High Society: The Life of Grace Kelly

It is a fairly good book. It has some slow parts in it but interesting to learn about the life of this great actress who became a Princess. You will learn some things about her that you might not know but still a good one to read. It also includes pictures which are always my favorite. =)

My mother loves to read bios on the older movie stars and always liked Grace Kelly, so this was a perfect gift. She has read it once and is starting over again. Grace Kelly was a magical person in my mother's generation, so she has enjoyed remembering her life.

I have probably read most of the books written on Grace ever since her untimely death in 1982. I never expected to read new information but within these pages I found much. It's well written with details that intrigue. Interesting takes on the plot lines of her movies and what she hoped to accomplish with her career as she undertook each role. This is a must read for any Princess Grace fan. I found many of her ideas and actions completely understandable, making a lot of sense in view of some of the many accusations that have been made since her death. It was believable and real to comprehend her marriage, her wishes for her lost career in Hollywood and yet her desires as a mother and wife. It was a treat to read and absorb.

Donald Spoto's new biography of Grace Kelly is a well-written account of Kelly's life, with a special emphasis on her acting career. He bookends his solid accounts of her films, Broadway, and television work with info about her private life. I think most readers of Spoto's book will have already read other biographies of her entire life and so not mind the emphasis on her career. Spoto's a good writer. He had a long-term friendship with Kelly and she talked to him over the years about her life and career, asking only that he wait twenty-five years to publish what she told him. The book seems restrained about her private life - particularly because other biographers have written about her supposedly voracious propensity to have affairs with her leading men. Spoto writes that most of the speculation about her sex life is just that - speculation - and was not true in most cases. Spoto's obvious regard for his subject does not extend to fawning over her. Because he was concentrating on her career, I think it was easy for him to avoid making conjectures about her private life. I read the book in one sitting - it's not long - and came away with a very good appreciation of her career.

I read Donald Spoto's first book when it came out in 1976, to which Princess Grace generously contributed a foreword, and I have read many of his books since. I'll have to say, as someone who has also read a number of other biographical books about Grace Kelly, this one does seem like something of a labor of love (being very restrained in its speculations), which is not all that bad, I suppose, considering that some of those other books probably adopt too lurid a view of Grace Kelly's Hollywood romances. If some of the omissions are surprising (no mention of Mark Miller, of Grace turned off by Gable's false teeth, of William Holden's trip to Philadelphia to meet the Kelly family and their cold treatment of him, of Grace's quite commendable candor to Gwen Robyns about her love affairs), Mr. Spoto has other things to contribute from his many interviews with Princess Grace and others (like Hitchcock) who knew her. His analytical comments on her films are also excellent (especially on HIGH NOON). He quotes Hitchcock on the essential "anti-cinematic" nature of 3D movies (which was how DIAL M FOR MURDER was filmed) and is consistently interesting on the background topics of the mores and customs of the Fifties. His view about the canceled plans for Grace to do MARNIE are contrary to those of others, but he makes his case convincing (I would say). Mr. Spoto's book is not in the least bit gossipy, and it's smart and enjoyably written (though the word "inchoate" turns up at least three or four times, annoyingly starting to seem like a word admiring itself in the mirror).

According to this book Princess Grace was the virgin Queen of Hollywood! No sex with Gary Cooper, no Clark Gable and most unbelievable no Bing Crosby!!! I think Mr. Spoto is a little too close to his subject and wants to defend her reputation! Nothing about any affairs after her marriage to Prince Rainer. The best bits in the book are the parts that deal with Hollywood and her film career (her life in Monaco only rates 40 pages!)If only he could have been more objective about her love life this book would have been great! It takes nothing away from Princess Grace that she enjoyed her time in Hollywood to the fullest!!!