#66th Miss Universe

[srkshaju]

Dive into Paramount+: Top Picks for February 2024

As the month of love unfolds, so does Paramount+'s captivating lineup of movies and shows for February 2024.

From the action-packed 'Halo' Season 2 to the glitz of the '2024 Grammys,' the streaming platform promises an array of entertainment to suit every mood.

Don't miss out on these seven sensational additions that are sure to keep you glued to your screens.

Sexy Beasts (Continuing from January) - Available on February 1

Explore the roots of Gal Dove and Don Logan's complex friendship in this prequel series inspired by the 2000 film.

Delve into the criminal world as the much younger duo embarks on a journey from small-town petty criminals to emerging players in East London's tempting and entangled landscape.

A gritty and sexy homage to the original film.

A Bloody Lucky Day (Season 1) - Available on February 1

Join ordinary taxi driver Oh Taek as he faces a string of bad luck that takes an unexpected turn when he chauffeurs a mysterious passenger, Geum Hyuk-soo, to a distant city.

Little does he know that his seemingly innocent passenger is a chilling serial killer with a haunting history.

Brace yourself for a high-stakes mind game.

The Tiger’s Apprentice - Available on February 2

Adapted from Laurence Yep’s beloved children’s book series, 'The Tiger’s Apprentice' follows Tom Lee, a Chinese-American teenager who discovers he is a descendant of magical protectors known as the Guardians.

Guided by the mythical tiger Hu, Tom undergoes training to confront the powerful adversary Loo.

An epic battle to safeguard humanity ensues.

2024 Grammys - Available on February 4

Tune in to the 66th Grammys, broadcasting live from Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.

Hosted by Trevor Noah, the star-studded lineup includes Billie Eilish, Burna Boy, Dua Lipa, Luke Combs, Olivia Rodrigo, and Travis Scott.

Expect a night of musical brilliance with more surprise performances unveiled as the event approaches.

Cybersleuths: The Idaho Murders - Available on February 6

Embark on a chilling journey with true-crime enthusiasts on TikTok as they unravel the mysteries surrounding the murders of four University of Idaho students.

This gripping series explores the case that shook the nation, examining the limitations of the small town’s police department and the unconventional pursuit of truth by digital detectives.

Halo (Season 2) - Available on February 8

Master Chief John-117 and his elite team of Spartans face off against the alien threat known as the Covenant.

A shocking event unfolds on a desolate planet, signaling a significant change in the war's course.

Join John on a perilous journey to discover the key to humankind’s survival or face imminent extinction in this action-packed season.

The Family Stallone (Season 2) - Available on February 21

Step into the world of Hollywood royalty with Season 2 of 'The Family Stallone.'

Follow the Stallones as they bid farewell to Hollywood after four decades and embark on new beginnings.

Daughters Sophia and Sistine chase their dreams in New York City, while Scarlet navigates college life in Miami.

Join the Stallones on this emotional journey as they redefine what it means to be family.

Don't miss these February gems on Paramount+—your gateway to a month filled with entertainment delights!

[conandaily2022]

Complete list of Miss Mississippi USA 2024 candidates

The Miss Mississippi USA 2024 coronation ceremony will take place at Pearl River Resort in Choctaw, Neshoba County, Mississippi, United States on April 6, 2024. It is the 66th edition of the state-level beauty pageant that selects Mississippi’s candidate for Miss USA, which selects the Miss Universe candidate of the U.S. Currently, Mississippi has 12 Miss USA placements including the first…

[topsportsasia]

List of 25 Miss Universe 2017 candidates from Europe

Miss Universe 2016 Iris Mittenaere of France will pass her crown to her successor on November 26, 2017 at The AXIS at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. It is the 66th edition of the international beauty pageant currently owned by William Morris Endeavor (WME) / International Management Group (IMG). There are 92 women competing for the Miss Universe 2017 crown. Twenty-five of…

[mdsc951]

Happy Belated 66th Birthday to Steve Harvey.🖤💯🕳💬 Born January 17, 1957, Hexis a television host, producer, actor, and comedian. He hosts The Steve Harvey Morning Show, Family Feud, Celebrity Family Feud, the Miss Universe competition, Family Feud Africa, and the arbitration-based court comedy Judge Steve Harvey. (at West Hollywood, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cnra1nILGVE/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[paddylast]

My 2017 Recap in Beauty Pageants! 2017 has been an eventful year in the world of pageantry from the staging of the 65th Miss Universe pageant in Manila in January up to it's homecoming in Las Vegas last November 26 and ever minor and major pageants in between - it was whirlwind and almost chaotic for both pageant fans and pundits!

