STUFF YOU GOTTA WATCH - To Catch a Thief

TO CATCH A THIEF

(1955)
With Cary Grant, Grace Kelly, Jesse Royce Landis, John Williams, Brigette Auber
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Reviewed by JL

Cary Grant plays the type of character found only in the movies and played only by Cary Grant: a charming and urbane former jewel thief living in comfortable retirement on the French Riviera. When a copycat thief employs Grant's old cat-burglar methods, Grant himself is suspected of the crimes. At this point, it promises to be another man-on-the-run film from Hitchcock, but instead Grant does what so many Hitchcock men-on-the-run should have done: he offers his services to the authorities to help catch the real criminal. As he waits patiently for the thief to strike again, he and Grace Kelly make fireworks go off when they kiss. Often dismissed as a "piece of cake" (in the director's own words), TO CATCH A THIEF actually has a rather complex relationship at its core, and it's so skillfully made that you don't really care if that's not the sort of thing you watch a Hitchcock film for. An extra half star for the sight of Grace Kelly in that blue gown. - JL