To Catch a Thief (1955)
Genre: Mystery / Romance
Duration: 106 minuten
Alternative title: Met Dieven Vangt Men Dieven
Country:
United States
Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock
Stars: Cary Grant, Grace Kelly and Jessie Royce Landis
IMDb score:
7,4 (87.996)
Releasedate: 3 August 1955
To Catch a Thief plot
"WANTED by the police in all the luxury-spots of Europe!... A catch for any woman!"
A series of ingenious diamond robberies is taking place in the Riviera. The police suspect John Robie, a stopped thief formerly known as 'The Cat'. In order to prove his innocence, he must catch the diamond thief. There is a good chance that the next time the thief will strike at Jessie Stevens who is in Europe to help her attractive daughter Frances find a husband.
Actors and actresses
John Robie
Frances Stevens
Jessie Stevens
H. H. Hughson
Bertani
Danielle Foussard
Foussard
Germaine
Commissaire Lepic (uncredited)
Big Man in Kitchen (uncredited)
Reviews & comments
Fisico
-
- 10039 messages
- 5398 votes
Solid, but certainly not a masterful Hitchcock. To catch a thief looks very nice, but doesn't really excel at anything. The story is set along the beautiful mountainous coasts of the French Riviera. The chase scene in the beginning is worth it. As an ex-thief accused of a series of thefts, Robie sets out to prove his innocence himself in search of the thief.
The plot is simple and not very exciting either. Not a real thriller with a Hitchcockian suspense, but rather a lukewarm story that gently ripples on. Not worth seeing? Sure, if only because of the graceful Grace Kelly or flamboyant Cary Grant. In terms of set, cinematography, setting and costumes, the film is fine and makes up for a lot. A film that is in two minds and that also applies to its maker: because it is just like a Hitchcock, give the film the benefit of the doubt, or see the film as disappointing because you expect just that little bit more from a Hitchcock? I agree with the latter: small setback without really going out of the corner.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Ebenezer Scrooge
-
- 2150 messages
- 3092 votes
The cat is the common thread in Hitchcock's To Catch a Thief: a jewel thief nicknamed The Cat, a note that reads, "You've already used up 8 lives. Don't gamble your last life.' and a black cat that keeps walking through the image or just dozing in a chair. There is also something elusive and mysterious about the women, like a cat, Grace Kelly in particular, who dresses differently every time: the sky-blue evening dress with a voile shawl that she drapes gracefully over her shoulder, dazzling, a true Queen. Hitchcock's cameo looks very funny and comes completely out of the blue; a little allusion to The Birds? Simple things that are so typically Hitchcock: a cigarette that is extinguished in an egg yolk and always present: the dominant mother. Colors by Technicolor: the colors are sometimes very hard and emphatically present, the fireworks show seen from the hotel room takes the cake. Decadence at its best, but it fits into the decor of the French Riviera. Sylvia Plath wrote about Technicolor in her semi-autobiographical novel The Bell Jar:
I hate technicolour. Everybody in a technicolour movie seems to feel obliged to wear a lurid costume in each new scene and to stand around like a clothes-horse with a lot of very green trees or very yellow wheat or very blue ocean rolling away for miles and miles in every direction.
Cary Grant does look very tanned, lying in the sun a little too long I think. Or is that again because of Technicolor? Overall, the film looks like an early James Bond film. Beautiful scene when Grace Kelly drives through the streets of Monaco in her convertible, Grant next to her, and visibly enjoys it. This scene was repeated by Paul Verhoeven as a tribute in De Vierde Man, but this time with Jeroen Krabbé and Renée Soutendijk.
Translated from Dutch · View original
mrklm
-
- 12860 messages
- 10708 votes
Cary Grant had retired from acting but was persuaded by Alfred Hitchcock to star in this light-hearted but rather superficial romantic comedy with a hint of mystery. Grant plays a former jewel thief who has long since put an end to his criminal past, but is still identified as the prime suspect after a new series of jewel thefts. Ironically, the only way to prove his innocence is to redo his renounced skills and catch the real culprit. Meanwhile, he has an affair with Frances Stevens [Grace Kelly] and gets help from HH Hughson [John Williams]. Robert Burks won an Oscar for his camera work and partly because of this Grace Kelly - in the beautiful costumes of Edith Head - steals the film. Grant had such a good time that he stuck to his acting career for another 8 years.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Corporate & Media
Realtimes Network
Innovatieweg 20C
7007 CD, Doetinchem, Netherlands
+31(315)-764002