[thejackscorner-blog]

[vagishamishrablog]

Miss Universe 2017: Departure and Arrivals

Miss Universe 2017 will be the 66th edition of the Miss Universe pageant, which is slated to take place on November 26, 2017 at The AXIS, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. During the conclusion of the pageant, Iris Mittenaere of France will crown her successor at the end of the event.

This year more than 96 countries are competing for one of the most prestigious title in the world, Miss Universe. Egypt, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Ghana, Iraq, Ireland, Lebanon, Montenegro, Serbia, St. Lucia, Trinidad & Tobago and  Zambia return to Miss Universe pageant this year while Armenia, Cambodia, Laos and Nepal are making debut at the said pageant. [Also Read: MEET THE CONTESTANTS OF MISS UNIVERSE 2017 RIGHT HERE!!!!]

Meet the delegates during their departures from homeland for 66th Miss Universe competition slated to be held in Las Vegas, USA.

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Ireland

Bahamas

Finland

Mauritius

St Lucia

Uruguay

Thailand

Chile

Spain

MEET THE CONTESTANTS OF MISS UNIVERSE 2017 RIGHT HERE!

Vote Now! Vote For Your Favorite Miss Universe 2017 Contestant HERE!!!!

Miss Universe 2017 is ON: Look Who All Here in Las Vegas! Miss Universe 2017: Departure and Arrivals Miss Universe 2017 will be the 66th edition of the Miss Universe pageant, which is slated to take place on November 26, 2017 at The AXIS, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States.

[normanblogs]

R.P. | Rachel of the Philippines 🇵🇭 

No. These are not the pre-arrival photos of Miss Universe Philippines 2017 Rachel Peters. At least not just yet. Fashion photographer Gee Plamenco Jr. takes credit for the shots used for the September 2017 issue of Metro Magazine where a corresponding article titled “Road to Beauty” by Kate Paras accompanied the beautiful images of our bet to the 66th Miss Universe.

It goes without saying that…

[spaceexp]

Highlights from the 2019 Moriond conference

CERN - European Organization for Nuclear Research logo. April 2, 2019 The latest experimental data provide more stringent tests of the Standard Model and of rare phenomena of the microworld At the 66th Rencontres de Moriond conference, which is taking place in La Thuile, Italy, physicists working at CERN are presenting their most recent results. Since the start of the conference on 16 March, a wide range of topics from measurements of the Higgs boson and Standard Model processes to searches for rare and exotic phenomena have been presented. The Standard Model of particle physics is a successful theory that describes how elementary particles and forces govern the properties of the Universe, but it is incomplete as it cannot explain certain phenomena, such as gravity, dark matter and dark energy. For this reason, physicists welcome any measurement that shows discrepancies with the Standard Model, as these give hints of new particles and new forces – of new physics, in other words. At the conference, the ATLAS and CMS collaborations have presented new results based on up to 140fb–1 of proton-proton collision data collected during Run 2 of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) from 2015 to 2018. Many of these analyses benefited from novel machine-learning techniques used to extract data from background processes. Since the discovery of the Higgs boson in 2012, ATLAS and CMS physicists have made significant progress in understanding its properties, how it is formed and how it interacts with other known particles. Thanks to the large quantity of Higgs bosons produced in the collisions of Run 2, the collaborations were able to measure most of the Higgs boson’s main production and decay modes with a statistical significance far exceeding five standard deviations. In addition, many searches for new, additional Higgs bosons have been presented. From a combination of all Higgs boson measurements, ATLAS obtained new constraints on the Higgs self-coupling. CMS has presented updated results on the Higgs decay to two Z bosons and has also derived new information on the strength of the interaction between Higgs bosons and top quarks. This interaction is measured in two ways, using top quark pairs and using a rare process in which four top quarks are produced. The probability of four top quarks being produced at the LHC is about a factor of ten less likely than the production of Higgs bosons together with two top quarks, and about a factor of ten thousand less likely than the production of just a top quark pair.

