Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Week 5: To Catch a Thief (1955)

Good evening,

In To Catch a Thief, a cat burglar begins to strike in France, taking prized jewelry from high profile socialites. The thief imitates the robberies of reformed cat burglar John Robie, "The Cat" (Cary Grant). Intent on proving his innocence, Robie poses as a tourist and befriends socialite Jessie Stevens (Jessie Royce Landis) and her daughter Francie (Grace Kelly) in hopes of catching the cat burglar in the act of stealing their jewels. Francie figures out his true identity and becomes enthralled with the idea of his life of crime. To complicate matters, Robie's ex-cohorts are intent on killing him, believing him guilty and blaming him for chancing the police coming after all of them.

This film, while not in my mind an iconic example of Hitchcock, has always been very enjoyable to me. I watch it about every 3-4 years and find myself forgetting the twists and turns in the way the plot unfolds by the time I watch it again.

It is an interesting film primarily because it is a rare work for Hitchcock. It is first and foremost a love story, and is remarkably not suspenseful. The burglar plot is more of a setup for Francie's fascination with Robie, and plays as a backdrop to the romance. Seldom do we see that with Hitchcock, who, while always trying to maintain the balance between romance and mystery, almost always leaned toward the mystery side of a story.

At no point in this film will the audience find themselves on the edge of their seat, heart pounding as they await the final resolution. And even though I did look forward to the final reveal of the true cat burglar, in all honesty it only could have been one of two people and the one it turned out to be was the less shocking option. Were it not for his very blatant cameo, one could almost forget that this was Hitchcock.

Strangely though, I didn't find myself missing that suspense. It works for this film. Hitchcock is, if nothing else, a masterful storyteller, and therefore he can produce a fascinating story in any genre. This is no exception. The ongoing witty banter between Grant and Kelly is magnetic. They have a magnificent chemistry and the dialogue is well ahead of its time as far as sexual innuendo goes. Hitchcock, not one to shy away from such things, always managed to slip in moments that I am amazed he could get away with at the time.

And the lack of suspense relating to the mystery was replaced by a suspense for their relationship. I found myself wondering who was using who and if either was even truly interested in the other several times throughout the film. It's a fun, enjoyable journey.

The cinematography in the film won the Oscar that year, and it was well earned by Robert Burns. It is a stunningly beautiful work of art in both cinematography and editing, and film buffs can't help but be entranced by the way the film was shot. It's one of his most visually appealing works, aided by beautiful shots of the Riviera.

The best part of the film is undoubtedly Landis' character, Kelly's overbearing mother who found herself overwhelmingly wealthy after the death of her husband, when oil was discovered on their land. Like her daughter, she has a strong need for excitement and thrills, and she is extremely amusing. At one point in the film, she helps Grant escape from the police, who burst into her room expecting to catch him red-handed, and instead find her reading. She plays it off so easily, but Kelly then points out that the book she is reading is upside down. It's a wonderful moment in the film; the kind that you remember later and chuckle to yourself about.

One very interesting tidbit about this film is Cary Grant's casting. Hollywood at the time was shifting from the classic style of actors like Grant and Bogart in favor of the rise of method acting. In addition to Grant feeling that his acting style was going out of style, the rise of McCarthyism and HUAC activities angered Grant, particularly the blacklisting of his personal friend, Charlie Chaplin. Grant was disconcerted with Hollywood. For these reasons he had actually announced his retirement from acting. But Hitchcock convinced him to do this film, and he continued acting for 11 years afterward. Were it not for this film and that role, we might not have some of Grant's iconic performances, such as North by Northwest, Father Goose, and Charade.

That's about all I've got on this one. If you haven't seen it, you should definitely check it out! It may not be the most memorable, but it is very fun to watch.





1 comment:

  1. Wow!! This is without a doubt your best Review to date! I have never seen this film, and due to your review I cannot wait to watch it; as soon as possible!

    Your assessment will help any viewer to understand the nature of the film beforehand, and thus not be disillusioned by its "unHitchcockness". The merits of the film are so clear as presented so "masterfully" in your review.

    The bit of trivia about Cary Grant's being cast in this flic was so interesting! I had no idea he had ever contemplated retirement, though in the light of the Mccarthy witchhunts at the time, who could blame him

    Again, this is your best review to date!!

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