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| To
Catch a Thief
Directed By: Alfred
Hitchcock Plot
Summary - Review 1 - Review
2 - CURRENT REVIEWS
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| A series of ingenious jewelry robberies takes place on the French Riviera. The police suspect John Robbie - an expert thief who was known as "The Cat" before he retired from crime. Robbie enlists the help of an insurance man to guess where the real thief will strike next. He befriends wealthy widow Jessie Stevens and her attractive daughter Frances. “To Catch A Thief” is a notable Alfred Hitchcock film exactly because it is not the typical Hitchcock film. The master of suspense is typically known for creating scenarios ripe with suspense and anticipation, in developing stories that work their way into our subconscious fears and desires. His best work is “Rear Window (1954),” a classic about voyeurism and how what we imagine is always more tantalizing than what we really know. A close second is “Psycho (1960),” which surely everyone knows as his gripping and intense masterpiece of horror, Hitchcock focusing on themes of guilt, isolation and the unknown. But if “Psycho” is famous for probing the subconscious terrain of fears, “To Catch A Thief” is famous for tiptoeing along the subconscious terrain of lust. “Thief” is one of Hitchcock’s lightest concoctions, straying far from the intricate, enveloping plots that dominate his richer works. It is more romance than thriller and more about snappy bits of dialogue than tense bits of silence. It is still a great movie mind you – perhaps one of Hitchcock’s most rewatchable – but those preparing to watch this feature should be prepared for something a little different. In reality, despite its label as a clear-cut who-dunnit, the plot is not all that important. Instead, the film focuses on its two leads: Cary Grant, as a retired jewel thief who fought in the French Resistance during World War II, and Grace Kelly, as a spoiled American on vacation who sets her sights on Kelly when he doesn’t faint at the sight of her. While romance and lust are almost always at the core of Hitchcock films, “To Catch A Thief” integrates romance more directly into the surface plot than almost any of his other efforts. Grant is the primary suspect for a series of high-profile jewel heists in Cannes, and rather than go to jail, he commits himself to finding the real culprit and bringing him, or her, to justice. Kelly, in her own desire to catch herself a thief, continuously diverts his attention. They grow closer and closer as the film progresses, and their feelings for each other build to a climactic embrace framed by a sky of fireworks – without question the film’s perfect, suggestive, moment. Those who call it a who-dunnit cite the fact that, unlike almost all other Hitchcock films, we do not know the villain until the film’s end. In making such an observation, these people prove that they miss the entire point of the film. The reason the villain is never revealed is that, minus that driving force, Grant would have no reason to continue to be around Kelly. This manufactured story, working in the background, is nothing more than a pretense to advance their interactions. And while such a formula in other movies would be a weakness, the incomparable chemistry of the two leads here blinds us to the film’s many shortcomings. “Character” is not a term I use often to describe films. Typically movies work or they don’t, are predictable or aren’t, and I go on my merry way with few lasting thoughts of what I have seen. But whenever I recall Hitchcock, I think of “To Catch A Thief” right along with his greatest masterpieces. This film has character, a rich visual style, an endearing chemistry, and it knows it. Personally, I’d like to think that Hitchcock set out to make something more suspenseful, only noticing later the tremendous dialogue and acting unfolding before him, and that he intentionally allowed the story to drift away in order to give Grant and Kelly all the space they needed.   Check out Reviews, Commentary, and More at Zertinet.com |
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