Image above: ATLAS event display showing the clean signature of light-by-light scattering (Image: ATLAS/CERN). The ATLAS collaboration has also reported first evidence for the simultaneous production of three W or Z bosons, which are the mediator particles of the weak force. Tri-boson production is a rare process predicted by the Standard Model, and is sensitive to possible contributions from yet unknown particles or forces. The very large new dataset has also been used by the ATLAS and CMS collaborations to expand the searches for new particles beyond the Standard Model at the energy available at the LHC. One of the possible theories is supersymmetry, an extension of the Standard Model, which features a symmetry between matter and force and introduces many new particles, including possible candidates for dark matter. These hypothetical particles have not been detected in experiments so far, and the collaborations have set stronger lower limits on the possible range of masses that they could have.

Image above: A collision event recorded by CMS, containing a missing-transverse-energy signature, which is one of the characteristics sought in the search for SUSY (Image: CMS/CERN). The CMS collaboration has placed new limits on the parameters of new physics theories that describe hypothetical slowly moving heavy particles. These are detected by measuring how fast particles travel through the detector: while the regular particles propagate at speeds close to that of light, straight from the proton collisions, these heavy particles are expected to move measurably slower before decaying into a shower of other particles, creating a “delayed jet”. CMS has also presented first evidence for another rare process, the production of two W bosons in not one but two simultaneous interactions between the constituents of the colliding protons. In addition, ATLAS and CMS have presented new studies on the search for hypothetical Z′ (Z-prime) bosons. The existence of such neutral heavy particles is predicted by certain Grand Unified theories that could provide an elegant extension of the Standard Model. Although no significant signs of Z′ particles have been observed thus far, the results provide constraints on their production rate. The LHCb collaboration has presented several new measurements concerning particles containing beauty or charm quarks. Certain properties of these particles can be affected by the existence of new particles beyond the Standard Model. This allows LHCb to search for signs of new physics via a complementary, indirect route. One much anticipated result, shown for the first time at the conference, is a measurement using data taken from 2011 to 2016 of the ratio of two related rare decays of a B+ particle. These decays are predicted in the Standard Model to occur at the same rate to within 1%; the data collected are consistent with this prediction but favour a lower value. This follows a pattern of intriguing hints in other, similar decay processes; while none of these results are significant enough to constitute evidence of new physics on their own, they have captured the interest of physicists and will be investigated further with the full LHCb data set. LHCb also presented the first observation of matter–antimatter asymmetry known as CP violation in charm particle decays, as reported in a dedicated press release last week. Finally, using the results of lead-ion collisions taken in 2018, the ATLAS collaboration has been able to clearly observe a very rare phenomenon in which two photons – particles of light – interact, producing another pair of photons, with a significance of over 8 standard deviations. This process was among the earliest predictions of quantum electrodynamics (QED), the quantum theory of electromagnetism, and is forbidden by Maxwell's classical theory of electrodynamics. Note: CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, is one of the world’s largest and most respected centres for scientific research. Its business is fundamental physics, finding out what the Universe is made of and how it works. At CERN, the world’s largest and most complex scientific instruments are used to study the basic constituents of matter — the fundamental particles. By studying what happens when these particles collide, physicists learn about the laws of Nature. The instruments used at CERN are particle accelerators and detectors. Accelerators boost beams of particles to high energies before they are made to collide with each other or with stationary targets. Detectors observe and record the results of these collisions. Founded in 1954, the CERN Laboratory sits astride the Franco–Swiss border near Geneva. It was one of Europe’s first joint ventures and now has 23 Member States. Related articles: LHCb sees a new flavour of matter–antimatter asymmetry https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2019/03/lhcb-sees-new-flavour-of.html ATLAS observes light scattering off light https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2019/03/atlas-observes-light-scattering-off.html Related links: Rencontres de Moriond: http://moriond.in2p3.fr/2019/ Higgs boson: https://home.cern/science/physics/higgs-boson Z bosons: https://home.cern/science/physics/z-boson Standard Model: https://home.cern/science/physics/standard-model Dark matter: https://home.cern/science/physics/dark-matter ATLAS: https://home.cern/science/experiments/atlas CMS: https://home.cern/science/experiments/cms Large Hadron Collider (LHC): https://home.cern/science/accelerators/large-hadron-collider LHCb collaboration: https://home.cern/science/experiments/lhcb For more information about European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), Visit: https://home.cern/ Images (mentioned), Text, Credit: CERN. Best regards, Orbiter.ch Full article

