To Catch a Thief

Theatrical Release Date: 1955 08 05 (USA) / 2013 01 23 (USA - Rerelease)

UPC: 097361463742

Studio: Paramount Home Video***

MPAA Rating: NR   Contains:[Violence, Adult Situations, Questionable for Children, Smoking]

Summary: A jewel thief is at large on the Riviera, and all evidence points to retired cat burglar Cary Grant. Escaping the law, Grant heads to the Cote D'Azur, where he is greeted with hostility by his old partners in crime. All of them had been pardoned due to their courageous activities in the wartime Resistance, and all are in danger of arrest thanks to this new crime wave. But Grant pleads innocence, and vows to find out who's been copying his distinctive style. With the reluctant aid of detective John Williams, Grant launches his investigation by keeping tabs on the wealthiest vacationers on the Riviera. One such person is heavily bejeweled Jessie Royce Landis, who is as brash and outspoken as her daughter Grace Kelly is quiet and demure. But "still waters run deep," as they say, and soon Kelly is amorously pursuing the far-from-resistant Grant. Part of Kelly's attraction to Grant is the possibility that he is the thief; the prospect of danger really turns this gal on. Being Cary Grant, of course, he can't possibly be guilty, which is proven in due time. But by film's end, it's obvious that Kelly has fallen hard for Grant, crook or no crook. Occasionally written off as a lesser Alfred Hitchcock film (did we really need that third-act fashion show?), To Catch a Thief is actually as enjoyable and engaging now as it was 40 years ago. Though the Riviera location photography is pleasing, our favorite scene takes place in a Paramount Studios mockup of a luxury hotel suite, where Grant and Kelly make love while a fireworks display orgasmically erupts outside their window. And who could forget the scene where Jessie Royce Landis disdainfully stubs out a cigarette in an expensive plate of eggs? Adapted by frequent Hitchcock collaborator John Michael Hayes from a novel by David Dodge To Catch a Thief won an Academy Award for cinematographer Robert Burks. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Category: Mystery

Awards: Best Color Art Direction – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Color Art Direction – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Color Art Direction – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Color Art Direction – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Color Cinematography – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Color Costume Design – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

Features: Commentary by Dre. Drew Casper, Hitchcock film historian
A night with the Hitchcocks
Unacceptable under the code: film censorship in Hollywood
Writing and casting To Catch a Thief
The making of To Catch a Thief
Behind the gates: Cary Grant and Grace Kelly
Alfred Hitchcock and To Catch a Thief: an appreciation
Edith Head: the paramount years
If you love To Catch a Thief, you'll love this interactive travelogue
Theatrical trailer
Galleries

To Catch a Thief

Format: Blu-ray

Release Date: 03/06/2012

Audio: DTHD null, DD1 Dolby Digital Mono, DD Dolby Digital

Runtime: 106 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English,French,Spanish,Portuguese

Subtitles: English,French,Spanish,Portuguese

Brendon Hanley

To Catch a Thief is one of Alfred Hitchcock's more deceptively simple films. The wonderfully entertaining and attractive film feels so light and breezy, it's easy to miss the more serious social dimensions of the movie. There isn't much of the classic Hitchcockian menace or suspense, but there's always more going on than meets the eye. Though at times used to humorous effect, the overt sexuality between leads Cary Grant and Grace Kelly is more than just playful: Grant's subdued performance only highlights the distance between the two characters. There is also Hitchcock's emblematic technique of parallel characters, in this case Grant's cat burglar and Brigitte Auber's character, who is falsely accused of a crime. The latter perhaps wishes he committed the crime, and in a perverse sort of way, he actually does. To Catch a Thief appeared in the middle of Hitchcock's most popular string of films; though it may have been intended as a minor change of pace, the film is chock-full of classic images and thought-provoking peculiarity. ~ Brendon Hanley, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Margaret Brewster  Actor 
Dominique Davray  Actor 
Jeanne Lafayette  Actor 
Leonard Penn  Actor 
Guy de Vestel  Actor 
Steven Geray  Actor 
Roland Le Saffre  Actor 
Cosmo Sardo  Actor 
George Nardelli  Actor 
Martha Bamattre  Actor 
Jean Hebey  Actor 
Alberto Morin  Actor 
Adele St. Maur  Actor 
Loulette Sablon  Actor 
Eugene Borden  Actor 
Frank Chelland  Actor 
Barry Norton  Actor 
Philip Van Zandt  Actor 
George Adrian  Actor 
Nina Borget  Actor 
Louis Mercier  Actor 
Otto F. Schulzs  Actor 
Manuel Paris  Actor 
John Alderson  Actor 
Lewis Charles  Actor 
Gladys Holland  Actor 
Paul Newlan  Actor 
Marie Stoddard  Actor 
René Blancard  Actor 
Russell Gaige  Actor 
Albert Pollet  Actor 
Eddie LeBaron  Actor 
Don Megowan  Actor 
Wee Willie Davis  Actor 
Bela Kovacs  Actor 
George Paris  Actor 
Michael Hadlow  Actor 
John Michael Hayes  Screenwriter 
Alfred Hitchcock  Director 
Alfred Hitchcock  Producer 
Lyn Murray  Composer (Music Score) 
Cary Grant  Actor 
Grace Kelly  Actor 
Jesse Royce Landis  Actor 
John Williams  Actor 
Charles Vanel  Actor 
Brigitte Auber  Actor 
Jean Martinelli  Actor 
Georgette Anys  Actor 

Country: USA