Grace Kelly | Hollywood Yesterday

It seems to me that Mogambo is one of those films you either love to distraction or hate with a passion. For me, it’s that latter, I’m afraid. Which is ODD and downright WEIRD because Clark Gable, Ava Gardner, and Grace Kelly are three of my favorites. Love them like crazy.

And yet… I’d rather gargle live crickets than watch this film.

Due to my love of the three stars, I’ve given it several chances to win me over. I have watched it three times over the years, with the following thoughts:

First Viewing: Ava is absolutely wonderful, Grace is boring in this role, and Clark is as miscast as miscasts get. Why did Grace sign on for this?
Second Viewing: Ava is absolutely, positively wonderful, Grace is absolutely, positively boring in this role, and Clark is as absolutely, positively miscast as miscasts get. Why did Grace sign on for this?
Third Viewing: Ava. She’s the only good thing about this turkey of a movie. Why did Grace sign on for this?

And yet… I see so many people name it as a favorite movie?! I don’t get it, but that certainly doesn’t mean it can’t be “got.” The worst thing about it is that I collect ALL Ava Gardner films, as well as ALL Grace Kelly films which means I’m actually going to have to buy this thing one day. Horrors! I’ve already decided it’s going on the Ava Gardner collection shelf.

After all, she’s the only good thing about it. Why did Grace sign on for this?

Find Mogambo on Amazon, if you’re also a collector or one of those who happens to like it.

Grace Kelly and Cary Grant in To Catch a Thief

Think for just a minute about Cary Grant’s leading ladies:

Rita Hayworth
Katharine Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn
Joan Fontaine
Jean Arthur
Ginger Rogers
Ann Sheridan
Myrna Loy
Grace Kelly
Ingrid Bergman
Rosalind Russell
Sophia Loren
Deborah Kerr
Leslie Caron
Doris Day
Eva Marie Saint
Jayne Mansfield
Jeanne Crane
Loretta Young
Shirley Temple

Reads like half of a “top actresses of Old Hollywood” list, doesn’t it? I name all of these exceptional actresses to simply highlight the weightiness of the following quote by Cary Grant in 1986:

“I’ve worked with (Ingrid Bergman). I’ve worked with Katharine Hepburn. I’ve worked with some of the biggest stars, but Grace Kelly was the best actress I’ve ever worked with in my life. That woman was total relaxation, absolute ease – she was totally THERE. She was an extraordinarily serene girl.”

When you take into account all of the stars he worked with over his career, this is truly an exceptional quote – about an exceptional actress. He didn’t just single Grace out with this quote, either. He often cited her as his favorite leading actress. He, of course, attended her state funeral (1982) and wept throughout the service.

The Hollywood legends co-starred in To Catch a Thief in 1955, one of the last movies Grace Kelly would make.

After she became Princess Grace, Cary Grant would visit her on occasions in Monaco. Click here for a hilarious short article on Vanity Fair about the “dirty jokes” he would tell her family on these visits.

I think you’re going to like his poem about generals and… well… privates.