To Catch a Thief

The big man was in jovial mood with this one.

To Catch A Thief, is, when all is said and done, a softer entry on the great Alfred Hitchcock's CV. By his own admission it was a film he viewed as "lightweight", but such is the great mans talent, his softer cinematic efforts still punch the buttons and are films that many filmmakers can readily learn from.

In this one Hitchcock is purely making an entertaining piece for those in the right frame of mind, a splendid mixture of comedy and romance which also culminates in no shortage of dramatic entertainment as well. Cary Grant is perfectly debonair as the cat burglar John Robie, who here has to catch a thief because he is the chief suspect for a spout of robberies on the French Riviera. Into the mix is that vision of beauty that is Grace Kelly, this is a woman who could melt the Antartic just by walking over it! Kelly as Frances Stevens spends the majority of the film trying to get into John Robie's pants and this puts a delightful sexual tension into the unfolding story. We get some sparkling scenes here, such as a firework display as the two protagonists flirt and then kiss, thus making the film easy on the eye, and some delicious slices of humour dot themselves throughout as Hitchcock indulges in his wink wink innuendo. The plinking score from Lyn Murray works a treat during a roof top cat sequence, while the ending stays just above average without really having an any over dramatic impact.

All in all it's a very tidy effort that is always worth spending time with on a lazy Sunday afternoon with a glass of vino in hand. 7/10

Cary Grant is on excellent form in this ultra-sophisticated crime caper. Having long since retired to life on the Côte D'Azur, "John Robie" finds himself at the centre of enquiries as his "Cat" appears to have resurrected itself and is robbing rich folks of their jewels. John Williams again steals his scenes - this times as the insurance adjuster "Hughson" who is convinced, enough, by Grant's protestations to agree to work with him to find the true culprit. Enter the wealthy Jessie Royce Landis ("Jessie"), a self-made American millionairess and her glamorous daughter "Frances" (Grace Kelly). The mother is determined to find a match for her girl - and well, the romantic roots are well and truly planted. Hitchcock keeps us guessing for quite a while as the romantic and criminal threads develop in parallel before tying together in quite an exciting climax. At times I have found Kelly to be just a touch too aloof, but here she still has enough of a foot on the ground to play her part well providing for an engagingly mischievous chemistry between the two of them.. The attention to detail is super, too - and it's easy to become subsumed in the lazy, rather vacuous, but very enviable lifestyle of the rich and famous!

It's easy to forget that Hitchcock directed a LOT of movies and while there are a few unforgettable classics there are some that could be considered stinkers and/or haven't aged well. Calling 'To Catch a Thief' a stinker is a bit much but it suffers from some of Hitchcock's and the industry's worst tendencies at the time. I watched a version with some kind of visual remastering and these updates visuals might have hurt more than it helped. On one hand it makes the beautiful vistas pop off the screen even more. On the other, it makes the green screens pop out more as well. Having green screens in driving scenes in 1955 is just not forgivable, especially since they actually have some legit outside scenes that look great. They even use an obvious photograph of a window view in the movie at some point. The technology and the budget were definitely there to do this the right way but laziness kept them from it. This is just not forgivable and breaks the immersion completely. That's not the only thing either. I didn't write anything yet about the plot because there's not much to tell. It's a very serviceable light hearted Hitchcockian affair and there's nothing wrong with that at all. The dialogues are good, very good in fact... if they were written for different actors. Cary Grant is obviously an older gentlemen and yet two women that are at least 20 years younger are vying for his attention. These two ladies have some awkward catty talk with each other. Awkward because, again, the guy they're interested in could be their father and the plot doesn't even address that fact. It doesn't just not address it but tries to bait the viewer into something that's obviously a lie. The supposed younger of the two ladies is called a "girl" and is even supposed to be a teenager? Creepy. The other one is supposedly a "woman" but I'm fairly certain she's actually the younger one by a couple of years. What I'm trying to say is, whether you have moral issues with this situation (like I do) or not, the dialogue between these characters doesn't make any sense. That's Hollywood for you: someone writes a script and then they fill in the parts with actors they believe will attract an audience, not necessarily ones that fit the script. Speaking of Hollywood issues. The plot involves French characters and there is some French dialogue. Because some of the actors, like Cary Grant, don't speak French or English (very well) they try to get by with some poor editing attempts. This again is a issue with getting a script and filling it with what the studio feels will sell tickets and the laziness and unwillingness to try to make it work with the story they're trying to tell. There are ways around all these issues. Relatively simple ones that don't have to negatively affect the marketability but they (whoever 'they' is, be it Hitchcock or the studio executives) choose not to. To Catch a Thief is objectively not a well made film, though if you're not a stick in the mud like I am it can definitely be enjoyable for some. 4/10