High Society

by Donald Spoto

  2* Hitchcock claimed to speak for many when he told me Grace accepted the position with Fox “because it gives her free first-class airfare to come and go.” I corrected him gently: there was never anything like a cash shortage in the Grimaldi accounts. “Oh, you’d be surprised,” he replied. He was wrong.

  NOTES

  Unless otherwise noted, all quotations from Grace Kelly Grimaldi are drawn from my recorded conversations with her. Details of interviews with others are supplied at the first citation only; subsequent quotations from the same source derive from the identical interview with that source unless stated to the contrary.

  ONE

  We could have been members Stephen Birmingham, “Princess Grace: The Fairy Tale 25 Years Later,” McCall’s, March 1981.

  My other children Mrs. John B. Kelly, as told to Richard Gehman, in a series of syndicated newspaper articles published in dozens of American newspapers for ten days beginning January 15, 1956. These sentences appeared in the installments dated January 15 and 16. Hereafter designated Kelly/Gehman.

  Grace could change her voice Robyns, p. 27.

  I hate to see Grace’s poem has been widely published—see, e.g., “The Girl in White Gloves,” Time, January 31, 1955.

  They’ve latched on to Gaither, p. 7.

  I had a good stiff Robyns, p. 23.

  the Prussian general Lewis, pp. 172, 180; see also Englund, p. 29n.

  My mother was the disciplinarian Curtis Bill Pepper, “Princess Grace’s Problems as a Mother,” McCall’s, December 1974.

  She was so myopic Conant, p. 17.

  My older sister Pepper, “Princess Grace’s Problems.” 17. Of the four Lewis, p. 161.

  I thought it would be Isabella Taves, “The Seven Graces,” McCall’s, January 1955, 70.

  According to him Rupert Allan to the author, October 1, 1990.

  a very nice man Lizanne Le Vine, in Grace Kelly: The American Princess, A Wombat Production, written and produced by Gene Feldman and Suzette Winter (1987); hereafter designated Feldman/Winter.

  I used to help Princess Grace of Monaco, My Book, of Flowers, pp. 7–8.

  Grace admired her father Rita Gam to the author, May 7, 2007.

  As a child Feldman/Winter.

  Jack Kelly didn’t Marian Christy, “I Remember Grace Kelly When …,” Boston Globe, July 2, 1989.

  He kept their cars Lewis, p. 182.

  Gracie asked my opinions Robyns, pp. 28–29.

  Little flower Grace’s lyric was reprinted, e.g., by Quine, p. 401.

  Aside from going to Mass Lizanne Kelly LeVine, in Hello! (UK), no. 222 (Oct. 3, 1992): 60; hereafter, LeVine/Hello!

  My dad Lewis, p. 158.

  I won’t put my plays “Where Are They Now?” Newsweek, February 2, 1970.

  I am so proud Robyns, p. 21.

  My dear, before you Lewis, p. 25.

  Grace’s first date Kelly/Gehman, January 16, 1956.

  My sister Lizanne Gaither, p. 34.

  There was never any doubt John Underwood, “No Bird, No Plane, Just Superjack,” Sports Illustrated, May 10, 1971.

  It was a failure Ibid.

  I could never understand Ibid.

  messed up his only son’s life Lewis, p. 14.

  Daddy was uncomfortable LeVine/Hello!, p. 63.

  Jack Kelly saw acting Christy, “I Remember …”

  She wouldn’t let her Uncle George Pete Martin, “The Luckiest Girl in Hollywood,” The Saturday Evening Post, October 30, 1954.

  I rebelled Pepper, “Princess Grace’s Problems.”

  Oh, Jack Feldman/Winter.

  I hear some of Martin, “The Luckiest Girl.”

  TWO

  If a girl put Dee Wedemeyer, “Barbizon, at 49: A Tradition Survives,” New York Times, March 13, 1977.

  She kept a great deal Robyns, p. 51.

  Grace’s usual outfit “Grace Kelly,” A&E Biography, ABC News Productions: Lisa Zeff, executive producer; Adam K. Sternberg, producer (1998); hereafter, A&E Biography.

  Grace kept the comments on her audition for entrance to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts; see Dherbier and Verlhac, p. 32.

  She absolutely did not Feldman/Winter.

  It came as no surprise LeVine/Hello!

  Honey, … you can Kelly/Gehman, installment of January 18, 1956.

  The whole situation Excerpts from Grace’s correspondence with Prudy Wise are quoted in Kinsella and Kinsella, p. 30; the entire letter is printed (in French), in “Grace: Lettres secrètes,” Paris-Match, March 24, 1994.

