Women continue to embrace our screens with talent, charm, and wit, and it is with this statement that we find it necessary to honour the lives of many great female stars who are no longer with us today. These women revolutionised the world of stardom and put forward impeccable performances for their audiences. Thus, it goes without saying that these women should be commended for their inspirational performances, elegance, and talent. Here are five films we encourage you to watch, starring Grace Kelly, Judy Garland, Jean Harlow, Thelma Todd, and last but not least, Marilyn Monroe.

Rear Window [1954]

Professional photographer L.B. “Jeff” Jeffries breaks his leg while getting an action shot at an auto race. Confined to his New York apartment, he spends his time looking out of the rear window observing the neighbours. He begins to suspect that a man across the courtyard may have murdered his wife. Jeff enlists the help of his high society fashion-consultant girlfriend Lisa Freemont, played by the lovely Grace Kelly, and his visiting nurse Stella to investigate.

Meet me in St.Louis [1944]

St. Louis 1903. The well-off Smith family has four beautiful daughters, including Esther, played by the wonderful Judy Garland, and little Tootie. 17-year old Esther has fallen in love with the boy next door who has just moved in, John. He however barely notices her at first. The family is shocked when Mr Smith reveals that he has been transferred to a nice position in New York, which means that the family has to leave St. Louis and the St. Louis Fair.

Libeled Lady [1936]

Warren Haggerty is the chief editor of the New York Evening Star. He is married to Gladys, played by Jean Harlow, and keeps on delaying his marriage with her because of problems his newspapers must face. When it is filed a 5 million dollars claim by Connie Allenbury for having printed she is a marriage-breaker, he organizes the unconsummated marriage of Gladys and the don Juan Bill Chandler. The goal is to catch Connie alone with a married man…

Horse Feathers [1932]

Professor Quincy Adams Wagstaff has just been installed as the new president of Huxley College. His cavalier attitude toward education is not reserved for his son Frank, who is seeing the college widow, Connie Bailey – played by the talented Thelma Todd. Frank influences Wagstaff to recruit two football players who hang out in a speakeasy, in order to beat rival school Darwin. Unfortunately, Wagstaff mistakenly hires the misfits Baravelli and Pinky. Finding out that Darwin has beaten him to the “real” players, Wagstaff enlists Baravelli and Pinky to kidnap them, which leads to an anarchic football finale.

Some Like It Hot [1959]

When two Chicago musicians, Joe and Jerry, witness the St. Valentine’s Day massacre, they want to get out of town and get away from the gangster responsible, Spats Colombo. They’re desperate to get a gig out of town but the only job they know of is in an all-girl band heading to Florida. They show up at the train station as Josephine and Daphne, the replacement saxophone and bass players. They certainly enjoy being around the girls, especially Sugar Kane Kowalczyk, played by the breathtakingly beautiful Marilyn Monroe, who sings and plays the ukulele. Joe, in particular, sets out to woo her while Jerry/Daphne is wooed by a millionaire, Osgood Fielding III. Mayhem ensues as the two men try to keep their true identities hidden and Spats Colombo and his crew show up for a meeting with several other crime lords. These leading ladies have set a high standard for today’s generation of female stars, and although there are many talented performers today, there is something about the elegance, beauty and femininity which these ladies possessed that defined their era.