[conandaily2022]

5 most beautiful Miss Oklahoma USA 2023 candidates

The Miss Oklahoma USA 2023 coronation night will take place at the Visual and Performing Arts Center Theater of Oklahoma City Community College in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States on March 26, 2023. It is the 66th edition of the state-level beauty pageant that selects Oklahoma’s candidate for Miss USA, which selects the Miss Universe candidate of the U.S. Currently, Oklahoma has 28 Miss…

[topsportsasia]

List of 10 Miss Universe 2017 candidates from Africa

Miss Universe 2016 Iris Mittenaere of France will pass her crown to her successor on November 26, 2017 at The AXIS at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. It is the 66th edition of the international beauty pageant currently owned by William Morris Endeavor (WME) / International Management Group (IMG). There are 92 women competing for the Miss Universe 2017 crown. Ten of them are…

[anothergracekellyblog]

TIME magazine - January 31, 1955 Cover illustration by Boris Chaliapin

THE GIRL IN WHITE GLOVES

Almost every morning, a slim figure in a polo coat, leading a small black poodle on a leash, emerges from one of Manhattan's cliff houses on East 66th Street. The doorman gives her a cheery “Good Morning, Miss Kelly.” But outside, no head turns. For, in her low-heeled shoes and horn-rimmed spectacles, Actress Grace Kelly is all but indistinguishable from any other well-scrubbed young woman of the station-wagon set, armored in good manners, a cool expression, and the secure knowledge that whatever happens, Daddy can pay.

A few blocks away, Grace Kelly's name is emblazoned on two first-run Broadway houses, and the same face, without spectacles, makes husbands sigh and wives think enviously that they might look that way too, if only they could afford a really good hairdo. In Hollywood, producers fight over her, directors beg for her, writers compose special scripts for her. In an industry where the girls can be roughly divided into young beauties and aging actresses, Grace Kelly is something special: a young (25) beauty who can act.

A year ago, Grace Patricia Kelly was only a promising newcomer (generally thought to be English), who lost Clark Gable to Ava Gardner in Mogambo. Currently, she is the acknowledged “hottest property” in Hollywood. In Manhattan this year, the New York Film Critics pronounced her acting in The Country Girl “the outstanding performance of 1954.”

CAN’T TOUCH HER

Grace Kelly, with the lovely blonde hair, chiseled features, blue eyes and an accent that is obviously refined, is a startling change from the run of smoky film sirens and bumptious cuties. Said one Hollywood observer: “Most of these dames just suggest Kinsey statistics. But if a guy in a movie theater starts mooning about Grace, there could be nothing squalid about it; his wife would have to be made to understand that it was something fine - and bigger than all of them. Her peculiar talent, you might say, is that she inspires licit passion."

From the day in 1951 when she walked into Director Fred Zinnemann's office wearing prim white gloves ("Nobody came to see me before wearing white gloves"), the well-bred Miss Grace Kelly of Philadelphia has baffled Hollywood. She is a rich girl who has struck it rich. She was not discovered behind a soda fountain or at a drive-in. She is a star who was never a starlet, who never worked up from B pictures, never posed for cheesecake, was never elected, with a press agent's help, Miss Antiaircraft Battery C. She did not gush or twitter or desperately pull wires for a chance to get in the movies. Twice she turned down good Hollywood contracts. When she finally signed on the line, she forced mighty M-G-M itself to grant her special terms. Beamed a New York friend: “Here, for the first time in history, is a babe that Hollywood can't get to. Can't touch her with money, can't touch her with big names. Only thing they can offer her is good parts.”

STEEL INSIDES

She has managed to get the parts. In the short space of 18 months, she has been paired with six of Hollywood's biggest box office male stars - Clark Gable, Ray Milland, James Stewart, William Holden, Bing Crosby, Cary Grant. These seasoned veterans have learned to view with a jaundiced eye the pretty young newcomers assigned to play opposite them. Grace, as usual, was different. Says Holden, one of Hollywood's ablest pros: “With some actresses, you have to keep snapping them to attention like a puppy. Grace is always concentrating. In fact, she sometimes keeps me on the track.” Says Jimmy Stewart: "She's easy to play to. You can see her thinking the way she's supposed to think in the role. You know she's listening, and not just for cues. Some actresses don't think and don't listen. You can tell they're just counting the words.”

