LaTunaNostra said:
TH, I know Kelly was only wardrobed by Edith Head and Helen Rose in her film career, and of course, in a Hitchcock film, The Master picked out each dress himself.
I read something about that dress a while back - either the original was auctioned off or some replica made up for some diva. I hope not to see that dress on Oscar night next, worn with army boots.
Grace certainly was the haute couture queen, along with Audrey, and amazingly, in those days a beautiful woman in film did not have to be at least 5'8" to wear a Dior, and look good in it.
I know the scene well - will watch the film over and over just to see Kelly in the fashions again.
Like Bergman, she measured up to Hitchcock's ideal of a female lead - elegant and carefully coiffed blonde. Kim Novak came close, and he invented Tippi Hendron, but Grace was the real deal.
I am so glad that someone commented on Grace.
Have you ever seen her in
High Noon as the Quaker wife of Gary Cooper's character, Kane the Marshall?
She is completely covered from head to toe and absolutely stunning. Few women could pull that off as spectacularly.
Too often beauty is defined by the vamp or femme fatale. There's nothign wrong with that. I do it too. Marilyn Monroe, Marlena Dietrich, and the ultimate femme fatale, Barbara Stanwyck, all can tug at my heart strings in their slinky gowns and sultry walks.
My biggest problem with movies today is that they take so much away form teh imagination.
Psycho is the ultimate example of this. You ever see the gore? Nope. But the sight of that lifeless eye and the blood circling down the drain is chilling. Hitchcock was the master.
What he found in Grace Kelly is nothing short of breathtaking. Every movie of hers that I have seen played to her beauty. None better than
Rear Window.
Directors portrayed her as a fragile socialite heiress. In real life she was anything but. She was an accomplished athlete much like her father.
For me, she will always be the ultimate beauty. She did it without gaudy jewelry, tacky tattoos, sleazy outfits, and centerfold photographs.
If I had ever seen her walk into a room I am sure every head would turn just as I have sat up and taken notice when she walks on the screen.
The woman was stunning, all the more so because she portrayed that girl next door innocence and grace. Her name was truly fitting.
