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
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
George Adrian	...	Detective (uncredited)
John Alderson	...	Detective at the costume ball (uncredited)
Martha Bamattre	...	Bit part (uncredited)
René Blancard	...	Insp. Lepic (uncredited)
Eugene Borden	...	French waiter (uncredited)
Nina Borget	...	Frenchwoman (uncredited)
Margaret Brewster	...	Cold-cream woman (uncredited)
Lewis Charles	...	Man with milk in kitchen (uncredited)
Frank Chelland	...	Chef (uncredited)
William 'Wee Willie' Davis	...	Big man in kitchen (uncredited)
Dominique Davray	...	Antoinette (uncredited)
Guy De Vestel	...	Detective (uncredited)
Bess Flowers	...	Woman at Costume Ball (uncredited)
Russell Gaige	...	Mr. Sanford (uncredited)
Steven Geray	...	Desk clerk (uncredited)
Michael Hadlow	...	Monaco policeman (uncredited)
Jean Hébey	...	Police inspector Mercier (uncredited)
Alfred Hitchcock	...	Man sitting next to John Robie on bus (uncredited)
Gladys Holland	...	Elegant French woman (uncredited)
Bela Kovacs	...	Detective (uncredited)
Jeanne Lafayette	...	Frenchwoman (uncredited)
Donald Lawton	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Eddie Le Baron	...	Frenchman (uncredited)
Roland Lesaffre	...	Claude (uncredited)
Edward Manouk	...	Kitchen help (uncredited)
Don Megowan	...	Detective at Costume Ball (uncredited)
Louis Mercier	...	Croupier (uncredited)
Alberto Morin	...	Detective (uncredited)
George Nardelli	...	Croupier (uncredited)
Paul Newlan	...	Vegetable man (uncredited)
Barry Norton	...	Frenchman (uncredited)
George Paris	...	Croupier (uncredited)
Manuel París	...	Croupier (uncredited)
Leonard Penn	...	Monaco policeman (uncredited)
Albert Pollet	...	Croupier (uncredited)
Loulette Sablon	...	Frenchwoman (uncredited)
Cosmo Sardo	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Otto F. Schulze	...	Chef (uncredited)
Adele St. Mauer	...	Woman with birdcage on bus (uncredited)
Marie Stoddard	...	Mrs. Sanford (uncredited)
Aimee Torriani	...	Woman in kitchen (uncredited)
Philip Van Zandt	...	Jewelry clerk (uncredited)

Directed by
Alfred Hitchcock

Writing credits
David Dodge		(novel)
John Michael Hayes		(screenplay)

Produced by
Alfred Hitchcock	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Lyn Murray		(music scored by)

Cinematography by
Robert Burks		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
George Tomasini

Art Direction by
J. McMillan Johnson		(as Joseph MacMillan Johnson)
Hal Pereira

Set Decoration by
Sam Comer
Arthur Krams

Makeup Department
Wally Westmore	....	makeup supervisor
Bud Bashaw Jr.	....	makeup artist (uncredited)
Harry Ray	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Production Management
William Davidson	....	assistant production manager (uncredited)
C.O. Erickson	....	assistant production manager (uncredited)
C.O. Erickson	....	unit production manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Herbert Coleman	....	second unit director
Daniel McCauley	....	assistant director

Art Department
Dorothea Holt	....	illustrator (uncredited)

Sound Department
John Cope	....	sound recordist
Harold Lewis	....	sound recordist
Bill Wistrom	....	sound editor (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Farciot Edouart	....	process photography
John P. Fulton	....	special photographic effects

Camera and Electrical Department
W. Wallace Kelley	....	photographer: second unit (as Wallace Kelley)
Bill Avery	....	still photographer (uncredited)
George Gall	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
James Grant	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
Vic Jones	....	gaffer (uncredited)
Gene Liggett	....	second assistant camera (uncredited)
William Schurr	....	camera operator (uncredited)
Leonard J. South	....	camera operator (uncredited)
Darrell Turnmire	....	key grip (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Ed Fitzharris	....	wardrobe: men (uncredited)
Grace Harris	....	wardrobe: women (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Richard Mueller	....	color consultant: Technicolor

Other crew
Elsie Foulstone	....	dialogue coach
Sylvette Baudrot	....	script supervisor: France (uncredited)
Claire Behnke	....	script supervisor (uncredited)
Vincent McEveety	....	technical advisor (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Paramount Pictures

Distributors

• Paramount Pictures (1955) (USA) (theatrical)
• Paramount British Pictures (1955) (UK) (theatrical)
• Les Films Paramount (1955) (France) (theatrical)
• Paramount Pictures (1963) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Amazonas Film (1992) (Germany) (theatrical) (subtitled version)
• CIC Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)
• CIC-Taft Home Video
• National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (1964) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Paramount Filmes do Brasil (Brazil) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Video (1981) (USA) (VHS)
• Paramount Home Video (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Video (2007) (USA) (VHS)
• Paramount (1955) (West Germany) (theatrical)

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:

The movie was filmed in the summer of 1954 but its release was delayed because the producers felt the age difference between Cary Grant and Grace Kelly was too great for their romance to be believable. Ironically, when released in 1955 the film immediately became one of the biggest hits of the decade.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: The note with the warning message on Carlton Hotel stationary that John Robie receives at the hotel's front desk before going to the Beach with Francie has the impression of a similar message on it, made when the prop department was creating various notes for the director to select for use in this scene.

Quotes:

John Robie: May I ask you a personal question?
Frances Stevens: I've been hoping you would.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Mau Mau Sex Sex (2001)

Good stuff all around

A bit of a departure for Alfred Hitchcock, somewhat lighter and with less of the trademark suspense. Thoroughly enjoyable, though. Cary Grant was playing Cary Grant by this time, and no one could do it better. And Grace Kelly, what eye-candy! The snappy dialog with the sexual innuendo was done perfectly. And huge kudos to Brigitte Auber, who was gorgeous and very good. An interesting aside was that Grant's character, while pretending to be someone else, claimed to have been an American circus acrobat, which Grant sort of was early in life (albeit English, not American.) Grant (with his accent) could really never be mistaken for an American, even though he usually played one. Also it was a little eerie to see Grace Kelly driving so fast on those French Riviera cliffside roads, in light of what happened to her later. (Of course, she obviously wasn't doing so, they were using back-projection) Anyway, this film is a must for fans of Hitchcock, Kelly or Grant. Grade: A