Outside the studio, Grace continued to disregard the Hollywood rules. She was friendly, but she refused to court the important columnists. Interviewers who tried to get her to open up came away swearing that they would rather tackle a train window anytime. One producer grumbled that she had “stainless steel insides.” She flatly refused to divulge even the standard data (bust, waist, hips). One columnist asked routinely whether she wore nightgowns. “I think it's nobody's business what I wear to bed,” she said coolly. “A person has to keep something to herself, or your life is just a layout in a magazine."

In the end, publicists had to content themselves with tagging Miss Kelly as “a Main Line debutante.” She is neither Main Line nor a debutante, but she is the next thing to both.

THE BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE

In Philadelphia, the Kellys are about as conspicuous as the 30th Street Station, which, like many of the city's major structures, bears the credit: Brickwork by Kelly. Handsome, athletic John B. Kelly, Grace's father, the son of a farm boy from County Mayo, began business life as a bricklayer. Eventually, he parlayed a borrowed $7,000 into the nation's biggest brickwork construction company. One of his brothers was George Kelly, Pulitzer Prizewinning playwright (Craig's Wife); another was Walter Kelly, the famed “Virginia Judge” of the vaudeville circuits.

All the Kellys, says a friend, are “beautiful, physical people.” Father Jack was a champion sculler; Grace's mother (who is of German descent) was a model, later the first woman physical education instructor at the University of Pennsylvania. Father Jack, who still takes his athletics seriously, went to England in 1920 to compete at Henley. But the Henley committee ruled that he could not compete because he had once “worked with his hands" and was therefore not a “gentleman.” He went on to the Olympics, where he soundly thrashed the Henley winner, and triumphantly sent his sweaty green rowing cap to King George V of England with his compliments. The moment his son John B. Jr. (“Kell") was born in 1927, Jack resolved that he would win at Henley; he began training the boy personally at the age of seven. In 1947 Kell righted an old wrong done his family by going to Henley in the colors of the University of Pennsylvania and scoring an impressive victory for Penn and Pop.

CHURCH & ATHLETICS

Of the three Kelly daughters, Peggy was the oldest and a cut-up, Lizanne the youngest and an extrovert. Grace, the middle one, born Nov. 12, 1929, was shy, quiet, and for years snuffled with a chronic cold. The big, 15-room house in plain East Falls, across the Schuylkill River from the Main Line, was the meeting place for the whole neighborhood. “There was a lawn out back with swings and a sandbox, a tennis court and the usual things like that,” says Grace. Summers, the Kelly family had a house on the Jersey shore at Ocean City. As regularly as she marched the children to St. Bridget's Roman Catholic Church every Sunday, Mrs. Kelly marched them off to the Penn Athletic Club for workouts. "There's a certain discipline in athletic work,” says Mrs. Kelly. “That's why Grace can accustom herself to routine and responsibility.” Sister Peg organized home theatricals. "Somebody else always got the lead,” Grace recalls, without rancor. Even then remote and self-absorbed, Grace used to write poetry, some serious, some "little gooney ones” that showed a neat turn of phrase. Sample, written when she was 14:

I hate to see the sun go down And squeeze itself into the ground, Since some warm night it might get stuck And in the morning not get up.

Little Grace went to the local Ravenhill convent school, then to Stevens School in Germantown. By the time she was eleven, she was appearing in a local amateur dramatic company. Turned down by Bennington (she flunked math), Grace got herself into the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York. From the first, her family was dubious about an acting career. “We'd hoped she would give it up,” says her mother. Snorts Father Kelly: “Those movie people lead pretty shallow lives.”

