To Catch a Thief
Composite Score: 83.2
Starring: Cary Grant, Grace Kelly, Jessie Royce Landis, John Williams, Charles Vanel, Brigitte Auber, Jean Martinelli, and Georgette Anys
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Writers: John Michael Hayes and Alec Coppel
Genres: Mystery, Romance, Thriller
MPAA Rating: PG for some action violence, mild suggestive material, and smoking
Box Office: $2,964 worldwide
Why should you Watch This Film?
To Catch a Thief is Alfred Hitchcock’s film adaptation of David Dodge’s novel of the same name. It stars Cary Grant as John Robie, a former jewel thief who has retired to the south of France and has again fallen under suspicion for a new crime spree resembling his past works. The film follows Robie as he works to clear his name by catching the new thief with the help of an insurance man (John Williams’s H.H. Hughson), a wealthy American socialite (Jessie Joyce Landis’s Jessie Stevens), and her beautiful daughter (Grace Kelly’s Francis Stevens). As a mystery/romance hybrid, the film satisfies giving a solid will they/won’t they plot between its romantic leads while also giving the audience plenty of possible perpetrators before the final reveal. Its Oscar for best color cinematography only serves to elevate the film to even greater heights thanks to its gorgeous location and stage shots.
Why shouldn’t you Watch This Film?
I can’t help but feel slightly disappointed with To Catch a Thief’s conclusion, which I feel has become a bit of a trend with me and Hitchcock films. He is undeniably the quintessential classic thriller director, but because he did so much first, everything that has come since has been forced to innovate and come up with more creative and stunning conclusions than most of Hitchcock’s works. Had I never seen the Ocean’s trilogy or The Italian Job or even The Fugitive, I am sure that this film would have been a profoundly mind-blowing example of what a movie about thieves and romance and clearing one’s name could be. As it stands, I prefer all of the films I just mentioned – and probably even more – to Hitchcock’s To Catch a Thief. It’s not a bad film; it just has the unfortunate role of having inspired many later films that do what it does in more entertaining fashion.
So wait, why should you Watch This Film?
For all of its simplicity and lack of “wow” factor, To Catch a Thief is still an entertaining film. Its writing is particularly commendable, giving the audience plenty to work with. Hitchcock’s tendency toward highlighting the comedic or absurd in the midst of crime or depravity is on full display here with plenty of dramatic irony, flirtatious banter, and double entendre to go around. Such writing makes characters that might in a different story be distasteful or even reprehensible into truly likable heroes, romantic leads, and side characters. Cary Grant’s Robie – a cunning ex-thief – becomes this neo-Robin Hood of sorts, an amiable victim of the system. Grace Kelly’s Francis is every bit the romantic lead that anyone would want to fall in love with, full of knowledge and wisdom beyond certain heiresses of her time. Jessie Joyce Landis’s Jessie should be just another old rich American widow but is given character and a bit of agency beyond what I typically expect from the era. Even John Williams’s Hughson and Brigitte Auber’s Danielle set themselves apart as unique and compelling supporting characters – Hughson with his nervous bumbling and Danielle with her flirtatious joshing of Robie. With characters as memorable as this film has, it becomes more apparent why the film has managed to stand the test of time.
To Catch a Thief rides on the backs of its memorable characters who help tell an entertaining romantic mystery story to the film’s audience in a way that ensures that it remains one of the Greatest Films of All Time. Though its climax/reveal now feels a bit anticlimactic, the original romance and the muddied nature of the mystery should be enough to get most audiences through it. It is currently available to stream on Amazon Prime Video if you’re looking to give it a watch.