  That Grace Kelly Gaither, p. 13.

  daughter of John B. Kelly Program for the week of July 25, 1949, at the Bucks County Playhouse, New Hope, PA.

  a very gorgeous-looking thing Kelly, pp. 62–63.

  For a young lady The unsourced quotation is cited in McCallum, p. 200.

  I’ve always thought Martin, “The Luckiest Girl.”

  I thought all the success Taves, “The Seven Graces.”

  thunderbolt of wrath and hatred Brooks Atkinson, “At the Theatre: The Father,” New York Times, November 17, 1949.

  a naturalness Quoted in Mitterrand, p. 285.

  She got the part Budd Schulberg, “The Other Princess Grace,” Ladies Home Journal, May 1977.

  Grace’s father wanted her Christy, “I Remember …”

  She quickly Gaither, p. 24.

  Despite the quickness Feldman/Winter.

  had talent and attractiveness Taves, “The Seven Graces.” 50. Everyone in the production company Herbert Coleman to the author, August 1, 1981.

  On the factual basis of Fourteen Hours, see Joel Sayre, “The Man on the Ledge,” The New Yorker, April 16, 1949.

  Those movie people Martin, “The Luckiest Girl”; see also Taves, “The Seven Graces.”

  In two senses Cary Grant to the author, March 4, 1979.

  We’ve got a new girl Time, January 31, 1955.

  The living room Quine, p. 36.

  THREE

  that it would Gaither, p. 17.

  If she had been raven-haired Ibid.

  The friendship between Grace and Josephine Baker is well documented and was known to her family and friends. Her cousin, John Lehman, spoke of it on Larry King Live, CNN (TV), September 3, 2003.

  The film is to be shown Robyns, p. 28.

  In the 1950s Quine, p. 81.

  The quotations from Stanley Kramer are excerpted from interviews I conducted with him in 1977, when I was preparing a book about him and his career—Stanley Kramer Film Maker (1977).

  We still needed Fred Zinnemann and I discussed his films several times in person during 1977, 1978 and 1979, and I was fortunate to maintain a lively correspondence with him. On January 24, 1978, Zinnemann sent me a long and courteous letter, responding in detail to my questions about High Noon. We spoke further in person in New York in November 1982, at a reception following a private, prerelease screening of his last film, Five Days One Summer.

  He and Grace Feldman/Winter. 77. This movie was Ibid.

  When I watched HSH Prince Albert of Monaco, interviewed for the 2008 Lionsgate DVD of High Noon.

  Grace was not self-confident Duncan, p. 30.

  seems to mean Zinnemann, pp. 96–97.

  Less is more The quotations from Meisner and about his technique are cited on the website of the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre: www.neighborhoodplayhouse.org/meisner/html.

  living truthfully Silverberg, p. 9.

  Are you still in love Kinsella and Kinsella, p. 62.

  I thought Grace’s voice A&E Biography.

  For background on Mogambo, see, e.g., Schary, pp. 260ff., and Sinden, pp. 204–28.

  This dame has Schary, p. 260.

  FOUR

  It was a lush Dore Schary, “Who Made Miss Kelly?” Saturday Review, October 20, 1956.

  We had trouble Ibid.

  Grace proceeded Sinden, pp. 204–5.

  Clark’s eyes Gardner, p. 183.

  When I was younger Curtis Bill Pepper, “Princess Gr
ace of Monaco,” Vogue, December 1971.

  On the difficulties of filming Mogambo, see Morgan Hudgins, “Bivouac on the Trail of ‘Mogambo’ in Africa,” New York Times, January 4, 1953.

  He had by instinct For Henry Fonda’s remarks, see, e.g., his entry on the website IMDB, the Internet Movie Database.

  the meanest man Server, p. 254. 100. Clark, whose chest Sinden, p. 210.

  Grace Kelly’s blond beauty Time, October 12, 1953.

  tyrant Harris, p. 329.

  Grace Kelly is all right Bosley Crowther, in the New York Times, October 2, 1953.

  Ava and I Ibid.

  You shouldn’t criticize Kinsella and Kinsella, p. 73.

  You know, the girl Taves, “The Seven Graces.”

  She was pretty much Schary, “Who Made Miss Kelly?”

  FIVE

  The best way to do it This was Hitchcock’s sole comment at the conclusion of the Lincoln Center Film Society’s tribute to him in New York on April 29, 1974. Grace was at his side that evening, and I was in the audience.

