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Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Written by David Dodge (novel) & John Michael Hayes; starring Cary Grant, Grace Kelly. Released to DVD on March 16, 2004. Director Alfred Hitchcock is viewed as one of the greatest directors in Hollywood history. However, unlike other directing institutions like Buster Keaton, Orson Welles and Frank Capra, Hitchcock had an utter disdain for the filmmaking process. Once a given project had been written, rewritten and storyboarded to Hitchcock's fancy, the director almost checked out of the project. He did not like dealing with actors (he is famously misquoted as saying actors were cattle; what he really said was that “actors should be treated like cattle”) and his stalwart indifference towards using very obvious sets and day-for-night shots are not normally hallmarks of great directors.
What set Hitchcock apart from other directors though was his stellar ability to blend. Where Keaton was known for his physical comedies, Welles for his gothic, black and white dramas and Capra his uplifting human tales, Hitchcock was a master of all genres.
It was during the fifties that Hitchcock was in his prime. He had found his latest and greatest blonde bombshell in Grace Kelly and approached projects with a special, enthusiastic, now-veteran vigor. Dial M for Murder, Vertigo, The Trouble with Harry, Rear Window and North by Northwest were five successes of this golden era for Hitchcock. There is one other Hitchcock title made during the fifties that is often overlooked because of its overt light romantic comedy elements, To Catch a Thief.
To write off To Catch a Thief as simply a romantic comedy though is missing the forest for the trees. Combining elements of the mystery, suspense, romance, comedy and action genres, Hitchcock's seamless blending abilities are never more apparent. And the results are some of the most enjoyable of his career.
Cary Grant stars in To Catch a Thief as John Robie, a retired jewel thief, who has taken up residence in the south of France where he once used to prowl. When a new string of jewel thefts takes place, Robie is the prime suspect. But the question is: Is Robie committing the crimes? When Robie happens upon Frances Stevens (Grace Kelly) and her very wealthy mother (Jesse Royce Landis), Frances begins to wonder if Robie has eyes for her... or her jewelry.
To Catch a Thief is probably Hitchcock's glossiest film—simply everything about this picture is beautiful, from its location along the French Riviera to its two breathtaking stars—and the movie benefits greatly from this picturesque facade.
Cary Grant epitomizes the ideal of a movie star; he is graceful, debonair, elegant and refined. No other actor to date has ever captured Grant's panache and charm. Hitchcock didn't quite possess Grant's good looks and charisma, but he did enjoy playing with both his image (he appeared in cameo roles in all of his American films) and playing with the images of others. In this respect, Hitchcock was quite mischievous. Finding a willing partner in Grant, the two worked to create very tastefully implemented scenes of crudeness throughout their collaboration together, which made for some out-and-out comedic scenes.
In North by Northwest, actress Eva Marie Saint states that she is a big girl, to which Grant responds, “And in all the right places.” It is not the most polite or gentlemanly like line that a person could deliver, but with Grant fronting the words, it somehow becomes acceptable.
In To Catch a Thief, Grant's John Robie first catches the eye of Kelly's Frances Stevens after he 'accidentally' drops a gambling chip down the cleavage of a woman seated in front of him.
Like everything else in To Catch a Thief, the scene is effective, memorable and smoothly glides into the next, so skillfully filmed and acted that the audience never bothers to step back and wonder how this eclectic grouping of events and sights plays together as a whole. It simply works.
I wouldn't have ever thought it possible to create a whodunit, romantic comedy, chase film, but Hitchcock drew an inordinate amount of pleasure from defying expectations and convention and doing so in an entertaining and provocative fashion. To Catch a Thief is nothing if not perfect proof of this.
JAKE LEVER yes, it's true: Alfred Hitchcock and Cary Grant collaborated on four films total, of which North by Northwest was the last in 1959. |
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