“Rear Window” [Photo]

Grace Kelly in Alfred Hitchcock‘s movie Rear Window (1954)

The Swan

I finally got this movie for my collection today. The quality is not perfect but it is at least good enough to make the viewing enjoyable. For those of you who don’t know what I am talking about, I will now explain.

The Swan is a movie starring Grace Kelly, and it is a movie which has not been easy to find in a dvd version. But recently I managed to find one through Amazon.com.  Today it arrived in my mailbox and I have watched a small portion of it.

For me as a Grace Kelly fan and collector of her movies, adding this movie to my collection means I am now only one movie short of having them all. The only one still missing  is “Green Fire“, which can be found in VHS format but I am still waiting for it to be released as a dvd.

I am also waiting for a new release of the great movie To Catch a Thief which is said to be an improvement compared to the previously released versions.

Grace Kelly

From The Swan

High Society

 

“Rear Window”

Today I watched it again. The excuse for this being that a new dvd edition is out, and it arrived in my mailbox this morning. From what I could see on my small 19″ screen, the transfer is indeed better than on previous discs. However, the best thing with the new edition is the commentary track, which provided me with new insight about a movie I thought could not surprise me anymore. As many older movies this one does carry a lot more meaning in each frame than most new ones. It is not rated as one of the best movies ever made for no reason. My reason for watching it is Grace Kelly. Simply has to be the most beautiful woman ever to walk the Earth. She looks more than stunning in this movie thanks to director Hitchcock’s eye for camera angles, lighting, colors, clothes and settings. But looks isn’t everything, not even in a suspense thriller about looking, Grace Kelly was also a good actress which is obvious in this film.

Christmas is coming

Hi!

I’m still here. Only not as often as I should. I have had too much to do to be able to keep this thing updated. I know it isn’t much to use if it isn’t updated but who reads it anyway…Me and my imaginary friend Alfred are probably the only ones.

Still one update I have is this: my collection of Alfred Hitchcock movies on DVD is almost complete. The missing two should arrive next week or so. Then I can start watching the movies and update this blog with reviews on each one.

I have read a few new and old books lately. Anyone interested in the life and times of actress turned Princess Grace Kelly/Grace de Monaco should check out some or all of these books:

1) Grace by Robert Lacey. Still the best biography written about Grace Kelly, I think. It contains a lot of details about Grace’s life before the marriage and about her acting career. Due to the shortness of her movie career, some people today seem to think she didn’t have much talent, but from Lacey’s book it becomes clear just how hard Grace Kelly worked to become a good actress, how important her work was for her, how much she loved it  and how much she missed not being able to continue acting after her marriage.

2) Once Upon a Time: Behind the Fairy Tale of Princess Grace and Prince Rainier by J. Randy Taraborrelli. A less sensational but very interesting and well researched take on the subject. It has more focus on Grace’s life in Monaco and less on the time before her marriage. Also in this book it is pointed out how much Grace Kelly wished she had been able to continue her acting career after becoming Princess Grace.

3) The Grace Kelly Years: Princess of Monaco. Frédéric Mitterand.  A big, heavy, beautiful book published by The Grimaldi Forum Monaco and with a foreword by Prince Albert. This book is a kind of official version of the life and times of Grace Kelly. That does not make it less interesting, since many photos, letters and other stuff relating to Princess Grace are published for the first time ever in this book.

4) Grace by Howell Conant. Easily the best photo book about Grace Kelly. Out of print, but still available, and in my opinion a must have for any true fan of Grace Kelly.

Well that’s all for now.

Over and Out!