To Catch a Thief (1955)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Alfred Hitchcock

Writers:

David Dodge (novel)
John Michael Hayes (screenplay)

Release Date:

22 August 1955 (Brazil)

Genre:

Crime | Mystery | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

WANTED by the police in all the luxury-spots of Europe!... A catch for any woman!

Plot:

When a reformed jewel thief is suspected of returning to his former occupation, he must ferret out the real thief in order to prove his innocence.

Plot Keywords:

Thief | Cat | Riviera | Burglar | Robbery

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 4 nominations

Cast

Cary Grant	...	John Robie
Grace Kelly	...	Frances Stevens
Jessie Royce Landis	...	Jessie Stevens
John Williams	...	H. H. Hughson
Charles Vanel	...	Bertani
Brigitte Auber	...	Danielle Foussard
Jean Martinelli	...	Foussard
Georgette Anys	...	Germaine

Also Known As:

Alfred Hitchcock's To Catch a Thief (USA) (complete title)

Runtime:

106 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.50 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Spain:T | Netherlands:6 | Ireland:PG | USA:Approved (certificate #17226) | Brazil:14 | Argentina:13 | Australia:G | Canada:G (video rating) | Chile:14 | Finland:K-8 | Norway:12 (1955) | Peru:14 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Alpes-Maritimes, France

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

According to Paramount production files contained at the AMPAS Library, Alec Coppel worked on the script for about a week in mid-November 1954, shortly before the final set of retakes was done.

Goofs:

Factual errors: When driving, John and Frances lean the wrong way when Frances turns the wheel..

Quotes:

Frances Stevens: You're leaving fingerprints on my arm.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Sanford: To Keep a Thief (#2.12)" (1981)

Cary Ain't Flattered

Cary Grant, former resistance hero and gentlemanly cat burglar, is now retired from the trade. But there's someone out there who's using all his old cat burglar tricks and putting him in one big jackpot. Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but Cary ain't flattered. With the French Surete and the English insurance company breathing down his neck, he'd better find out who the culprit is and fast.

He's got one ally, John Williams of the insurance company who has a sense it ain't really Cary. He's also got to contend with spoiled rich girl Grace Kelly who's taken a fancy to him. How much help she is is a dubious proposition.

Unlike a lot of Alfred Hitchcock films this one doesn't have all that much mystery to it. In fact early on you should be able to figure out who's stealing Cary's tricks. But the color photography which won an Oscar of the French Riviera is breathtaking and Cary Grant and Grace Kelly play the whole thing with such style that you really don't care.

My favorite in the film is Jessie Royce Landis who is Kelly's mother. She's rich, but remembers when she was poor. She takes to Cary and sticks with him when Grace has doubts and gives her quite a lecture on men. She knows her subject well.

Sadly life imitated art in this one. Grace Kelly met her future husband Prince Rainier on the set and on the road where she takes Cary Grant for a speeding car ride is the same one she had the automobile accident that took her life a generation later.

But don't dwell on the morbid here. Appreciate To Catch A Thief for the fine entertainment it is.