Grace Kelly Makes a Career First Over 40 Years After Her Death

From screen goddess to real-life princess, Grace Kelly is remembered as a glamorous icon who has been the subject of countless books, articles and exposés since her untimely death in 1982.

One of the great leading ladies from Hollywood’s gilded age, Kelly personified her name for generations of movie fans during her relatively brief film career, starring in no fewer than three of Alfred Hitchcock’s great thrillers. Though she would serve on the board of directors for 20th Century Fox during the last years of her life, she retired from the screen when she famously wed Prince Rainier III of Monaco, accepting regal responsibility in lieu of the Hollywood lifestyle. She would die after a 1982 car wreck in the principality.

For a star of her enduring stature, Kelly left a surprisingly lean screen legacy — about a dozen films in all — but many of them have become revered classics in the decades since their release. She makes a career first on Saturday, Aug. 24 when Turner Classic Movies honors her in their annual Summer Under The Stars (SUTS), where she finally gets a day devoted exclusively to her. Noticeably missing in her lineup is the 1952 Western High Noon, where Kelly stars as the impatient young bride of Gary Cooper, a now-retired lawman whose would-be honeymoon is interrupted by news of an approaching gang of criminals. Rest assured, however, that Kelly’s lineup includes the rest of her classics and some surprises to.

 Summer Under The Stars: Grace Kelly (Saturday, Aug. 24 on TCM). Here are the 12 films airing:

20th Century Fox Film Corp./Everett Collection

1. Fourteen Hours (1951)  at 6amET

Also known as The Man on the Ledge, this film marked the screen debut of Kelly, although in a small role. Kelly plays a woman about to sign her final divorce papers at a law office across the street, who witnesses the events transpiring and gets so moved by the tragedy of it all, decides to stay with her husband. (Kelly is pictured above with James Warren)

2. Mogambo (1953) at 8amET

Directed by John Ford, the film includes a trifecta of Hollywood glamour — Clark Gable, Ava Gardner and Kelly. It was a remake of the film Red Dust, about an African hunter who is torn between two women — a lusty showgirl (Gardner) and a married woman (Kelly).

High Society / Credit: Everett Collection

3. High Society (1956) at 10amET

Kelly headlines the all-star cast of this charming musical comedy about a Newport socialite who is about to marry the wrong man. Cole Porter’s songs for this movie include “True Love” and “You’re Sensational.” The film also stars Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra (both pictured above with Kelly), along with Celeste Holm and Louis Armstrong.

4. The Country Girl (1952) at noonET

Kelly won an Oscar for her change-of-pace role in this movie as the drab wife of an alcoholic singer who refuses to let her man fail. Also stars Bing Crosby and William Holden.

5. The Bridges at Toko-Ri (1955) at 2pmET

Kelly is on edge in this Korean War-era drama as the wife and mother whose husband (William Holden) has to give up his leave to execute a potentially deadly mission.

Everett Collection

6. Green Fire (1959) at 4pmET

Kelly stars as a coffee plantation owner who aids a miner attacked by bandits, who later gets embroiled in some explosive action. Pictured above she’s on location in Columbia where her costar Stewart Granger tries to help her with her hair.

7. Dial M for Murder (1954) at 6pmET

Tony Wendice (Ray Milland ) plots to have his unfaithful wife, Margot (Kelly), murdered. When his plan goes awry and Margot kills a hired assailant in self-defense, Tony improvises and frames his wife for first-degree murder.

8. To Catch a Thief (1955) at 8pmET

Starring opposite Cary Grant, Kelly shimmered in this thriller, beautifully shot in Monaco, where she eventually met and married Prince Rainier III, and where she would end her days.

Everett Collection

9. Rear Window (1954) at 10pmET

Kelly is arguably at her most gutsy and glamorous in this film (pictured above), one of Hitchcock’s greatest moments. In it, she plays a socialite who uses her charms to sway the favor of Jimmy Stewart’s photojournalist, who has a bum leg, a window overlooking a courtyard and a sense of curiosity and voyeurism stronger than his caution.

10. The Swan (1956) at 12:15amET

At the time of this film’s release the world was thrilled to see the fairytale romance of movie star Grace Kelly and Monaco’s Prince Rainier unfold. Kelly starred as a beautiful princess who tries to get a prince to propose to her. Clearly, she didn’t need an acting role to make that happen. Of note with this film, the Biltmore House in North Carolina served as the setting for the palatial home of European royalty.

11. High Society (1956) at 2:30amET

It’s an encore airing. See above No. 3.

Everett Collection

12. Wedding in Monaco (1958) at 4:45amET

This short film gives actual wedding footage from the wedding of Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier.