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Harrison's Reports (1955) - To Catch a Thief

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"To Catch a Thief" with Cary Grant and Grace Kelly

(Paramount, September; time, 106 min)

Filmed mostly on the beautiful Riviera in Technicolor and VistaVision, "To Catch a Thief" is a thoroughly satisfying mystery-comedy-romance, one that should go over in a big way with adult audiences. Alfred Hitchcock has not endowed the action with as much suspense as one might expect in a picture produced and directed by him; nevertheless, its story of a one'time jewel robber who sets out to establish his innocence by catching a thief who was using his technique is tight and swiftly-paced, and constantly offers dramatic and comical developments. Cary Grant, long absent from the screen, makes an auspicious return as the former thief who becomes the chief suspect as a result of a series of jewel thefts. Grace Kelly is equally good as a head-strong American heiress who falls in love with him but suspects him of hoodwinking her after her mother's jewels are stolen. Much of the urbane and sophisticated dialogue owes its scintillating quality to the fine delivery and acting of both Grant and Miss Kelly. The supporting players, too, are outstanding; each delivers a believable and well-rounded characterization. The photography is excellent, and the beautiful Riviera backgrounds are a treat to the eye:—

Grant, a former jewel thief known to the French police as "The Cat," had been one of a group of convicts who had escaped from jail during the Nazi occupation and who had joined the French Resistance. After the war, all were allowed to go their various ways so long as they behaved. Grant's peaceful life of retirement in a coastal villa is suddenly disrupted when he finds that the police suspected him of committing a series of jewel thefts that had broken out in and around Cannes. He manages to elude capture and makes his way to Cannes, where Charles Vanel, owner of a fashionable restaurant and a former leader of the French underground, helps him to be spirited away to a beach club in a motorboat driven by Brigitte Auber, an attractive young girl, who had long had a crush on him. Through Vanel, Grant makes contact with John Williams, an insurance company investigator, who furnishes him with a list of the top jewel owners in the area, in order that he may catch his imitator at work and thus clear himself of suspicion. Williams even introduces Grant as a wealthy American lumber man to Jessie Royce Landis, a rich American widow, and Grace Kelly, her daughter, who were among his company's top jewel clients. A romance develops between Grace and Grant, but his movements arouse her suspicions and she soon guesses his true identity. This knowledge does not affect her love for him, but when her mother's jewels disappear, she accuses him of the theft and turns cold toward him. Her mother, however, believes in his innocence and allows him to escape from the police. In the course of events, Grant finds reason to believe that his friend, Vanel, was behind the robberies, and that he would next strike at a big costume ball, for which he had been engaged as the caterer. He persuades Grace to attend the ball with him in costume and, after making sure that he had been spotted by the police guarding the wealthy guests, sees to it that Williams, dressed in a similar costume, changes places with him so that he might be free to keep an eye on Vanel's movements. He hides out on the roof and, shortly after the guests retire, he traps Birgette as she stealthily makes off with a bag of jewels. The police spot both of them and, in the desperate struggle to escape, Brigette makes a near-fatal leap and is about to drop to her death below. Grant clutches her by hand in the nick of time, but before he hauls her to safety he makes her confess to the police below that she had committed the different thefts and that she was in league with Vanel. It all ends with Grace apologizing to Grant for suspecting him and persuading him to marry her.

It was produced and directed by Alfred Hitchcock, from a screenplay by John Michael Hayes, based on the novel by David Dodge.

Adult fare.

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