To Catch a Thief

"To Catch a Thief" is set in the French Rivera where there have been a rash of jewel robberies. The police suspect Cary Grant, who was an underground agent during the war and a retired jewel thief. So to clear his name, Grant has to track down the real culprit himself; as the saying goes "It takes a thief to catch a thief". In clearing his name,3 he comes across Grace Kelly and her mother. They are middle class Americans who have become instantly wealthy. Kelly has become a spoiled brat who expects everyone to be at her feet to serve her. On the other hand, her mother is still a down to earth person who instantly recognizes the good in Grant. She is wonderfully played by Jessie Royce Landis. An interesting footnote: The actress also appears in "North by Northwest" playing Grant's Mother.

"To Catch a Thief" is more lightweight than other Hitchcock movies like "Rear Window" and "North by Northwest" but it is hard to resist. Cary Grant is suave, Grace Kelly is glamorous, and the French Rivera is stunning. It is easy to forgive the simple story and some cliché scenes. For example, when Grant and Kelly first kiss, Hitchcock cuts away to fireworks in the sky. The result is so cliché it is almost laughable.

Even with the simple story, the movie does have several of Hitchcock's usual story elements. The most obvious one is the plot, which centers around a wrongfully accused man. He used this element in "The Lodger"(1927), "The 39 Steps"(1935), "Young and Innocent"(1937), "Saboteur"(1942), "I Confess"(1953), "The Wrong Man"(1956), "North by Northwest"(1959), and finally in "Frenzy"(1972). Many of these movies look at the thin line between guilt and innocence. The main character is innocent of the crime but maybe guilty of other sins. Likewise, the guilty maybe more morally and socially responsible than the hero. For Example, in "To Catch a Thief", instead of joining his comrades from the underground in honest work, Grant used his new talents to become a jewel thief. Now he owns a chalet and they all still work in a kitchen. Cary Grant asks the insurance salesman if he has ever taken a towel or ashtray from a hotel. The salesman answers "Of course, everyone has". Grant therefore concludes that he is a thief. I feel this rather simplistic view of guilt is just too overt to be interesting.

Hitchcock departs from his usual wrongfully accused man plots by making "To Catch a Thief" a whodunnit. We know Cary Grant is not the thief, but we don't know who the real thief is. This is rare in Hitchcock movies. The only other Hitchcock movie that follows a true whodunnit plot is the 1931 movie "Murder!". Sir John, a leading actor, is sitting on a jury. The accused is a former lover he had spurned. Motivated by guilty on his part, he tracks down the real killer, whose identity only gets revealed in the last reel of the movie.

Usually Hitchcock tells you who the killer is midway through the movie and makes the audience squirm with the information. In the brilliant documentary "The Men Who Made the Movies: Alfred Hitchcock" (1973), he tells a story illustrating the difference between suspense and surprise. Two men are at a table and talking about baseball. Five minutes later, a bomb under their table explodes and kills them. The audience gets a 15 second horrible surprise. Alternatively, shoot the same scene again but show the audience the bomb and show them it will go off in 5 minutes. Now have the two men talk about baseball. The audience will be yelling "stop talking about baseball, there a bomb under the table!" but they are powerless to do anything. -That- is suspense. Anybody interested in Hitchcock should track down this documentary. It is the best study ever made on any director.

Hitchcock gives away the identity of the killer in the following movies: "The 39 Steps", "Saboteur", "Frenzy", "I Confess", "North by Northwest", and "Frenzy". The most infamous of all was "Vertigo". Against conventional filmmaking, he gave away the movie twist in the middle of the movie. Many critics questioned his judgement at the time. Now it is viewed as a masterful decision. Instead of a 15 second surprise, the information adds yet another layer to the movie.

Another story element that Hitchcock loves is the icy blonde who warms up enough to become the main romantic lead. He has used this architype in "The 39 Steps", "Saboteur", "Spellbound", "North by Northwest", "Marnie", and "The Birds". Note that "Rear Window" is conspicuously absent from my list. In it Grace Kelly plays a different kind of icy blonde. Throughout the movie, she is frosty to everyone in the movie except her fiancée, whom she treats as God's gift to men. Yuck! In "To Catch at Thief", Grace Kelly places a typical icy blonde. A spoiled rich girl who is used to having her way with any man she wants. Unfortunately, Cary Grant is not interested because he is too busy trying to catch the real thief and exonerate himself. Spurned by Grant, Kelly first tries catch him for burglary then she tries to catch him for matrimony. This puts and interesting spin on the movie title.

"To Catch a Thief" was directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Hitchcock was the first director to step out from behind the camera and become a superstar himself. He started in England in 1919 illustrating title cards for silent movies. His work in the silent movies gave him the discipline to be able to tell the story without words. You can find examples of this in most of his films. In "To Catch a Thief", look for the black cat slinking across the rooftops. indicating the jewel robber in action.

Hitchcock's attention to detail was also legendary. He would storyboard the whole movie dictating the shots and how they would cut together before a single frame of film rolled through the camera. In the documentary, he said he never to look through the camera. On set, he claims to be bored since, for him, the whole movie has already been shot and edited in his head.

Review by Keith MacCrimmon

"To Catch A Thief"

A film by Alfred Hitchcock

1955, Color, 106 mins, Mystery/Romance/Thriller

Starring:

Cary Grant

Grace Kelly

Jessie Royce Landis