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6 Degrees Entertainment

'Grace Kelly Collection'
(Grace Kelly, Clark Gable, Cary Grant, Bing Crosby, Ava Gardner, et al / 7-Disc DVD / NR / 2014 / Warner Bros.)

Overview: This extensive collection for fans of golden era actress Grace Kelly features six movies: 'MOGAMBO,' 'THE BRIDGES AT TOKO-RI,' 'DIAL M FOR MURDER,' 'THE COUNTRY GIRL', and 'HIGH SOCIETY' along with Kelly's last ever interview.

DVD Verdict: Oh boy, oh boy oh boy! Now THIS is really a fantastic cross section of Grace Kelly movies. Sure it doesn't contain every film you may have wanted to view, but the set houses a incredible collection; you have to admit!

First up we have 'Mogambo' (1953, and for which Grace Kelly won an Academy award nomination) which is the tale of Victor Marswell who lives in Africa and captures live animals for zoos, circuses and animal trainers. He also takes visitors on safari. He returns to his camp one day to find that a sexy American, Honey Bear Kelly, has arrived unannounced. She and Marswell are attracted to one another but after the arrival of an anthropologist and his wife, Donald and Linda Nordley, Marswell develops an interest in the beautiful Linda.

Funnily enough, at the very start of the film, Victor Marswell asks if the "Jeep" is ready. It's not a Jeep but a British Series II Land Rover! Anyway, moving on and Gable was criticized for reprising a role he did 20 years earlier in Red Dust. The plot line stays the same, but in Red Dust, Gable is the hard-nosed manager of a rubber plantation in Malaya. Gable as Vic Marswell here is a world weary and cynical game hunter and safari guide. Both portrayals are very good and very different.

In truth, I don't think Grace Kelly is shown to best advantage here. Her British accent was a bit affected. I'm not sure why MGM just didn't cast a British actress like Deborah Kerr in the part. Of cours,e she also was involved with 'From Here To Eternity' though, if I remember correctly.

'The Bridges At Toko-Ri' (1954) is set during the Korean War, where a Navy fighter pilot must come to terms with with his own ambivalence towards the war and the fear of having to bomb a set of highly defended bridges. Just as the Korean War interrupted one of the best baseball careers of the last century in real life, in this film William Holden is recalled from a thriving law practice in Denver, Colorado, not to mention from his lovely wife Grace Kelly and their two children. He flies carrier based jets bombing targets in the Korean War wondering like Ted Williams what he did in life to get called for two wars.

A few years earlier Warner Brothers did a fine film called Task Force which depicted the history of naval aviation through the eyes of its protagonist, Gary Cooper. The history went as far as the end of World War II and we were still flying propeller planes. Mr Holden and Grace Kelly give fine portrayals of the young married couple, who must overcome the obstacles of a dangerous mission.

In the classic 'Dial M For Murder' (1954), where an ex-tennis pro carries out a plot to murder his wife. When things go wrong, he improvises a brilliant plan B. After earning an Academy award nomination for her performance in John Ford's 1953 tale of romance and adventure, 'Mogambo,' the beautiful actress Grace Kelly proved that she was way more than just a pretty face and that there was real talent behind her image.

However, what truly took her career to new levels were three now classic films she made directed by the legendary Master of Suspense, Alfred Hitchcock. Under his direction, Kelly made an integral part of the Master's films, becoming the perfect embodiment of Hitchcock's idea of a female protagonist.

Dial M for Murder' is probably less celebrated than the Master's most famous movies, the fact that it came out the same years as 'Rear Window' (again with Grace Kelly, but not in this set, sadly) may have had something to do with it too. While a subtler and more restrained tale of suspense, this is still the Master at his best, as the movie proves that when he was at the top of his game, no other director was comparable to him.

Oh, and did you know the movie title is shown on a background of a British telephone dial; its MN/6 marking is replaced by a single large M which forms the single M of the title.

In 'The Country Girl' (1954), which tells the story of a director who hires an alcoholic has-been and strikes up a stormy relationship with the actor's wife; who he believes is the cause of all the man's problems. It's fitting that Grace Kelly won her Oscar for this part. Uta Hagen who played Georgie Elgin on Broadway won a Tony for her performance. Kelly was up against some stiff competition that year and upset the betting favorite Judy Garland for A Star Is Born.

