To Catch a Thief

Il faut voir et revoir ce beau film de Hitchcock! Magniques Grant et Kelly dans le sud de la France.

Alfred Hitchcock made two kinds of movies: bone-chilling thrillers that looked into the dark side of human nature, and witty adventure stories.

"To Catch A Thief" is a sterling example of the latter kind of movie -- a chic, sleek, golden-tinted caper, full of witty dialogue and solid acting from legendary actors. Despite the taut action scenes, Hitchcock makes it feel almost like a cinematic vacation.

Paul Robie (Cary Grant) was "The Cat," the most notorious jewel thief in Europe, before he retired. But now impossible heists -- made in Robie's style -- are popping up all over Cannes, and he's the immediate suspect. Narrowly escaping the police, he enlists a friend to help him clear his name by capturing this new Cat.

To do that, he masquerades as an American tourist, and gets to know pretty oil heiress Frances Stevens (Grace Kelly) and her mother. But when the Stevens jewels are stolen, Frances brings the cops down on Robie -- and now he is more desperate than ever to find the Cat, because he suspects it's an old friend...

Hitchcock was in fine form with "To Catch a Thief," especially since he had two great actors in the mix. Granted this isn't one of his more insightful or suspenseful movies, but it captures a sense of sly wit and fun instead.

If "To Catch A Thief" has a problem, it's that astute viewers will be able to guess who the Cat is after about a half hour, maximum. But fortunately viewers can be distracted by Hitchcock's knack for razor-sharp dialogue ("What do you say?" "My only comment would be highly censorable") and double entendres (during an intimate lunch, Francie asks, "You want a leg or a breast?").

It's also gorgeous to behold -- he entire movie is bathed in the golden Riviera sun, with lots of swimming, fast car chases, elaborate costume balls, and ornate hotels. But Hitchcock winds it up with a genuinely tense rooftop chase, complete with wrestling and gunshots.

Grant is a bit grizzled (and VERY overtanned) here, but still dapper and charming enough for Robie, a thief with principles and a taste for the good life. Kelly is also quite good as an heiress who is less prim than she appears; John Williams and Jessie Royce Landis have fun supporting roles as a "veddy veddy English" insurance man and a shrewd rich woman.

"To Catch A Thief" is a warm, sumptuous piece of classic film, with great dialogue and even better acting. Fun, stylish little mystery

As far as To Catch A Thief Blu-ray is concerned, it'a a no-brainer to give it a 5 star rating. Regarding the cover though, I totally and completely agree with Reconnecting To My Childhood's review about the stupid bilingual Blu-ray and DVD covers from Quebec and Canada. I live in the province of Quebec and French is my first language and completely bilingual. I've been denouncing the fact for a long time but, as with anything bureaucretin, my voice is lost in the incompetence of the mindless and the blank psyche of NO imagination idiots. It would be so easy to create a back-to-back flyer with English on one side and French on the other. Actually, it's been done but, again, by incompetent bozos and bozettes that left some French description on the English side. Here's a suggestion (already done): just a small sticker on the wrapping that says: French version included. Easy. Simple. No extra cost. BUT, I guess that those responsable (?) for this particular job at whatever government office have to justify their salary one way or another. One very small consolation: when it comes to Blu-ray books, they can't screw up the covers. That is why I too, buy the US version almost all of the time. Vive la différence!