To Catch a Thief (film)
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| To Catch a Thief | |
|---|---|
 Original film poster |
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| Directed by | Alfred Hitchcock |
| Produced by | Uncredited: Alfred Hitchcock |
| Written by | Novel: David Dodge Screenplay: John Michael Hayes |
| Starring | Cary Grant Grace Kelly Jessie Royce Landis John Williams Charles Vanel Brigitte Auber |
| Music by | Lyn Murray |
| Cinematography | Robert Burks |
| Editing by | George Tomasini |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
| Release date(s) |  August 5, 1955 |
| Running time | 106 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | US$ 2,500,000 |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
To Catch a Thief is a 1955 film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Cary Grant, Grace Kelly, Jessie Royce Landis and John Williams. The movie is set on the French Riviera, and was based on the 1952 novel of the same name by David Dodge. The screenplay was written by John Michael Hayes. The film is a blend of intrigue, romance, and humor.
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[edit] Synopsis
John Robie (Cary Grant) is a notorious but retired jewel thief or "cat burglar", nicknamed "The Cat". He now spends his time tending to his vineyards in the South of France. A series of robberies that closely resemble his style leads the police to believe that the Cat is up to his old tricks again, making it necessary for him to go into hiding and to solve the crimes, in order to prove his innocence.
During World War II, Robie, along with other crooks, took advantage of an air attack to escape from prison and to join the French Resistance. As a result of their war-time activities, they were all granted paroles. Most of his old associates (now running a restaurant on the Riviera) also suspect Robie of being the current jewel thief, and they refuse to help him since they fear their own paroles will be jeopardized if they do. However, Bertani, the manager of the catering business, decides to help Robie.
Robie enlists the aid of an insurance man of Bertani's acquaintance, H. H. Hughson (John Williams), in order to prove his innocence. Robie's plan is to catch the new cat burglar in the act. To do this, he obtains a list of the most expensive jewels on the Riviera from the reluctant Hughson. The first names on the list are Jessie Stevens (Jessie Royce Landis) and her daughter Francie (Grace Kelly). Robie strikes up acquaintance with them in order to stay close to their jewels.
Francie is suspicious of Robie's motives. She is certain that he is behind the recent thefts, as she realizes who Robie is despite his use of an alias. But at the same time she is attracted to him, even offering to help him in the supposed thefts. Robie, initially, fends off Francie's advances.
One night, Jessie's jewels are stolen, and Francie believes that Robie has taken them. He goes into hiding, believing he knows now who the new thief is, and plans to catch him.
He stakes out a house where he believes the new burglar will strike. He is violently attacked, and in the ensuing struggle he kills the attacker, who turns out to have been Foussard, the wine steward at Bertani's restaurant, and one of Robie's old comrades. The police claim that Foussard was the jewel thief. As Robie points out at his funeral, this would have been impossible, because Foussard had a prosthetic leg, and therefore couldn't possibly climb over the rooftops. At this point however it is unclear why Foussard would have attacked Robie, if he was not the thief.
Francie apologizes to Robie. She and Jessie offer to help catch the real thief during a masquerade party. The French police plan to arrest Robie during the party. Robie puts on an elaborate masked costume that hides his face; at some point, when Jessie pretends to ask Robie to go get her "heart pills," he and Hughson switch places. This leaves Robie free to stalk and capture the real burglar, who turns out to be not a man at all but Foussard's young daughter Danielle (Brigitte Auber). Robie catches her red-handed with the jewels on the roof, and forces her to confess.
After everything is cleared up, Robie returns to his vineyards, and Francie races after him to tell him how much she loves him. When it appears that he has given in, she remarks that her mother will love living with them, to his great consternation.
[edit] Production Notes
This was Hitchcock's first of five films in the widescreen process VistaVision. To Catch a Thief is unique in that it is the only Hitchcock film released by Paramount that is still owned and controlled by Paramount. All others were sold to Hitchcock in the early 60's (except Psycho) and are currently distributed by Universal Studios (which bought Psycho outright in 1968), which also controls most of Paramount's pre-1950 sound library.[1]
The movie and its filming process are also heavily referred to in Nico Orengo's book "La Guerra del Basilico" (The Basil War).
In this film Jessie Royce Landis plays Cary Grant's potential mother-in-law. In North by Northwest she would play his character's mother. She was just seven years older than Grant.
This was Grace Kelly's final film for Hitchcock; she became Princess Grace of Monaco in 1956. Edith Head designed Grace's clothes for the production, including a memorable golden ball gown. Hitchcock later tried to cast Princess Grace in Marnie (1964), but citizens of Monaco expressed disapproval in her acting in another film; she later served as a narrator for at least two films.
- Alfred Hitchcock's cameo is a signature occurrence in most of his films. In To Catch a Thief he can be seen (10 minutes into the film) as a bus passenger sitting next to Grant, whom Grant turns to look at.
[edit] References
- ^ Spoto, Donald (1999). The Dark Side of Genius: The Life of Alfred Hitchcock. Da Capo, 344. ISBN 030680932X.
[edit] External links
- To Catch a Thief at the Internet Movie Database
- To Catch a Thief at the TCM Movie Database
- To Catch a Thief Eyegate Gallery
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