Other nominees included Dorothy Dandridge for Carmen Jones, Jane Wyman for Magnificent Obsession and Audrey Hepburn for Sabrina. I suppose it was the fact that Kelly was cast against type in her portrayal. Usually playing chic blonde princesses, she's almost dowdy looking in this film.

Crosby plumbed some dramatic depths also and was nominated for Frank Elgin. However after three successive years of being nominated and not winning, Marlon Brando was not going to be denied in 1954. The rest of that field included Humphrey Bogart for The Caine Mutiny, James Mason for A Star Is Born and Dan O'Herlihy for Robinson Crusoe. Not a shabby field there either and Crosby's personal best came up against Brando's consolation for not winning for Streetcar Named Desire. Oscar politics at its finest.

In 'To Catch a Thief' (1955), a reformed jewel thief is suspected of returning to his former occupation, so he must ferret out the real thief in order to prove his innocence. This is probably Hitchcock's most beautiful movie. Grace Kelly is well (but of course decorously) displayed in delicate and perfectly fitted summer dresses and evening gowns (designed by Edith Head) that show off her exquisite arms and shoulders while accentuating her elegant neck and jaw line--and, as she turns for the camera, the graceful line of her back. Opposite her is one of Hollywood's most dashing leading men, the incomparable Cary Grant.

The cinematography by long-time Hitchcock collaborator Robert Burks was shot on location in the French Riviera. The style is daylight clear and sparkling, bright as the dream of a princess to be, always focused without a hint of darkness anywhere. Even the scenes shot at night on the rooftops seem to glow. The houses on the hills overlooking Princess Grace's future home and the narrow cobble stone roads with the low-lying stone walls suggest a refined and elegant lifestyle to come. Even though she drives too fast, one is not worried that she might crash!

Cary Grant is John Robie who fought with the French resistance during WWII and then became a jewel thief, dubbed "The Cat" for his ability to slink quietly in the night over roof tops and to steal into the bedrooms of the rich and take their jewels without waking them. As the movie opens he is retired from his life of crime and living comfortably in a villa in the hills above Nice. The complications begin immediately as the police arrive at his villa to question him about some recent cat-like jewel robberies. Robie is innocent of course (we are led to believe) and to prove his innocence he is motivated to find the real thief.

In the final film in this wonderful collection, 'High Society' (1956), C.K. Dexter-Haven, a successful popular jazz musician, lives in a mansion near his ex-wife's Tracy Lord's family estate. She is on the verge of marrying a man blander and safer than Dex, who tries to win Tracy's heart again. Then along comes Mike Connor, an undercover tabloid reporter who also falls for Tracy while covering the nuptials for Spy magazine!

A charming reworking of 'The Philadelphia Story,' the Grant-Hepburn comedy, which was in turn a remodelling of a successful Broadway play, 'High Society' carries with it one great difference: in that this version is a glorious musical masterpiece! Cole Porter's score has to be one of the greatest collections of songs ever filmed.

Grace Kelly is good as the imperious Tracy. "I'm a cold goddess," she intones, but she thaws spectacularly in the warmth of love. Bing Crosby as Dexter is his usual droll and stylish self. Crosby is a class act who holds the screen with effortless poise and cracks the funnies with sparkling sarcasm. Sinatra is in knockout form. Rarely has that legendary voice achieved the resonant timbre on display here. Satchmo blasts out a couple of breezy jazz numbers, and comments on the action like a latter-day Greek chorus.

The songs include five all-time classics. "True Love" is a gorgeous duet in which Kelly unveils a tuneful if brittle singing-voice. "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" is rightly world-famous, and is staged here with clever clownage by Sinatra and Celeste Holm (playing Liz). Satchmo's band accompanies Crosby in a swinging "You Has Jazz". The showstopper, "What A Swell Party This Is", has Crosby and Sinatra at their very best, wisecracking self-referentially as they belt out a gem of a song. My personal favorite, "You're Sensational", is beautifully rendered by Sinatra. Watch Frank and Grace in the instrumental break, falling in love with their eyes only. You'll fall in love once again with them both too!

This delightful new collection also contains Princess Grace De Monaco: A Moment In Time, a documentary featuring Grace Kelly's last ever interview. It is the last televised interview with Grace Kelly by Pierre Salinger and will bring tears to your eyes, believe me. Also included are some delightful Art Cards and a personal letter from Bing Crosby! These are all Full Screen Presentations (1.33:1) enhanced for 16x9 TVs.

www.WarnerVideo.com





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