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To Catch a Thief (Hitchcock, 1955)
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Writers: John Michael Hayes(screenplay), David Dodge(novel)
Cast: Cary Grant, Grace Kelly, Jessie Royce Landis
Genre: Crime, Mystery, Romance
About: A retired jewelry thief is accused of a string of daring jewelry robberies in Nice, France. To prove his innocence he must capture the real cat burglar.
Review: This is a more straight forward, mystery-romance-drama story than is usual for Hitch in his later American made movie years. Its strength is the beautiful cinematography, shot on location in Nice France and at Monte Carlo. It doesn't get as much notice as some of his Hitch's masterpieces, but none the less...this is a well made, enjoyable film...that's interesting at every turn of the winding road.
Hitch, the ever present master of composition and lighting, speaks volumes with how this shot is lit. Can you tell which actor the emphasis is on?
Cary Grant came out of retirement to make one more movie, To Catch A Thief. He had felt his acting style was no longer relevant with the new batch of method actors like Marlon Brando and James Dean. Cary was wrong, even today his unique acting style is appreciated. The American Film Institute list him as the second greatest actor of all time. Not to shabby for someone who wanted to hang up his acting shoes.
Luckily for us Cary Grant went on to make 11 more movies, finally retiring in 1966. Cary made four films with Hitchcock: Suspicion (1941), Notorious (1946), To Catch a Thief (1955), North by Northwest (1959).
Here in To Catch a Thief, Cary plays a much different role than we're use to seeing. He's more subdued, more serious. Gone are the lighter comic moments and the self deprecating humor that he was famous for. It might be the script, or maybe Cary made a conscious decision to play this more serious. What ever the case, it's nice to see Cary Grant carousing with the beauties in the south of France.
Grace Kelly, made only 11 feature films before retiring to marry Prince Rainer in 1956, becoming the Princess of Monaco. This was Hollywood's loss as Grace was quite popular at the time that she quit acting. Hitch had wanted her to take the lead in Marnie (1964). In a personal letter to Hitch, Grace spoke of how much she missed acting and wanted to do Marnie, but couldn't because of her responsibilities to her family and her new country. One gets the sense that her fairy tale life in Monaco was somewhat lonely and she longed to work in movies.
Grace made three films with Hitchcock: Dial M for Murder (1954), Rear Window (1954), To Catch a Thief (1955).
Grace Kelly was Hitchcock's favorite 'cool blonde' leading actress. Both Hitch and his wife adored her and spent time with Grace on and off the set. Had she not left acting, no doubt she would have made more films with Hitch.
To Catch A Thief, is not my favorite Hitch film, nor is it my favorite movie with Cary Grant or Grace Kelly...but it's a solid film, that's a visual treat and a joy to watch.
++
.
To Catch a Thief (Hitchcock, 1955)
Writers: John Michael Hayes(screenplay), David Dodge(novel)
Cast: Cary Grant, Grace Kelly, Jessie Royce Landis
Genre: Crime, Mystery, Romance
About: A retired jewelry thief is accused of a string of daring jewelry robberies in Nice, France. To prove his innocence he must capture the real cat burglar.
Review: This is a more straight forward, mystery-romance-drama story than is usual for Hitch in his later American made movie years. Its strength is the beautiful cinematography, shot on location in Nice France and at Monte Carlo. It doesn't get as much notice as some of his Hitch's masterpieces, but none the less...this is a well made, enjoyable film...that's interesting at every turn of the winding road.
Hitch, the ever present master of composition and lighting, speaks volumes with how this shot is lit. Can you tell which actor the emphasis is on?
Cary Grant came out of retirement to make one more movie, To Catch A Thief. He had felt his acting style was no longer relevant with the new batch of method actors like Marlon Brando and James Dean. Cary was wrong, even today his unique acting style is appreciated. The American Film Institute list him as the second greatest actor of all time. Not to shabby for someone who wanted to hang up his acting shoes.
Luckily for us Cary Grant went on to make 11 more movies, finally retiring in 1966. Cary made four films with Hitchcock: Suspicion (1941), Notorious (1946), To Catch a Thief (1955), North by Northwest (1959).
Here in To Catch a Thief, Cary plays a much different role than we're use to seeing. He's more subdued, more serious. Gone are the lighter comic moments and the self deprecating humor that he was famous for. It might be the script, or maybe Cary made a conscious decision to play this more serious. What ever the case, it's nice to see Cary Grant carousing with the beauties in the south of France.
Grace Kelly, made only 11 feature films before retiring to marry Prince Rainer in 1956, becoming the Princess of Monaco. This was Hollywood's loss as Grace was quite popular at the time that she quit acting. Hitch had wanted her to take the lead in Marnie (1964). In a personal letter to Hitch, Grace spoke of how much she missed acting and wanted to do Marnie, but couldn't because of her responsibilities to her family and her new country. One gets the sense that her fairy tale life in Monaco was somewhat lonely and she longed to work in movies.
Grace made three films with Hitchcock: Dial M for Murder (1954), Rear Window (1954), To Catch a Thief (1955).
Grace Kelly was Hitchcock's favorite 'cool blonde' leading actress. Both Hitch and his wife adored her and spent time with Grace on and off the set. Had she not left acting, no doubt she would have made more films with Hitch.
To Catch A Thief, is not my favorite Hitch film, nor is it my favorite movie with Cary Grant or Grace Kelly...but it's a solid film, that's a visual treat and a joy to watch.
++
.