  All I had to do Martin, “The Luckiest Girl.”

  she disappeared Aljean Harmetz, “Hollywood’s Lovely But Lonely Lady,” New York Times, September 16, 1982.

  On November 12 Oleg Cassini’s 1953 telegram to Grace was publicly exhibited by her family at the exhibition in her memory held at the Grimaldi Forum, Monte-Carlo, in August 2007. Cassini’s autobiography is important for an account of his relationship with Grace, but the dates noted therein are very often inaccurate (and some of the events clearly fabricated). He claims, for example, that they first met in 1954—an error that the telegram, for one thing, contradicts.

  I saw her only in profile Cassini, pp. 238–39.

  make her look Head and Calistro, pp. 107–9.

  but in fact Quine, p. 295.

  symmetry Truffaut, p. 216.

  Everybody wants a new Martin, “The Luckiest Girl.”

  fascinating Bosley Crowther, in New York Times, August 5, 1954.

  I don’t understand Ibid.

  There hasn’t been Ibid.

  had to be accepted Thomas Harris, “The Building of Popular Images—Grace Kelly and Marilyn Monroe,” Studies in Public Communication 1 (1957), reprinted in Gledhill, pp. 40–44. I am indebted to Harris’s brief but provocative essay.

  There’s Grace Kelly Vogue, October 1954.

  I think, it’s nobody’s business “The Girl in White Gloves,” Time. January 31, 1955.

  She was anything but cold Dewey, p. 373.

  SIX

  Twenty four—and aging Grace Kelly to Hedda Hopper, May 1954; see the Hopper Papers at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Library, Beverly Hills.

  I don’t know Mitterrand, p. 78.

  Who is the real Grace Kelly See also Taves, “The Seven Graces.”

  Grace had taken Rita Gam to the author, May 5, 2007. See also Gam, pp. 17–26, and her essay “That Special Grace,” Mc-Call’s, January 1983. Rita was also interviewed for Feldman/Winter; and she spoke about Grace on Larry King Live, September 3, 2003.

  She was a weak Quine, p. 39.

  She had an ability Feldman/Winter.

  She succumbed Dherbier and Verlhac, p. 11.

  Grace doesn’t throw Time, January 31, 1955.

  rocked to the core Quine, p. 48.

  I’ll never open Martin, “The Luckiest Girl”; see also Schulberg, “The Other Princess Grace.”

  Grace called me up Larry King Live, September 3, 2003.

  I was happy Head and Calistro, p. 108.

  A lot of actresses would say Time, January 31, 1955.

  On the background for The Country Girl, see, e.g., the Turner Classic Movies Database.

  Miss Kelly will get her share New York Times, December 16, 1954.

  The amusing seven-point summary of Green Fire may be found in Time, January 10, 1955.

  It was a dog Lewis, p. 262.

  Hitchcock wanted Granger, p. 305.

  They’re doing the same Grace Kelly to Hedda Hopper, in the Hopper Collection at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Beverly Hills.

  Grace had always been John Ericson to the author, May 18, 2008.

  I had the misfortune New York Times, September 16, 1982.

  I finished Green Fire Oscar Godbout, “Star on the Ascendant,” New York Times, November 7, 1954.

  SEVEN

  Alfred Hitchcock fell in love Mitterrand, p. 275.

  My observations on Hitchcock’s complex attitude to Grace are found, in a slightly different form, in Spoto, Spellbound by Beauty: Alfred Hitchcock and His Leading Ladies, pp. 203–13.

  She is cool Bosley Crowther, in the New York Times, August 5, 1955.

  Grace can play Martin, “The Luckiest Girl.”

  Those were the most Oleg Cassini, A&E Biography.

  My work Cassini treated the affair with Grace in his book, pp. 237–68.

  We have lunch and dinner Grace to Prudy Wise, quoted in Kinsella and Kinsella, p. 131.

  Hitch, of course Ibid.

  You know how much Roderick Mann, “Princess Grace: How a Royal Beauty Stays Beautiful,” Ladies Home Journal, May 1970.

  Oleg drives me Kinsella and Kinsella, pp. 135–36.

  I don’t approve Time, January 31, 1955.

  The situation with Cassini Kelly/Gehman, January 21 and January 15, 1956, installments.

  If she had really Lizanne Kelly LeVine, on Larry King Live, September 3, 2003.

  in casting Truffaut, p. 327.

