Grace Kelly, the Natalie Portman of her day

It's so appropriate that this thread is currently right above one on Gwyneth Paltrow, who even played the Grace Kelly part in the remake of "Dial M."

A lot of old-timey movie stars weren't good actors. John Wayne had one "character" and he was sticking with it (not saying that doesn't still exist today).

Also most of them were stuck in that stilted overdramatic acting style of the time.

More like Gwyneth Paltrow to me. Bland looks and personality.

I disagree about Portman, she has bad moments but she has great ones too.

Grace Kelly was particularly bad in Dial M.... she was GREAT in Rear Window though

Grace was a GREAT actress.

I never even thought she was that beautiful tbh. Her face was perfect, yes, but there was nothing distinctive or captivating about it. It's one of those faces that l'd have a hard time recognizing without the hair and signature style.

I feel the same about most of these Old Hollywood icons though. With the exception of Judy, Lauren Bacall and Rita Hayworth (to a degree), they all look rather bland to me. Yes, even Marilyn and Liz Taylor. Perfect, but forgettable.

Grace also affected that ridiculous Madonna faux-British accent.

After her mother saw her first movie, she asked Grace why she had used that voice and accent

"I KNOW, MOTHER; I'M WORKING ON IT!" Grace screamed at her mother.

Grace reportedly asked Hitchcock to explain her character's motivation in a scene.

Hitchcock reportedly said, "Just repeat the damn lines from the page!"

Grace was notorious for sleeping her way to the top and sleeping with every male leading man of her films, minus Jimmy Stewart who was a devout Christian.

Grace also didn't age well

Her bland features got lost in the padding of fat she developed

Her marriage was not a happy one

And I've heard accounts of her drunk and sloppy at parties with her seams all askew

Didn't she love visiting Studio 54?

She had a great figure for clothes and terrific coloring for Technicolor. She's stunning on film, less so in still photos--a bit like Charlize Theron that way. No one ever looked better in a Hitchcock film than Grace did.

As for actual acting--onobstrusive at best--her timing with Cary Grant was good, but Grant had superb timing.

How is it that she won an Oscar? I've never seen The Country Girl. I've always heard that Bing Crosby's was the better performance.

r13 she must have fucked someone for that award cause she sucked in that movie. The only role she was great in was Rear Window.

That Oscar should have went to Judy Garland or Dorothy Dandridge

If Gracie looked like this at 50

Can you imagine how she'd have looked at 60?

R13 has offered quite a perfect description of her looks and talent. She's too bland to even discuss.

[quote] No one ever looked better in a Hitchcock film than Grace did.

Bergman might have been close in Notorious, but Grace was really worked those 50's fashions in addition to having a pretty face.

OP = Lorna Luft

I loved that black and white dress she wore in Rear Window. She really did have a talent for showing off clothes, but the clothes could be dazzling anyway.

Kelly was more than the prototypical icy blonde; her performances, while far from virtuoso acting, exuded warmth and sexual confidence.

Portman isn't even an icy brunette. She's more like a piss-warm herbal tea circling the drain. Her sometimes competent but usually bland performances leave no lasting impression.

Agree about Grace Kelly, she sucks! She’s bad in Rear Window too, although admittedly better than in Dial M for Murder where she is fucking atrocious.

Disagree about Portman. She is capable of giving excellent performances. See The Professional and Black Swan.

She was incredibly endearing and captivating in Rear Window.

IMO, she was the weak link in "Rear Window." As conventionally beautiful as she was, she was boring.

Tippi Hedren was more interesting, as far as blondes in Hitchcock movies.

Tippi lacked Grace Kellys natural presence. Eyes gravitate toward her automatically.

I really liked her in Rear Window. I thought she was good in Country Girl. However, it is still absolutely accurate about the absurdity of Kelly winning the Oscar for that performance over Judy Garland in ‘A Star Is Born’.

Portman is a far better actress than Grace Kelly. Paltrow is better than them both. Not really sure why we're comparing. Grace Kelly was a vanity movie star. One with no real talent, just the right look and demeanor. She's more aptly compared to Cybill Shepherd.

She was lucky AND she fucked the right people.

The greatest social climber since Cinderella!

May she rest in peace.

Let's hope Natalie Portman doesn't meet Grace Kelly's tragic end.

"That Oscar should have went to"

Oh, dear, r14.

Grace Kelly, like Elizabeth Taylor, was absolutely beautiful, though Taylor was even more beautiful than Grace Kelly, and certainly a better actress. It's Kelly's faux-English nonsense voice that really grates.

