It's all about style for the 2012 TCM FILM FESTIVAL!
So I hope to chime in now and then with some of my favorite moments of stylistic bliss....
The delightful Helen Rose sketch for Grace Kelly's wedding dress..
The civil ceremony took place on April 18, 1956, and the Catholic ceremony followed on April 19. Helen Rose had dressed Grace for her role in
The Swan, also starring Alec Guinness and Louis Jourdan. Some of Rose's other iconic films included
The Opposite Sex,
Designing Woman,
Butterfield 8,
Dangerous When Wet,
Latin Lovers, and
Dream Wife.
By the balcony somewhere in Monaco...
Life seemed a veiled mystery about to unfold...
The actual wedding photo of Princess Grace and Prince Rainier...
A formal pose...
Can't get enough of that dress! Here are the lovely maidens surrounding the former Grace Kelly...
And the latest news.... from The Star.com...
Prince Albert II of Monaco, and his wife Princess Charlene have arrived in Toronto.
The newlyweds will officially open an exhibition at TIFF Bell Lightbox “Grace Kelly: From Movie Star to Princess” and attend a private reception.
The vast collection of Kelly’s artifacts — including jewels, gowns and personal correspondence — goes on display Friday offering a rarely seen glimpse into the private life of a superstar who was an enigma in many ways, says curator Noah Cowan.
“Although she was among the most photographed women of the 20th century she still remains something of a mystery,” says Cowan, also artistic director of TIFF Bell Lightbox.
“In all phases of her life she became iconic — as a movie star, as a bride, as a princess — and yet it’s hard to actually know who the real Grace Kelly is. I think this show actually takes you inside (her world). You see her personal correspondence, you see what she wore, what she loved to wear and what she loved to do.”
Among the more intriguing pieces are several letters from a playful Hitchcock, who signs his missives “Love, Hitch;” a handwritten holiday greeting from High Society co-star Bing Crosby; and framed collages of dried flower petals — a hobby picked up after Kelly retired from the big screen and settled into life as a princess and mother.
Then there are home movies, letters and photos from childhood scrapbooks, even cherished playbills and an early rejection letter from a filmmaker.
“She was a complete pack rat during her Hollywood years, so every telegram, every letter, every flower arrangement that she had was preserved,” says Cowan.
“From the very beginning the palace has been incredibly supportive of the exhibition, really excited that the legacy of their princess could actually come to North America,” says Cowan.
“They’ve been eager to have a North American venue from the very beginning.”
The exhibit is based on similar ones held in Monaco and London, and makes its only North American stop in Toronto. From Canada, it heads to Australia and then returns to the Grimaldi palace, says Cowan.
“Grace Kelly: From Movie Star to Princess” is loosely divided into three sections: Kelly’s life as a movie star, as a bride and finally, as a princess.
Highlights include an exact replica of her Helen Rose-designed lace wedding gown, several original dresses, her signature Hermes “Kelly bag,” her Academy Award for The Country Girl and the diamond tiara she wore when she became Princess of Monaco in 1956.
“The tiara was always kept by (jewellery designers) Van Cleef and Arpels; they were the owners of the piece and it was for the exclusive use of Grace Kelly,” Cowan notes. “And now of course that means it’s only in museums.”
Meanwhile, the replica wedding dress — featuring a 21-inch waist — was created by some of the original seamstresses who worked on the first one. Cowan says the original is in “pretty bad shape” and cannot travel from its home at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
“(The replica) is really made to the most exacting standards and I think it’s about as close as we’ll all get to seeing it,” he says.
Kelly left Hollywood at the height of her career after just five years in show business. Her 11 films, including Rear Window, High Noon and To Catch a Thief, made a huge impact on the industry, says Cowan.
“She is one of the great queens of the silver screen,” he says. “When people talk about Grace Kelly, they frequently use the word ‘timeless.’ She speaks to something that just doesn’t go away, which is a certain style, a certain glamour.”
Cowan notes that Kelly had hoped to return to acting after giving birth to children Caroline, Albert and Stephanie, but Prince Rainier asked her to stop.
“She was in fact prohibited from going back to Hollywood to work,” he says, noting Hitchcock had her in mind for his 1964 thriller Marnie, starring Tippi Hedren.
The exhibit is being held in conjunction with a film series Icy Fire: The Hitchcock Blonde, which kicks off Friday with Hitchcock’s 1954 mystery Dial M for Murder.
Cowan says there is still much to learn about Princess Grace, who died in a car accident in 1982.
“We still are finding things out about her and still finding images of her that redefine her sense of style and glamour. She’s just an endless source of what makes life more interesting.”
“Grace Kelly: From Movie Star to Princess” runs Friday through Jan. 22, 2012.
