The Last Picture Show
Princess Grace Was An Oscar-Winning Actress Before Retiring From Hollywood In 1956… But Did She Make A Widely-Unknown Comeback Film?
CRIED AT THE END of Grace Kelly’s final film. Though it was not, as you might expect, at the close of some Hitchcock thriller or a sweeping John Ford epic. It was, in fact, a short light comedy that Princess Grace starred in and produced herself, not long before her death in 1982. The film Rearranged was only ever viewed publicly one time and now rests in a palace archive.
I moved to Monaco in 1989 and never met Princess Grace but I did have the incredibly good luck to privately watch this film in its entirety a few years ago. It was a wonderful glimpse of the Princess at her best, playing herself, generous, serene and effortlessly regal.
Most Grace Kelly fans believe that the musical comedy High Society with Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby was her last film following her marriage to Prince Rainier III of Monaco on April 18, 1956. Yet, more than two decades later, the Oscar-winning-actress-turned-Princess produced a feature film to promote one of her most favorite events—the prestigious International Bouquet Competition.
The annual floral event is hosted by the Monaco Garden Club, which Princess Grace created in 1968, and to promote its 12th edition, Princess Grace decided to produce a Hollywood-style film. The Princess recruited director Robert Dornhelm, a young Austrian filmmaker she had worked with while narrating the documentary The Children of Theatre Street.
For the plot, she enlisted the help of her friend Jacqueline Monsigny, a French romance novelist married to the American actor Edward Meeks. Grace had met them both at the 1969 Monte-Carlo TV Festival, although the festival was also the first meeting for Monsigny and Meeks, who fell in love almost immediately and later married. Grace thereafter called them “her couple.”
Monsigny, who had written over 40 historical romance novels, chose a story of mistaken identity: Professor Nelson (Meeks), a famous astrophysicist, arrives in Monaco to address a scientific conference. At the airport, he is mistaken by Princess Grace’s chauffeur for a travel journalist who has come to report on the flower show. Arriving at the palace, Nelson tries to explain to the Princess (playing herself) but she mischievously enrolls him in the competition. Ultimately, the Professor learns that even a scientist can find beauty and the secrets of the universe in a simple flower.
Rearranged was shot over 10 days in several locations in Monaco including at Place d’Armes and the now-demolished Winter Sporting building. After an early script read-through with the Princess and Meeks, Monsigny said the two American-born actors sounded like “Laurel and Hardy speaking French” and the script was changed to English.
The Princess recruited friends, Garden Club members and staff, including her chauffeur and head of security, to appear in the film. Eventually Prince Rainier appeared in a cameo, posing as one of the competitors in the bouquet arranging. (He didn’t win.)
The film took more than a year to edit but Princess Grace was able to present it to an audience of more than 500 people at the 13th Garden Club Gala. The 33-minute film was well received and the Princess travelled to the US to show Rearranged to friends Frank Sinatra and Cary Grant. ABC-TV said it could broadcast the film but that the filmmakers needed to add another 15–20 minutes so that it could be aired in a one-hour time slot with time for commercials. After Monsigny finished an expanded script in the summer of 1982, everyone agreed to reconvene in September 1982 to complete the final footage.
On September 13, 1982, Princess Grace was returning to Monaco from the family home in Mont Agel when she suffered a stroke and lost control of her car, which fell down a 45-foot embankment. She died the following day.
The final 15 minutes of Rearranged were never completed.
Today, the original version rests in the Audio Visuel Archives of the principality. I stumbled upon the film in one of my earlier research projects for an article about the Princess. At the time, there were few accounts of the Princess’ movie to be found but I discovered a clip from a Japanese YouTube video which featured brief scenes from the film. Only a few people have viewed the entire film since her death.
Eventually, I was able to put together the amazing story of how Grace’s last film had been made with love by friends and family. A kind acquaintance and palace “insider” arranged for me to see the actual film on a small TV video player alongside a very protective Archives director. Despite a less than optimal sound quality, I was mesmerized by the Princess’s performance and the remarkable warmth, kindness and regal serenity that came through the small screen. I was in tears by the end.
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