She was a great lady, and also great fun.
Ava Gardner
She was anything but cold. Everything about Grace was appealing. She had those big warm eyes, and if you ever played a love scene with her, you knew she wasn t cold.
James Stewart
In two senses, she didn t have a bad side you could film her from any angle, and she was one of the most untemperamental, cooperative people in the business.
Cary Grant
The subtlety of Grace s sexuality her elegant sexiness appealed to me. . . . With Grace, you had to find it out you had to discover it.
Alfred Hitchcock
You couldn t work with Grace Kelly without falling a little in love with her.
Fred Coe
I thought she was the most gorgeous creature I ever met. . . . She was so entirely unaffected, completely without vanity.
Rita Gam
She was a delight to have in the company a rare kind of young person who had a hunger to learn and to improve herself.
Raymond Massey
I saw the utter perfection of her nose . . . the long, elegant neck . . . the silky, diaphanous blond hair. . . . A very aristocratic-looking girl . . . not the sort you simply called for a date.
Oleg Cassini

"From the Hardcover edition.""

She was a great lady, and also great fun.
Ava Gardner
She was anything but cold. Everything about Grace was appealing. She had those big warm eyes, and if you ever played a love scene with her, you knew she wasn t cold.
James Stewart
In two senses, she didn t have a bad side you could film her from any angle, and she was one of the most untemperamental, cooperative people in the business.
Cary Grant
The subtlety of Grace s sexuality her elegant sexiness appealed to me. . . . With Grace, you had to find it out you had to discover it.
Alfred Hitchcock
You couldn t work with Grace Kelly without falling a little in love with her.
Fred Coe
I thought she was the most gorgeous creature I ever met. . . . She was so entirely unaffected, completely without vanity.
Rita Gam
She was a delight to have in the company a rare kind of young person who had a hunger to learn and to improve herself.
Raymond Massey
I saw the utter perfection of her nose . . . the long, elegant neck . . . the silky, diaphanous blond hair. . . . A very aristocratic-looking girl . . . not the sort you simply called for a date.
Oleg Cassini

From the Hardcover edition."

"She was a great lady, and also great fun."
--Ava Gardner

"She was anything but cold. Everything about Grace was appealing. She had those big warm eyes, and if you ever played a love scene with her, you knew she wasn't cold."
--James Stewart

"In two senses, she didn't have a bad side-you could film her from any angle, and she was one of the most untemperamental, cooperative people in the business."
--Cary Grant

"The subtlety of Grace's sexuality-her elegant sexiness-appealed to me. . . . With Grace, you had to find it out-you had to discover it."
--Alfred Hitchcock

"You couldn't work with Grace Kelly without falling a little in love with her."
--Fred Coe

"I thought she was the most gorgeous creature I ever met. . . . She was so entirely unaffected, completely without vanity."
--Rita Gam

"She was a delight to have in the company-a rare kind of young person who had a hunger to learn and to improve herself."
--Raymond Massey

"I saw the utter perfection of her nose . . . the long, elegant neck . . . the silky, diaphanous blond hair. . . . A very aristocratic-looking girl . . . not the sort you simply called for a date."
--Oleg Cassini

From the Hardcover edition.

Book Description:

This new biography draws on a series of unpublished interviews and offers a startling and intitmate portrait of one of the most glamourous icons of the 20th century.

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