Molnar's stately examination of romance and duty, THE SWAN, made a slightly disappointing "swan song" for Grace Kelly in Hollywood (it and the delightful PHILADELPHIA STORY remake, HIGH SOCIETY with Cole Porter songs, marked her final two studio films before marrying Prince Rainier of Monaco who she met at a photo shoot at the Cannes Film Festival following her filming Alfred Hitchcock's TO CATCH A THIEF in his principality on the Mediterranean - near the borders of France and Italy). The disappointment today is less in the undeniably beautiful film itself than the undeserved reputation for "emptiness" and misconceptions which have grown up around it and served to limit the film's showings and the knowledge of Princess Grace's actual legacy.
Even in 1956, the popular taste was shifting to faster paced entertainments with more emphasis on car chases and adventure than language and communication. Ferenc Molnar's original 1923 play (he was also responsible for the 1921 LILIOM which became Rodgers & Hammerstein's CAROUSEL, filmed the same year as THE SWAN) was from a quieter age between the Wars when the popular taste was willing to look within the provinces of mythical royalty for its universal stories of human relationships. It seemed talky to a 1956 audience who saw the trappings of a long passed royalty and stopped listening to the very real emotions and honor at the heart of the story. Who wanted to care about the problems of a girl who happened to be living in luxury - and worse, was being torn between the love of two essentially good men? That failure to care - or care to listen - was the audience's loss (and the studio's - it was obviously a very expensive film), for the problems under examination were hardly trivial and the final scene between Alec Guinness and Princess Grace was as moving and true as any that could have been crafted from more earthy elements. Audiences today who care to listen to what literate people are actually saying rather than wallow in explosions and contrived "action" plots will find much to appreciate.
I said the film also perpetuated myths about its star. Seeing Princess Grace in this sumptuously costumed and technically undemanding setting, it's easy to believe she was the "little Philadelphia girl" given the Hollywood treatment and polished there into a "star," but Grace Kelly was far from the a Hollywood naif. She came from one of the wealthiest families in Philadelphia, and a not unconnected one theatrically. Her uncle, George Kelly, was a Pulitzer Prize winning playwright who probably inspired Grace's theatrical ambitions.
Before finding an all too brief position in the Hollywood pantheon, Kelly graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York and polished her craft in at least two productions on Broadway, winning a Theatre World Award for her first, a 1949 production of August Strindberg's THE FATHER! In his book "Darling, You Were Wonderful," press agent Harvey Sabinson, who worked on that production, tells of the dedication and generosity of the young actress who he didn't know at the time was so well connected (and when he learned, was not permitted to capitalize upon).
While the ending of her story (the far too early death in a car accident at 51 notwithstanding) may be one of seeming fairy tale romance, the true story of Grace Kelly the actress is one of natural ability rewarded through careful preparation and hard work - a tale not unlike the quietly inspiring plot of THE SWAN.
Even in 1956, the popular taste was shifting to faster paced entertainments with more emphasis on car chases and adventure than language and communication. Ferenc Molnar's original 1923 play (he was also responsible for the 1921 LILIOM which became Rodgers & Hammerstein's CAROUSEL, filmed the same year as THE SWAN) was from a quieter age between the Wars when the popular taste was willing to look within the provinces of mythical royalty for its universal stories of human relationships. It seemed talky to a 1956 audience who saw the trappings of a long passed royalty and stopped listening to the very real emotions and honor at the heart of the story. Who wanted to care about the problems of a girl who happened to be living in luxury - and worse, was being torn between the love of two essentially good men? That failure to care - or care to listen - was the audience's loss (and the studio's - it was obviously a very expensive film), for the problems under examination were hardly trivial and the final scene between Alec Guinness and Princess Grace was as moving and true as any that could have been crafted from more earthy elements. Audiences today who care to listen to what literate people are actually saying rather than wallow in explosions and contrived "action" plots will find much to appreciate.
I said the film also perpetuated myths about its star. Seeing Princess Grace in this sumptuously costumed and technically undemanding setting, it's easy to believe she was the "little Philadelphia girl" given the Hollywood treatment and polished there into a "star," but Grace Kelly was far from the a Hollywood naif. She came from one of the wealthiest families in Philadelphia, and a not unconnected one theatrically. Her uncle, George Kelly, was a Pulitzer Prize winning playwright who probably inspired Grace's theatrical ambitions.
Before finding an all too brief position in the Hollywood pantheon, Kelly graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York and polished her craft in at least two productions on Broadway, winning a Theatre World Award for her first, a 1949 production of August Strindberg's THE FATHER! In his book "Darling, You Were Wonderful," press agent Harvey Sabinson, who worked on that production, tells of the dedication and generosity of the young actress who he didn't know at the time was so well connected (and when he learned, was not permitted to capitalize upon).
While the ending of her story (the far too early death in a car accident at 51 notwithstanding) may be one of seeming fairy tale romance, the true story of Grace Kelly the actress is one of natural ability rewarded through careful preparation and hard work - a tale not unlike the quietly inspiring plot of THE SWAN.