THE “CLEAN” WAY

But Grace knew what she wanted. To assure her independence, she got a job modeling, was soon making $400 a week posing for Ipana, beer ads, Old Golds. Photographer Ruzzie Green describes her as “what we call ‘nice clean stuff’ in our business. She's not a top model and never will be. She's the girl next door. No glamour, no oomph, no cheesecake. She has lovely shoulders but no chest. Grace is like Bergman in the 'clean’ way. She can do that smush stuff in movies - remember all those little kisses in Rear Window? - and get away with it.” A friend remembers her at this period as “terribly sedate, always wore tweed suits and a hat-with-a-veil kind of thing. She had any number of sensible shoes, even some with those awful flaps on front.”

She did TV commercials (“I was terrible - honestly, anyone watching me give the pitch for Old Golds would have switched to Camels"), doggedly made the rounds of summer stock (New Hope and Denver) and casting offices. “I've read for almost everything that's been cast. I even read for the ingenue part in The Country Girl on Broadway (left out in the movie ). The producer told me I really wasn't the ingenue type, that I was too intelligent looking.”

Then she read for the daughter's part in Strindberg's grim The Father. She got the part and won good notices, but the play lasted only two months. Grace went back to TV (“summer stock in an iron lung") to play in such varied offerings as Studio One, Treasury Men in Action, Philco Playhouse and Lights Out.

FIRST FAN

Once before and once shortly after she left dramatic school, Grace turned down $250-a-week movie contracts: “I didn't want to be just another starlet.” Now Hollywood reached for her again but failed to get a firm grip. Director Henry Hathaway gave her a bit part as the lady negotiating a divorce across the street from the man on the ledge in Fourteen Hours. But she refused a contract; she did not feel ready yet. She did accept a one-shot offer from Producer Stanley Kramer for the part of Gary Cooper's young wife in High Noon.

Fourteen Hours produced her first fan, a high-school girl in Oregon who started a fan club and kept Grace posted on new members. Grace thought it a hilarious joke. “We've got a new girl in Washington,” she would cry in triumph. “I think she's ours, sewed up.” In High Noon her finishing-school accent sat awkwardly amongst the western drawls, and her beauty made little impact. What was more, from High Noon determined Grace Kelly got her first real self-doubts about her planned progress. Says she: “With Gary Cooper, everything is so clear. You look into his face and see everything he is thinking. I looked into my own face and saw nothing. I knew what I was thinking, but it didn't show. For the first time, I suddenly thought, ‘Perhaps I'm not going to be a great star, perhaps I'm not any good after all.’” Grace hustled back to New York to learn how to make it show.

THE “TOO” CATEGORY

She was still learning (with Sanford Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse) when 20th Century-Fox called her to test for a role in a film called Taxi. Dressed in an old skirt and a man's shirt on her way to class, “I walked into Gregory Ratoff's office, and he threw up his arms and screamed, 'She's perfect.' In all my life, no one has ever said, 'You are perfect.' People have been confused about my type, but they agreed on one thing: I was in the “too” category - too tall, too leggy, too chinny. And Ratoff kept yelling around, 'What I love about this girl, she's not pretty.’” But the producer did not like her, and another girl got the role.

Director John Ford saw the test, however, and wanted her for Mogambo. Even then, Grace did not come running. When M-G-M offered her a seven-year contract starting at $750 a week, she demanded a year off every two years for a play, and permission to go back to New York, instead of hanging around Hollywood, whenever she finished a picture. She was only 22, and all but unknown. But M-G-M agreed to her terms. Says Grace: “I wanted Mogambo for three things: John Ford, Clark Gable, and a free trip to Africa.”

In Africa, Grace picked up a lot of film technique from Ford and developed a hero worship for Gable. Ford was soon predicting that she would be a star. For her performance as the cool English wife stirred to sudden and thwarted passion for White Hunter Gable, Grace won a “best supporting role” nomination for the Academy Award.

RESTRAINT & CONTROL

M-G-M still seemed uncertain about what to do with her. But Alfred Hitchcock, also impressed by the Taxi test, snapped her up for Dial M for Murder, then for Rear Window. Says Hitchcock: “From the Taxi test, you could see Grace's potential for restraint. I always tell actors don't use the face for nothing. Don't start scribbling over the sheet of paper until we have something to write. We may need it later. Grace has this control. It's a rare thing for a girl at such an age.” Director George Seaton adds: “Grace doesn't throw everything at you in the first five seconds. Some girls give you everything they've got at once, and there it is -  there is no more. But Grace is like a kaleidoscope: one twist, and you get a whole new facet.”

