High Society: The Life of Grace Kelly

In bringing noted film historian Spoto's biography of the late actress and monarch to life, George K. Wilson takes a natural, understated, unfussy approach in keeping with Kelly's own performing technique. Given Spoto's background, it comes as no surprise that the material focuses largely on Kelly's professional career, downplaying salacious elements of her celebrity. Wilson, therefore, must confine his displays of emotional fire to a few key points along the journey. Noteworthy characterizations include the legendary director Alfred Hitchcock—who viewed Kelly as his muse—in all of his gruff eccentricity and the brilliant but notoriously tyrannical filmmaker John Ford. Wilson also scores in his portrayal of Kelly's demanding parents, who discouraged her interest in show business. A Harmony hardcover (Reviews, July 13). (Jan.)