One of classic Hollywood’s most beloved stars of the silver screen, Grace Kelly appeared in countless prominent pictures during her brief yet lucrative career. The actress would headline a slew of adored cinema staples, gaining recognition and praise for her performances in films like Mogambo and High Society, as well as starring in three of mentor and frequent collaborator Alfred Hitchcock’s best films: Dial M for Murder, Rear Window, and To Catch a Thief. The duo’s friendship helped elevate Kelly to an A-list movie star, and cemented her status as a gifted and dynamic actress who captivated audiences everywhere. She would go on to win both an Academy Award and Golden Glove Award in her illustrious and impressive career.
Kelly shocked the entertainment world when she retired from acting at age 26 to marry Prince Rainier III in 1956, leaving the glitz and glamour of Tinsel Town behind to become Princess Consort of Monaco (something captured in Grace of Monaco, starring Nicole Kidman as Kelly). The twentieth century icon would go on to do extensive charity work, establishing the Princess Grace Foundation to support local artisans in 1964. Her final film contribution was in the 1977 documentary The Children of Theatre Street, in which she served as the movie’s voiceover narrator. Kelly died at 52 on September 14, 1982, from injuries sustained in a car accident, leaving behind a legacy as an adored and deeply admired performer. These are the best Grace Kelly movies.
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8 High Society
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
The 1956 romantic comedy musical High Society stars the dazzling Grace Kelly, Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra and follows a popular jazz musician (Crosby) as he attempts to win back the affections of his soon-to-be remarried ex-wife (Kelly) with the help of an undercover tabloid reporter (Sinatra); things get more complicated when he too falls for the beauty. The picture was Kelly’s final professional appearance before she married Prince Rainier III and became Princess consort of Monaco, retiring from show business.
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The actress showed off her vocal skills when she sang the musical number “True Love” alongside Crosby, with the single topping the charts in multiple countries. Kelly wore her actual engagement ring from Rainier for her character Tracy’s Lord’s ring, a 10.5 carat emerald cut diamond. Upon the film’s release, Variety commended the starlet, writing, “Miss Kelly impresses as the femme lead with pleasantly comedienne overtones” and that it was “possibly her most relaxed performance.”
7 The Bridges at Toko-Ri
Paramount Pictures
Based on the novel of the same name by Pulitzer Prize winner James Michener, the 1954 war film The Bridges at Toko-Ri stars William Holden as a Navy fighter pilot in the Korean War who is tasked with bombing a group of heavily defended bridges in North Korea. Grace Kelly portrays the pilot’s wife Nancy Brubaker, who is reunited with her husband when he is given a three-day shore leave in Tokyo but is distraught when he’s tasked with completing a life-threatening mission.
The moving drama heavily emphasizes the lives of the pilots and crew during the Korean War, and was considered more of a multi-faceted account that depicted both ordinary seamen and command officers involved in direct combat. It was made with close cooperation with the U.S. Navy that resulted in breathtaking aerial scenes and carrier action, proving to be a marvel for moviegoers. The Bridges at Toko-Ri won the Academy Award for Best Special Effects and was well-received by the public and critics alike.
6 Mogambo
Loew's Inc.
John Ford’s 1953 technicolor romantic adventure Mogambo features silver screen legends Clark Gable, Ava Gardner and Grace Kelly, and centers on hunter Victor Marswell’s love triangle with a seductive American socialite Eloise Kelly and contemplative English wife Linda Nordley while on a Kenyan safari. On being cast in the picture, Kelly later told Hollywood columnist Hedda Hopper, “Mogambo had three things that interested me: John Ford, Clark Gable, and a trip to Africa, with expenses paid. If Mogambo had been in Arizona, I wouldn’t have done it.”
It’s possible that the production was more interesting than the film itself, seeing as it was marred with on-set tension and discord, with director John Ford growing irritated by the constant presence of Garder’s then husband Frank Sinatra and Gable being at odds with the filmmaker over his mistreatment of the cast and crew. Ultimately though, and regardless of the on-set issues, Mogambo was a massive commerical and critical hit for Ford and the A-list stars, with the flick revitalizing Gable’s career and earning Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress Oscar nominations for Gardner and Kelly; the latter went on to win a Golden Globe for her layered and endearing portrayal.
5 High Noon
United Artists
For her first major film role, Grace Kelly appeared in one of the best Western movies of all time, the 1952 Oscar-winning High Noon. The captivating actress portrays the wife of a town Marshall who is faced with the difficult choice of facing a gang of killers alone or fleeing with his new bride. She stars alongside the commanding Gary Cooper, and was cast after film producer Stanley Kramer saw the actress in an off-Broadway play and believed she would make the perfect partner to Cooper’s character Will Kane.