Under Hitchcock's expert direction, Grace bloomed in Rear Window. As a sleek young career girl, she distilled a tingling essence of what Hitchcock has called “sexual elegance.” She was learning her trade. The way she walked, spoke and combed her hair had a sureness that gives moviegoers a comfortable feeling: she would never make them wince with some awkwardness of misplaced gaucherie. Exhibitors, who know a good thing when they see the turnstiles click, began dropping Hitchcock and Stewart from their marquees and advertised simply: “Grace Kelly in Rear Window.” In Hollywood, the stampede was on.

MORE THAN BEAUTIFUL

When the stampede started, Grace was in a bathing suit dutifully splashing around a Japanese bathhouse as Navy Pilot Bill Holden's wife in The Bridges at Toko-Ri (a movie that does little for Grace except establish the fact that she has a better figure than normally meets the eye). At about the same time, Paramount's producer-director team of William Perlberg and George Seaton got word that Jennifer Jones, scheduled to play the title role in their next picture, The Country Girl, had become pregnant. They asked M-G-M to lend them Grace. This time M-G-M said no. Grace still gets angry when she thinks about it. She went to her agent, says Perlberg, and told him: “If I can't do this picture, I'll get on the train and never come back. I'll quit the picture business. I'll never make another film.” Actress Kelly had her way. M-G-M lent her out to Paramount again, but this time jumped the price from the $20,000 charged for Toko-Ri to $50,000 and demanded that she give M-G-M an extra picture (her contract calls for only three a year).  

The Country Girl was final proof that she is more than merely beautiful. The well-bred girl from Philadelphia is completely convincing as the slatternly, embittered wife of aging, alcoholic Matinee Idol Bing Crosby. She slouches around with her glowing hair gone dull, her glasses stuck on top of her head, her underlip sullen, resentment in the very sag of her shoulders and the dangle of her arms. She looks dreadful. Said Seaton: “You know that old cardigan sweater she wears? Well, a lot of actresses would say, 'Well, why don't we just put a few rhinestones here? I want to look dowdy, of course, but this woman has taste... and before you know it, she'd look like a million dollars. But not Grace. Grace wanted to be authentic.”

Bing Crosby, a little nervous himself at undertaking so exacting a dramatic role, was dubious about his untried costar and said so. But before the shooting was over, Crosby was telling Seaton, “Never let me open my big mouth again,” and talking of taking Grace out dancing.

BAGS PACKED

Hollywood is now eager to adopt Actress Kelly, white gloves and all, and is trying hard, with the air of an ill-at-ease lumberjack worrying whether he is using the right spoon. But Grace shows no interest in the Hollywood way of life, or even in having the customary swimming pool ("I don't swim that much"). Thus far, she has lived with a sister or a girlfriend in a furnished, two-room North Hollywood apartment, acting as if she considered herself on location, with her bags packed ready to go back to New York.

Young men who are eager to brighten her after-hours life come away baffled. “If she doesn't think a joke is funny," one complained, “she doesn't laugh." Wolves are discouraged when Grace briskly pulls on her glasses (her lovely blue eyes are nearsighted) and assumes her Philadelphia expression. Some suspect that she is, as Oscar Wilde put it, “a sphinx without secrets." Publicity men despair of her. “A Grace Kelly anecdote?” said a friend. “I don't think Grace would allow an anecdote to happen to her.”

A few of Hollywood's older, more sought-after men have concluded, from time to time, that they were just the boys destined to discover and unlock the real Grace. Each time, Grace has resisted unlocking, though whenever her father reads in a column of a new “romantic attachment,” the family gets alarmed. “I don't like that sort of thing much," snorts father Kelly. “I'd like to see Grace married. These people in Hollywood think marriage is like a game of musical chairs." When the gossips reported that Ray Milland was leaving his wife for Grace, mother Kelly hustled out to California to set things straight. Milland insists that he only took her to dinner once; Grace says nothing. Most recently Grace's escort has been Dress Designer Oleg Cassini, onetime husband of Gene Tierney and professional man-about-ladies. The Kellys deplore all such gossip-column romances. "I don't generally approve of these oddballs she goes out with,” grumps brother Kell, who is still national sculling champion and works for his father's company between workouts on the Schuylkill. “I wish she would go out with the more athletic type. But she doesn't listen to me anymore.”

