Grace Kelly, Stewart Granger in Green Fire
Grace Kelly is once again the focal point of Turner Classic Movies' Thursday evening schedule. And as far as I'm concerned, next Thursday, Nov. 19, is going to be the most interesting of the Grace Kelly evenings this month.
The reason for that is simple: TCM will be showing the one Kelly feature I've yet to see — the Colombian-set adventure drama Green Fire (1954), co-starring Stewart Granger and Paul Douglas — and two of Kelly's pre-stardom television vehicles that I've also yet to see — "The Rockingham Tea Set" (1950) and "The Kill" (1952), both made for the Studio One anthology seriesand both directed by Franklin J. Schaffner, best known for Planet of the Apes and Patton (for which he won a best director Academy Award).
In Green Fire, Kelly plays a coffee plantation owner, a role originally intended for Ava Gardner and later Eleanor Parker. The drama revolves around the conflict between the coffee grower and a mining engineer (Granger) bent on extracting as many emeralds as he can from a nearby mountain.
"In the working out of a solution," Bosley Crowther remarked in the New York Times, "Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts, who wrote the script, have built up enough situations to keep the show moving briskly for an hour and a half. There are native game competitions, skirmishes with bandits, mine cave-ins and eventually the dynamiting of a mountain to fill the CinemaScope screen."
What that dynamited mountain is going to look like on television I don't know. A blown-up anthill? Apparently, film audiences at the time weren't that impressed with the explosion, as Green Fire was reportedly the only Grace Kelly vehicle to lose money. Even so, some bad movies get badder — and more enjoyable — with the passing of time. So, I'd say this one should be worth a look.
Directed by Mark Robson, the Korean War-set melodrama The Bridges at Toko-Ri is the worst Grace Kelly film I've seen. (Some bad movies get even worse with the passing of time.) Her role — that of William Holden's wife — is small, but it's impossible not to recommend a movie that features three top stars like Kelly, Holden, and Fredric March. (Mickey Rooney is also in it.)
Take a look at The Bridges at Toko-Ri. If need be, take lots of fridge and shower breaks. Or play with your dog or cat. Or read a book while watching it. But do check it out.
In "The Rockingham Tea Set" Kelly plays a nurse at odds with both neurotic invalid Louise Allbritton and some pesky ghostly apparitions, while in "The Kill" Kelly plays opposite Dick Foran in the role of a former big-city dweller whose new neighbors are some nasty country folks. Nina Foch co-stars. To the best of my knowledge, both productions are hard to find. So, don't miss them.
Photo: Courtesy Turner Classic Movies
Film schedule and synopses from the TCM website:
5:00pm Green Fire (1954)
An emerald prospector clashes with a beautiful plantation owner in South America.
Cast: Stewart Granger, Grace Kelly, Paul Douglas, John Ericson Dir: Andrew Marton C-100 mins7:00pm Bridges At Toko-Ri, The (1954)
Two jet pilots forge a lasting friendship while fighting the Korean War.
Cast: William Holden, Grace Kelly, Fredric March, Mickey Rooney Dir: Mark Robson C-103 mins9:00pm Rockingham Tea Set, The (1950)
Ghosts interfere with a young nurse's love life.
Cast: Grace Kelly Dir: Franklin J. Schaffner. BW-59 mins10:00pm Kill, The (1952)
A persecuted newcomer falls under suspicion when one of his tormentors is killed.
Cast: Grace Kelly Dir: Franklin J. Schaffner. BW-59 mins