1954 was Grace Kelly’s Year. Here is a rare interview conducted for NBC Radio by Sydney Smith – whose style is also timeless.
1954 New York Film Critics Circle Awards
(taking place in January 1955)
Grace Kelly won Best Actress :
The Country Girl, Rear Window, Dial ‘M’ for Murder
(Other nominees where Audrey Hepburn for Sabrina, Judy Garland for A Star is Born, June Allyson for The Glenn Miller Story, and Eva Marie Saint for On the Waterfront)
Awarding “Best Actress” for The Country Girl
Interviews took place in the famed Sardys Restaurant in New York City
(in a series along with Rudy Vallee, Thelma Ritter, Ben Grower, Loring Smith, Vincent Sardy)
NBC: “Hi, I just have to talk to you, will you excuse me… Always for Grace Kelly. And sitting opposite me now is lovely Grace Kelly. Welcome and congratulations.”
GRACE: “Thank you, very very much”
NBC: “Well now, you are a real ‘Triple Threat’ girl as they say in the business, because you won it for ‘Rear Window,’ for ‘Dial M for Murder,’ and ‘The Country Girl’ – all quite different parts, weren’t they?”
GRACE: “Yes, they were. I was very grateful for the chance to play such varied roles.”
NBC: “Tell me something, how did you get started in motion pictures? You came from television originally?”
GRACE: “Well my first part in pictures came when people from Fox saw me in ‘The Father’ with Raymond Massey and Mady Christians, and I went out to do a small part in a picture called ‘Fourteen Hours’ and that was my first part. And then I went on to do ‘High Noon,’ and after that I signed my contract with MGM and went to Africa to do ‘Mogambo.’
NBC: “Have you traveled very much since you’ve started making pictures?”
GRACE: “Oh, yes, I’ve been very lucky. I’ve been to so many wonderful places. I’ve been to Africa and to France, and South America and London.”
NBC: “Oh, that’s exciting. I hear you’re going back to Africa. Is that true, or is that just gossip in the papers?”
GRACE: “Well there is talk about it, but I don’t think it will be for a couple years.”
NBC: “Well now, how does a young lady coming from legitimate theater and television go out to Hollywood and get so many pictures in one year? You’re really quite a… well I don’t know what, but you must have the magic touch. How did you do it?”
GRACE: “Well it’s sheer luck! Really, I happened to be there when all of these things came my way. It was a freak thing, and I’m very, very grateful for it.”
NBC: “That’s very sweet and I think not only should you be so sweet to say something like that, but absolutely you’ve proved it in every sense of the word that you’re so capable and that you’ve done such a marvelous job. We have another picture of yours now at the Music Hall, “The Bridges of Toko-Ri.” How did you do that? Did you do that in Hollywood too?”
GRACE: “Yes, most of the company went to Japan, but I was filming ‘Rear Window’ at the time and couldn’t go. I was very sorry about that, but when the company came back from Tokyo I worked with them at the studios at Paramount.”
NBC: “What are you up to now?”
GRACE: “Well I was just out to the Coast for a quick visit this week. I left on Tuesday, and came back on Friday. It was my quickest trip to date. I went out to talk to the studio about future plans. There’s nothing definite so far but there are several things we’re talking about.”
NBC: “Let me see now… you went out to Hollywood, when was that exactly?”
GRACE: “Tuesday”
NBC: “No, I mean the first time, to make the first picture…”
GRACE: “The first time was in 1951.”
NBC: “And how many pictures have you made since that time. It’s ’55 now, just ’55.”
GRACE: “I’ve made nine.”
NBC: “9 pictures… That’s a wonderful record, Grace Kelly. Listen, didn’t you win an award last year of some sort, as I recall, for another picture?”
GRACE: “No, I was nominated for an award for Supporting Actress, but I didn’t win.”
NBC: “Well that was a good beginning. And for all supporting actresses who have almost won, this is certainly – if Grace Kelly is an example – a very hopeful sign. Grace Kelly, when you start out in this business, did you go to dramatic school or did you just make up your mind you were going to be an actress, and you just barged in where angels fear to tread?”
GRACE: “Well, a little bit of both. I went to dramatic school at the American Academy for two years, and then came time for barging.(laughs)”
NBC: “Tell me, if you were going to give a tip to a young lady listening to this program, what would you suggest are the ingredients that they have for success in the theatre or motion pictures, aside from talent?”
GRACE: “Well, it’s very difficult to say. The main thing is that you first have to decide if it’s something that you really want to do. Whatever you want to do, if you believe in it and work at it hard enough, your dream should come true.”
NBC: “In other words, you really have to stick to it, don’t you? Not just one shot and try it, and if it fails, you give up?”
GRACE: “Well, if it’s something that you love and that you want to do, you don’t mind giving up other things for it.”
NBC: “Now of all the great classics in the world, of all the great plays that we’ve heard of, if you had your choice, which part would you choose to play?”
GRACE: “It’s funny, I have no dream to play any particular part. There are many I would like to do, but there’s not one that I’m dying to do. I’ve been lucky to play a lot of very different parts and for the next few years, because I’m still learning, I’d like to try to play as many different roles as possible.”
NBC: “Have you any plans for your personal life, or should I keep my mouth shut about that? Are we going to see you get married, have children, settle down, or are you going to go on with this career of yours?”
GRACE: “Well, of course, I’d love to be married and have children, but I don’t think it’s the time for that just now. I’m still more interested in my career than marriage, and I don’t think I could do both at once very well right now.”
NBC: Well that’s certainly very interesting to hear from an actress, and I think very, very honest and candid of her. It certainly takes a lot of energy and time. Do you still study? You know, so many actresses that I know, like Geraldine Page, and so forth, they still work, they still study, they still sing, and they train. Do you still find it helpful to study?”
GRACE: “Oh, yes, I think one must always continue to study.”
NBC: “Do you have any other interests? Do you paint or write?”
GRACE: “Well, I paint only for my own amusement, merely for relaxation.”
NBC: “That certainly is a wonderful hobby to have. Do you use oil? Watercolor?”
GRACE: “Oil occasionally, but mostly charcoal and pastel.”
NBC: “And what do you like to do, scenes or people?”
GRACE: “I prefer people.”
NBC: “I thought so, it would seem right somehow. Of all the parts that you have played so far, which do you think is the one… [I understand that I’m going to interrupt myself… for a change…] Which is the one… as you look on the screen, most performers feel a little odd about seeing themselves on the screen the first time. As you looked at yourself in the different pictures, which one did you feel was the best job and the one that you liked to do the most?”
GRACE: “That’s hard to say. I feel that ‘The Country Girl’ was the part that was more of a challenge than anything else I had done and I enjoyed it, not only for that reason, but that I felt it was an important picture and an important story about people, and I really enjoyed doing it.
NBC: “Well it’s been a great pleasure having you, Grace Kelly, with us. I want to wish you all the luck in the world. It couldn’t have happened to a very nicer girl, I’m sure.
GRACE: “Thank you very much.”
Grace Kelly with Cary Grant at Oscars 1954
See this vintage article pre-declaring 1954 as The Year of Grace