Kelly’s Amy Kramer is a devout Quaker and a pacifist who wants to run away with her husband to avoid confrontation, but ends up standing her ground and rescuing her husband at the climax of the picture. High Noon is considered an early example of the revisionist Western, with journalist and film critic Kim Newman calling it the “most influential Western of the 1950s because its attitudes subtly changed the societal vision of the whole Western genre.”
4 The Country Girl
In the picture that won Grace Kelly her Academy Award, the movie star appeared in the 1954 drama The Country Girl, which focuses on an alcoholic has-been performer struggling with the one last chance to resurrect his waning career. In the emotion-driven film, Kelly portrays Georgie Elgin, the long-suffering wife of Bing Crosby’s character Frank, and constantly handles all her husband’s responsibilities but finds it extremely difficult to cope with her husband’s lack of drive and spirit. She becomes torn between her feelings for her spouse and her lover Bernie Dodd, portrayed by William Holden.
Adapted from the Clifford Odet play of the same name, Kelly was interested in doing the picture and was adamant on taking the role, even threatening her studio MGM that she would pack her bags and leave for New York for good if they refused. The actress’ power move proved successful, as she won the Oscar for Best Actress, saying in her acceptance speech: “The thrill of this moment keeps me from saying what I really feel. I can only say thank you with all my heart to all who made this possible for me. Thank you.”
3 To Catch a Thief
Grace Kelly’s final collaboration with the “Master of Suspense” Alfred Hitchcock was the 1955 romantic thriller To Catch a Thief, which follows retired cat burglar John Robie, who must save his reformed reputation by catching an imposter preying on the wealthy tourists of the French Riviera. The debonair Cary Grant stars as Robie with Kelly portraying Francie Stevens, the wealthy daughter of a widow who starts a tentative romance with the retired criminal until her own jewels are stolen.
During filming of the exciting picture, the two acting greats developed a mutual bond and admiration for one another; years later, when asked to name his all-time favorite actress, Grant replied: “Well, with all due respect to dear Ingrid Bergman, I much preferred Grace. She had serenity.” To Catch a Thief was released to a positive response, with The New York Times praising the leads’ chemistry and that the film “comes off completely as a hit in the old Hitchcock style…Mr. Grant and Miss Kelly do grandly, especially in one sly seduction scene.”
2 Dial M for Murder
Warner Bros.
During the final years of her career, Alfred Hitchcock became a mentor to Grace Kelly and would cast her in three of his classic pictures, with the famed director calling her the epitome of a femme fatale, with her beauty, style and “sexual elegance.” She joined Ray Milland and Robert Cummings in the 1954 crime thriller Dial M for Murder, in which she played the role of the wealthy wife of a retired professional tennis player who is having an affair with an American crime-fiction writer (Cummings). When her husband (Milland) discovers the romance, he arranges the murder of his adulterous wife in order to inherit her fortune.
Kelly’s work with the legendary filmmaker would become some of her most recognized and critically acclaimed pictures and performances. The actress would ask him countless questions and even go through her scenes with her, with Grace once saying: “He gave me a great deal of confidence within myself.” Hitchcock was infamous for his more malicious or borderline abusive treatment of his actors, who he notoriously called “cattle,” but treated Kelly completely differently than anyone else. He experimented with 3D cinematography for this chilling film, which is considered one of the classic examples of a stage thriller.
1 Rear Window
Widely regarded as one of the greatest films ever made, Alfred Hitchcock’s 1954 mystery thriller Rear Window features the iconic pairing of Grace Kelly and Jimmy Stewart in one of his best movies, following a wheelchair-bound photographer who becomes convinced one of his Greenwich Village neighbors have committed murder. In the beloved classic, Kelly stars as Lisa Fermont, a wealthy Manhattan socialite and fashion model who “never wore the same dress twice.”
The actress’ fashion in the picture was famously admired and coveted by moviegoers, with Hitchcock bringing elegance to the thriller by changing her outfits many times, including: “glamorous evening short dresses, a sheer négligée over a sleek nightgown, a full-skirted floral dress, and a pair of casual jeans.” Kelly’s promotional pictures for Rear Window modeling such ensembles only added to the film’s publicity, and established her as a fashion maven. Kelly’s incredible performance helped make her a household name, and Rear Window considered by many to be one of Hitchcock’s best pictures.