Some of Grace's admirers fear that M-G-M may do to her what the studio did to Deborah Kerr - lash her down to "lady" roles and keep her there. Even after The Country Girl, the best M-G-M could think of was to assign Grace to Green Fire (which she did as her part of the bargain on Country Girl) and then offer her Quentin Durward. Grace, who sees the satin-lined trap as clearly as anyone, refused the Durward part after reading the script. “All the men can duel and fight, but all I'd do would be to wear 35 different costumes, look pretty and frightened. There are eight people chasing me: the old man, robbers, the head gypsy and Durward. The stage directions on every page of the script say, 'She clutches her jewel box and flees.’ I just thought I'd be so bored..."

RELUCTANT SCENERY

While waiting for M-G-M to think again, Grace retired to her three-room apartment in a huge, modern building in Manhattan (masonry by Kelly), where she lives alone with her poodle puppy, Oliver. Her amusements range from photography (she develops her own negatives, sloshing around her bathroom in the dark) to word games.  A favorite game is one devised by Alfred Hitchcock when he met Lizabeth Scott and got to wondering what would happen if other people dropped the first letter of their names: Rank Sinatra, Scar Hammerstein, Reer Garson, Orgie Raft, Ickey Rooney. Four times a week she puts her hair up into a ponytail, dons a leotard, and goes off to classes in modern dancing and ballet. Wandering near Broadway, she avoided the Broadway theater where M-G-M publicized Green Fire with a huge poster of a bosomy girl in sexy green drapery with Grace's head but another girl's body. “It makes me so mad,” says Grace. “And the dress isn't even in the picture.”  

Last week M-G-M's Production Boss Dore Schary summoned Grace to Hollywood to propose a new picture - a western with Spencer Tracy scheduled to costar. After two days of talk, Grace was still noncommittal; she would wait, she said coolly, until she had seen the completed script.

It is possible that Grace might yet win an Oscar for her Country Girl performance, and even M-G-M would have a hard time turning an Oscar-winning actress into a road-company Greer Garson. Furthermore, Actress Kelly is determined that that will not happen to her. Says she, setting her beautiful chin: “I don't want to dress up a picture with just my face. If anybody starts using me as scenery, I'll do something about it.” If all else fails, Grace could conceivably break her contract and return to television. Or she could try the stage, where acting talent counts for more, and the competition is tougher. She could always give up the whole thing for the role of wealthy young socialite. But if her studio mentors are wise, and if Grace is as wary as she has so far proved to be, the young beauty from Philadelphia may yet become an authentic jewel in Hollywood's tinsel crown.

[paddylast]

Rachel Peters during the Miss Universe 2017 Preliminary Competition! #MissUniverse #Philippines

Here’s Miss Universe Philippines’ Rachel Peters strutting like the queen she is in her Yamamay two-piece swimsuit and another Val Taguba creation for her evening gown! So heavenly!  She may have performed really well here but just the same, let’s secure her spot in the semis by showing our support simply by voting for her via Twitter using these two hash tags: #MissUniverse #Philippines. Vote…

[thejackscorner-blog]

[markesackett-theboxsf]

Happy 66th Birthday Gretchen! ❤️ Today would have been your 66th Birthday. We built @theboxsfevents and @reflectur_com together, and you never got to see The Pressroom and Mercantile of @theboxsf 🙏 You would love Melanie @decowitch and Israel @israel_srs who help me get through everyday. You would love all the stunning fixtures, cabinets, antiques and your favorite (rusty) items I find and pick up! You would love Halloween and Christmas here. I still decorate with some of the amazing ‘fake’ gifts you wrapped for the events space. Today “All Hallows Eve” is your day. I hope you are somewhere in the Universe doing a 300 year old gravestone rubbing while enjoying the carved Letters and Creeping Vines that wrap the Tombstones. There is so much of you and our 38 years together surrounding us here, and your heavy, mighty stone Raven sits at the end of our 337 year old Gate Table keeping a watchful eye out over all we do! I miss you… HAPPY BIRTHDAY! 🧙🏼‍♀️❤️🧙🏼‍♀️ (at The Pressroom and Mercantile at The Box SF) https://www.instagram.com/p/CVqR3DQPYVH/?utm_medium=tumblr