I have a nice Alfred Hitchcock collection that includes most of his filmography. I knew there was some early stuff, especially his silent work, that wasn’t included, but I don’t seem to recall seeing To Catch a Thief in there. That was a bit odd. It might have had something to do with whatever studio had the rights to the individual films, but I would have thought that this one should have been included, what with it being one of the dozen or so movies actress Grace Kelly (no relation) made before she became royalty, and the final of her three collaborations with Hitchcock.
Then again, it may have been on there and I just forgot it. That seems unlikely.
John Robie (Cary Grant) was once a famous burglar nicknamed “the Cat”. He robbed wealthy women of their jewels all over Europe, but he was caught and sentenced to prison. Dumb luck meant a German bomb’s hitting the prison allowed him to escape, but he decided to make up for his crimes by joining the French Resistance, after which he retired from crime and became a respectable citizen. However, when a thief starts robbing rich women the same way Robie used to, he becomes a prime suspect. As he sees it after a series of clever escapes, the only way to clear his name is for Robie to find the new thief himself. After all, with his skills and knowledge, he can do so far more efficiently and quickly than the police.
To that end, he works with an insurance company representative (John Williams, not the composer) to get a list of likely targets vacationing in the French Riviera that he can keep an eye on. The most likely such target is the newly wealthy Jessie Stevens (Jessie Royce Landis), traveling with her beautiful daughter Frances (Kelly). That means Robie can not only search for the thief while working to stay one step ahead of the police, he has a young woman he can romance on the side. Can he find the thief and get the girl?
You know, as much fun as these movies are, I am perhaps a bit more conscious of age differences in movies these days. I know Jimmy Stewart decided to stop taking romantic leading roles when he hit his 50s and he noticed his female co-stars were always in their 20s no matter how old he got. So, why bring this up? Well, I decided to look up the cast: Grant was only about eight years younger than Landis while being 25 years older than Kelly. He’s not hideous or anything, but he’s clearly older than her and like the other times I’ve seen Grant in a Hitchcock movie, the movie likes to remind the viewer that women think he’s hot.
However this is Hitchcock doing a thriller with Cary Grant and Grace Kelly. About the only criticism I have is the age difference between the male and female leads and a couple other minor things. It’s a more gentlemanly sort of movie, where even after Jessie learns who Robie really is since he introduced himself under an alias, she still insists to her daughter that he’s a good man. The cops might be out to get him, but there doesn’t seem to be a big rush for the heroes, and Robie can spend time just hanging out on the beach, chat with the amorous daughter of a former Resistance associate (Brigitte Auber), and still have time to go driving with Frances. Law enforcement aside, the people he meets seem to be mostly inclined to help him. It’s breezy, relying a bit much on backdrops to try to hide that the gorgeous vistas a balcony overlooks has clouds that don’t move, and when the time comes, a bit of suspense as Robie and the real thief play cat-and-mouse on a rooftop while the police lay in wait on the ground. It’s top notch Hitchcock, and that’s always worth a look.
Grade: A-
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