Love this:

Grace Kelly may have not been the greatest actress, but she was an extraordinary beauty. If you read any of thebiographies about her, you know that her screwing around w/ older men had to do with her father who was very demanding and critical of his children.

She was gorgeous in all of the clothes designed by Edith Head for the film It Takes a Thief. Grace was the most beautiful bride in history when she married Rainier.

Alcoholism ran in her family. Her marriage to Rainier was not a happy one. He cheated on her repeatedly. She drank and got fat from drinking. She had stressful relationships with her daughters. She was critical of them like her dad was with her. They went wild, especially Stephanie.

Princess Caroline ended up marrying the oafish Prince Ernst. He was the man Grace hoped Caroline would marry the first time. So, Princess Caroline is incredibly rich but Ernst is a major alcohol asshole who cheats on her. The daughter Caroline had w/ Ernst, sadly looks like her dad. She is a bubbly girl. It must be extremely difficult looking like Ernst, instead of Princess Caroline and being compared to her stunning half-sister, Charlotte Casiraghi.

Grace's son, Prince Albert, sounds very American.

Be all that as it may, r33, she was still a terrible actress. And so is Natalie Portman.

Im aghast with reports of Nat Portman, one of the greatest actresses in the world, being considered second rate at her craft.

Portman is "terrible"? Really u watch her as a kid in those movies and incredible performance in Closer and think she's terrible?

I give her credit for pulling off the whole “High Society” persona despite being an immigrant child from the wrong side of the tracks. Her dad wasn’t super wealthy and the neighborhood she grew up in was NOT the Main Line but a knock off area within the city itself. She really devoted her life to making the myth come true - but she was miserable and unhappy.

Her brother had a big affair with a transvestite and wanted to marry “her”. It all came out when he was running for mayor of Philly - and he, surprisingly for the time, was OK with it being public.

[quote]Grace reportedly asked Hitchcock to explain her character's motivation in a scene. Hitchcock reportedly said, "Just repeat the damn lines from the page!"

Another actor who asked Hitch about motivatioin was met with "Your salary."

Grace was not an immigrant child. Both her parents were American-born. Her father was the son of Irish immigrants; her mother was the daughter of German immigrants.

In addition to being extraordinarily beautiful on film, Grace also had excellent chemistry with all those older male co-stars--her real-life thing for older men translated well on film: Gary Cooper, Cary Grant, Jimmy Stewart, Clark Gable, Bing Crosby--she made successful films with all of them. I'm sure Hollywood was perfectly happy to have a young beautiful actress reinforce the sex appeal (and extend the career longevity) of those older male stars. The men, in turn, did all the heavy lifting in terms of holding audience interest and driving the plot.

Contrast the Philadelphia Story, Katharine Hepburn's career-saving star vehicle, and the musical remake High Society with Grace Kelly. The former is all about Hepburn with some help from Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart as love interests. The latter is carried by Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra with the some moments of pretty petulance and posing by Grace Kelly. Same story, but the focus and energy are completely different.

Love or hate her, Hepburn could carry a film in a way Kelly never did. The studios knew this and cast Kelly well. She was lucky in her film career that way.

I'm aghast every time I see Nat Portman attempting to act.

Grace Kelly was born into an entitled life; her father was a three-time Olympic gold-medalist and a successful businessman prominent in Philadelphia politics and who was also an FDR appointee.

I personally loved her in Rear Window, and nothing more.

"What do you do when you find a Hitchcock in your rear window? You dial M for Mmm, well, it's a living."

She was her most natural in Rear Window. She was typically stiff and flat but she shined as Lisa.

Plus she looked her most beautiful

I think she did okay here.

Yes, so plain, so forgettable, such a cypher.

You’re a bunch of idiots.

Grace may have been born into wealth, but her dad was the son of immigrants and started out as a bricklayer. He was the ambitious one, who expected his kids to be likewise.

r48, I said she was beautiful, but no actress. And truly somnambulistic in "Dial M."

Yeah - the myth that she was a Main Line rich girl was a fabrication. She was from one of the least chic “nice” areas of the city itself. Explains her striving to be a princess. A secure confident person wouldn’t have sold themselves off for a title.

"A secure confident person wouldn’t have sold themselves off for a title."

MARY, r51!!!

Her family (Grace's) paid $2 million dowry in 1950s money.

Albert just bought back the house she grew up in. He paid $750,000 - which was way too much. Houses around there - the nice ones - can go for as little as $400-500 thousand. Chump change.

Grace and Portman share one thing in common. They're boring. All that fuss about the Hollywood star marrying a Prince!! Long before my time but what a time to be alive. Rainier wanted to marry Marilyn - but her love wasn't for sale.