  EIGHT

  For details of Grace’s visit to John F. Kennedy’s sickroom, see Spoto, Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis: A Life, pp. 109–110.

  Grace was mature Quine, p. 50.

  Still don’t know Kinsella and Kinsella, p. 142.

  The letter from Grace to Oleg is reproduced in Cassini, p. 263.

  physically exhausted Laurence Aiach, in Dherbier and Verlhac, p. 12.

  At that time Christy, “I Remember …”

  I love this apartment Quine, p. 98.

  I am reliably told Undated handwritten letter from Edna Ferber to Henry Ginsberg, in Folder 596 (the casting folder for Giant) in Collection 1343, the Hedda Hopper Papers at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Beverly Hills.

  Soap never touches Time, March 7, 1955.

  You trusted Grace’s beauty Conant, p. 25.

  I can’t believe it McCallum, p. 211.

  No, not at all Quoted many times—e.g., in Conant, p. 84.

  I was unhappy Schulberg, “The Other Princess Grace.”

  because of my terrible Cassini, p. 265. Grace’s letter is reproduced on the same page of his book.

  I must explain Ibid., p. 266.

  Pierre Galante’s account of May 1955 was documented in his article “The Day Grace Kelly Met Prince Rainier,” Good Housekeeping, May 1983.

  They spent their days Dherbier and Verlhac, p. 12.

  She is an adorable Time, May 23, 1955.

  I had not yet visited Prince Rainier, with Peter Hawkins, “Prince Rainier Tells of ‘Our Life Together,’” Good House keeping, March 1967—an extract from the Hawkins book.

  She thought she was missing Feldman/Winter.

  the wedding was so sweet Quine, pp. 107, 109.

  No, … but it was a very Englund, p. 180n.

  My son and I Time, August 1, 1955.

  NINE

  revealed more and more Quoted in Robinson, pp. 73ff. Robinson’s book, published in 1989, is both important and trustworthy, for it was based on extended interviews with Rainier, Caroline, Albert and Stéphanie. All subsequent quotations attributed to Rainier and the children derived from the Robinson interviews unless otherwise noted. For summaries of Rainier’s life before Grace, there are many sources. Among the books, those by Hawkins and Robinson were written with the prince’s cooperation and authorization. The periodical literature is vast—e.g., David Schoenbrun, “Where Will the Prince Find His Princess?” Collier’s, December 9, 1955; “Peppery Ruler: Prince Rainier,�
� New York Times, March 18, 1967; Maurice Zolotow, “Grace of Monaco,” Cosmopolitan, December 1961; Peter Carlson, “Living with the Memories,” People (USA), November 15, 1982.

  I met your lovely Schoenbrun, “Where Will the Prince …”

  We can’t go on “Peppery Ruler,” New York Times.

  I must get married Ibid.

  I’ve always been interested Grace, quoted in Rose, p. 105.

  There were costumes Ibid., p. 103.

  I want Grace Kelly From the American Film Institute’s oral history with Ridgeway Callow, interviewed by Rudy Behlmer in Beverly Hills, California, in 1976; transcript on deposit at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Beverly Hills.

  On Grace having Guinness paged by “Alice,” see Conant, p. 35.

  It became a sort Guinness, pp. 214–15.

  She had this Quoted in Duncan and Hopp, p. 153.

  remote, quiet, pensive Conant, p. 29.

  I knew what I wanted Robinson, p. 74.

  He’s enormously sweet Quine, p. 116.

  Royalty doesn’t mean “The Philadelphia Princess,” Time, January 16, 1956.

  I don’t think Ibid.

  I made up my own mind Schulberg, “The Other Princess Grace.”

  Neither of us was Robinson, pp. 79–80.

  Well, I still have a contract Zolotow, “Grace of Monaco.”

  I think it would be better New York Times, January 27, 1956.

  I should say Milton Bracker, “Prince of Monaco to Wed Grace Kelly,” New York Times, January 6, 1956.

  TEN

  I loved acting Grace, in an interview with Pierre Salinger for ABC television, July 22, 1982. See also Pepper, “Princess Grace of Monaco.”

  On the Barry play, see Christian H. Moe, “The Philadelphia Story,” in Hawkins-Dady, pp. 603–6.

  uses society’s From the back cover of Aitken.

  She was … the least Jack Kroll, with Scott Sullivan, “Portrait of a Lady,” Newsweek, September 27, 1982.

  My darling Rainier’s note to Grace in March 1956 was made public at the exhibition in the Grimaldi Forum and printed in the celebratory book—see Mitterrand, p. 141.