Grace Kelly: Hollywood Princess

Grace Kelly was a blonde, vivacious, all-American movie star who flourished during the death throes of the Hollywood studio system, as well as a real life princess after she married Prince Rainier of Monaco. That she also inspired Hollywood Babylon-level lurid stories about her private appetites is just icing on the cake. A&E pretty much ignores the tawdry rumors (plenty of other Kelly bio-vids air this stuff) and sticks to the unimpeachable public story of the trials of Grace from her Philadelphia Main Line days to Hollywood to Monaco. Of course in telling Princess Grace's story, one is sort of obligated to mention the rather racy bits about her children, so Princess Stephanie and siblings glitter up the proceedings, too. All-in-all this is a tidy fifty-minute thumbnail sketch of Grace Kelly, her life and times, and why people cared about her. The Kennedys may be de facto American royalty, but Grace Kelly was both Hollywood royalty and the real article, and her story remains a vital part of our pop cultural heritage. Recommended. Aud: H, P. (M. Tribby)