Grace Kelly was destined for 1950s movie stardom is the best I can say for her. Becoming a princess ruined her life. Portman had to work much harder to become a star and she isn't really one. As an actress she is most daring and ambitious.

They're boring women, both of them.

....

So true, r56.

people without talent have always been made into stars.

a commentator on the Farrah Fawcett ABC special on her said "beauty doesn't need a resume."

OP is obviously not top drawer.

I was quite clear, r59, you dummy.

Great beauty, no actress.

Ha, that gif makes her look most ordinary R59. No offense.

Sure Jan, r61!

[quote] Portman is "terrible"? Really u watch her as a kid in those movies and incredible performance in Closer and think she's terrible?

Closer is an incredible performance...by Portman's fat ass cheeks. Freakishly, she was also used for sex appeal as a child.

Oscar-winning bubble buns. Portman's build, short with a big ol' ass, is more appropriate for a pole dancer than a ballerina.

And Black Swan, her Oscar-winning performance, was promoted on a lie as big as Natalie's ass: that she did all the dancing.

I wonder if Grace's ass could eat a pair of mommy slacks like this? Matt Damon's...I mean, ahem, Portman's ass was looking thicc in V for Vendetta.

Agreed, r64. At least Grace Kelly didn't have a pole dancer's ass.

You people sound like idiots.

The "You people sound like idiots" troll again.

She showed off her ass in [italic]the Darjeeling Limited[/italic] as well.

So she did what the role called for her to do? R69

Nothing wrong with that.

BEAUTIFUL, in To Catch A Thief.

Commenting on something does not mean accusing something of being "wrong," you sensitive little snowflake.

r70 is correct. I dislike Portman, but if she did what the script required, she was doing her job.

[quote] I dislike Portman, but if she did what the script required, she was doing her job.

The pole dancer waves her fat ass around. The job called for it, so it's okay.

The guy killed five. The hit called for it. It's fine.

She sucked 15000 cocks. The job called for it. It's fine.

Portman's sizeable ass in Star Wars.

r74, of course I'm referring to an actor doing what the script calls for. That's called doing one's job. I imagine you understand that.

[quote] of course I'm referring to an actor doing what the script calls for. That's called doing one's job. I imagine you understand that.

It's a redundancy. Did you think that other posters somehow believed that Portman showed up to the set and just started stripping, even though the script didn't call for it? That you act so superior about such an asinine attempt at a straw man is hilarious.

Further, Portman is the woman who now pretends that she overtly avoided sexualized roles because of how "scarring" it was to be objectified as a child, including not even kissing onscreen. This is clearly nonsense, as we saw her choose roles that involved adultery, stripping, overt sex scenes, multiple roles where she showed off her generous ass, etc. But Miss Priss must do everything to craft lies for the #metoo movement.

Further, the idea that anyone really thinks she did "something wrong" seems to be more in Portman's head than anyone else's. It's more the lying, the hypocrisy, after the fact that makes people call her out.

And relative to this thread, I can't see Grace Kelly showing off her ass in role after role. Which is why it's rather funny to compare the two.

As you yourself said, at least Kelly didn't have a fat stripper's ass, unlike Miss Portman. No crime in it. But Portman has made money off her generous backend, and it's not exactly the most "graceful" thing compared to her competition in this thread.

"That you act so superior about such an asinine attempt at a straw man is hilarious."

Why don't you calm down, r77/r78? You're going on a bit.

Yes, I went on about your lack of logic. You seemed quite willing to press the issue up until that point, R79.

The point remains:

It's a redundancy. Did you think that other posters somehow believed that Portman showed up to the set and just started stripping, even though the script didn't call for it? That you act so superior about such an asinine attempt at a straw man is hilarious.

AKA, your point was idiotic. Thanks for playing (yourself).

She robbed Judy of her Oscar so we hate her!!

[quote] She robbed Judy of her Oscar so we hate her!!

Portman's Oscar was even less deserved. So, there's something else they have in common.

Hunty r80, you really need to take your meds. You're really worked up about this. And you're repeating yourself.

[quote] Hunty [R80], you really need to take your meds. You're really worked up about this. And you're repeating yourself.

Wait, didn't this start because you felt the need to repeat yourself @ R76 after the idiotic "revelation" @ R73 (Portman was acting, you guys! What an amazing observation)? What a hypocrite.

It appears you need a medication for ADD. And some sort of "smart" pill, based on the argument that you owned yourself with so spectacularly.

I'm not surprised that you're attempting to shift the focus elsewhere. Thanks for conceding the utter stupidity of your posts, dear.

[quote][R74], of course I'm referring to an actor doing what the script calls for. That's called doing one's job. I imagine you understand that.

Sherlock Holmes lives.

Like I said, r84/r85, take your meds. And douche the sand out of your vadge while you're at it. It's making you VERY cranky.

[quote] Like I said, [R84]/[R85], take your meds.

Noting your stupidity clearly means that I have a mental problem. And obsession. Unlike you...which is why you haven't replied, over and over, about the issue you'd like to avoid: your own humiliation. Oh, wait, you keep replying, don't you?

Just remember, moron, it is an anonymous board. No one will connect your idiocy with a name or address.

I'm going to watch you go bye bye, r87--and all your subsequent ravings as well. Because a troll is a troll is a troll is a troll, but a gash like you is forever until I make you go...POOF!

[quote]I dislike Portman, but if she did what the script required, she was doing her job.

You really wear those rims well.

If there was ever proof that this a gay men's Web site, it's the bitching about Natalie Portman's ass--dudes, straight guys like those curves and Portman's ain't that chunky.

[quote] If there was ever proof that this a gay men's Web site, it's the bitching about Natalie Portman's ass--dudes, straight guys like those curves and Portman's ain't that chunky.

Portman has a stripper, bubble ass. She's bottom heavy. Five-foot nothing with a sizeable bottom; she's no stick back there.

That doesn't mean she's a fat cow, in general, like Lena Dunham, or the average woman on here that gets triggered by the observation of Portman's size in the ass end of things. But, please, as a fat female, at least be honest as to where you're arguing from, dear.

I agree with R48- she was extraordinarily beautiful. I agree with the affected accent (her father was a self made man- they were not Philly Main Line stock.) She was great when cast as the ice queen beauty that she was- affects and all. She became matronly as the Princess in Monte Carlo and I gather had a bit of a drinking problem- she was not happy with the choices she made in life I have a feeling.

r90, it's only one sad old queen harping about Portman's "fast" ass, and I've blocked her because she's a tedious cunt.

*fat

[quote]I'm going to watch you go bye bye, [R87]--and all your subsequent ravings as well. Because a troll is a troll is a troll is a troll, but a gash like you is forever until I make you go...POOF!

Is that the sound your head made when it came up with the gems @ R73, R76, R79, R83, and R86? Brilliant stuff, moron.

[quote][R90], it's only one sad old queen harping about Portman's "fast" ass, and I've blocked her because she's a tedious cunt.

Actually, that's a lie. You agreed with me @R65. Yet now you act as if you disagree with your own observation.

Funny how troll-dar outs you, as you rant on psychotically about a "troll". Very fishy.

[quote] t's only one sad old queen

Okay, so I'm a male...

[quote] harping about Portman's "fast" ass, and I've blocked her because she's a tedious cunt.

Oh, but you then become confused and call me a female?! A complete contradiction as to my sex, likely my age from that, and thus the asserted motive...all in a single sentence!

Sums up the rest of your dull posts, fish, as we can see @@ [R73], [R76], [R79], [R83], [R86]; and R65 relative to R93.

What a freak. You're proof that stupidity is psychosis.

[quote][R90], it's only one sad old queen harping about Portman's "fast" ass, and I've blocked her because she's a tedious cunt

[Disagree], [R93]. At least Grace Kelly didn't have a pole dancer's ass.

Amazingly, I can simply repost your thoughts to form entire arguments where you disagree...with yourself, R65 and R93.

Correction: That should be @R66 where R93 made the observation about Portman having a "stripper's ass".

I love Grace and thought she was perfect in every way. I loved her in Rear Window and To Catch a Thief. Her accent was called Mid Atlantic and had British affect but many actors were trained to use it that way.

She had IT!

[quote]I love Grace and thought she was perfect in every way. I loved her in Rear Window and To Catch a Thief. Her accent was called Mid Atlantic and had British affect but many actors were trained to use it that way.

Kate Hepburn's pussy eating skill was even called Mid Atlantic. It was very, very popular according to Gore Vidal!

r100, Kelly's vocal affectations were lame and pretentious, and meant to hide her other deficiencies, her beauty not being one.

About 30 years ago I worked with a guy who met Grace Kelly. He said when he was in his early 20s, in the late 50s, he was on a rowing team in Philadelphia that featured Grace's brother. The team got to tour Europe, and they were invited to stay at the royal palace at Monaco. My friend said Grace was very kind and absolutely gorgeous; he showed me snapshots he took of her holding baby Caroline. Even in black and white she was astonishingly beautiful.