To Catch a Thief

Wonderful film, I've watched it so many times in the past. It's just so enjoyable. Admitted you have to like films with no special effects, no violence and supreme acting and best of all no one dies and a happy ending.

Very good film

A masterpiece

Of all the 54 Hitchcock films To Catch A Thief wins the award for the most sumptuous filmed. Lovingly restored, the Vistavision colours glisten vividly showing off the stunning mid-50's French Riviera as well as the lead characters in all their glory. There's a twist to Hitchcock's favourite wronged man theme as Cary Grant plays long retired cat burglar John Robie, a.k.a. "The Cat". When a series of high profile jewel robberies bearing all his hallmarks shakes the Riviera's wealthy ladies Robie is naturally suspected, but when the police call on his elegant villa to question him he makes good his escape to investigate the source of the burglaries himself. To prove his innocence the first of a number of unlikely plot twists sees Robie contact insurance agent H.H.Hughson, played by John Williams. Hughson's company are bleeding money paying out on policies owing to the robberies, and Robie's plan is that Hughson hands over the names and addresses of the leading prospective future targets. Top of the list are Jessie Stevens and daughter Frances, played by Jessie Landis and Grace Kelly. Robie befriends them in the guise of a rich American tourist, though Frances sees through the ruse eventually after an exciting coastal escape from following police. Frances taunts Robie with jewellery she is wearing, but the next morning Jessie's jewels have been stolen, and Frances believes it is Robie, who has disappeared, who is responsible. The mood of the film is more akin to a 'caper' movie like The Italian Job rather than a typically tense Hitchcock wronged man film such as The 39 Steps. Much of the dialogue is light, funny, and especially between the two lead characters laden with sexual innuendo. There are scenes of light peril, such as Frances' coastal getaway from the police, Robie's initial escape and the rooftop confrontation with the copycat burglar. But the budding romance between Robie and Frances is more central here and the beautifully shot countryside, which earned an Oscar for Robert Burks' cinematography, is as much the star as Grant and Kelly. There's a lightness of touch and mood present here that was to continue to be developed in Hitchcock's next film The Trouble With Harry. This is lightweight Hitchcock but a lovely journey nonetheless.

Wow! What an upgrade over any previous available version. The french landscapes are stunningly presented with vivid rich (and correct) colour. The Dolby Vision/VistaVision combo delivers another winner following November 2024's 4k release of 'White Christmas'. A joy to behold. The bigger the screen the better - I watched this on a 65 inch. It's a great movie too with Cary Grant and Grace Kelly showing why they are such beloved, true movie stars and with Hitch directing you have the recipe for a perfect 105 minutes. Paramount has given us a mixed bag of 4k releases over the years but with this one they can collectively pat themselves on the back.

Great movie also the steelbook is a nice edition for the 75th anniversary cary grant great actor in this just feels like he should of played a james bond role back in the day

A wonderful film, full of humour and suspense. The 4K transfer is excellent providing very vivid colours and a clear image. The 5 stars are for the quality of the film only. In terms of delivery, one star would have been too much. The film arrived in a simple case, with no padding whatsoever. The result was that the DVD case came broken into many peaces and being unusable to store the film. I had to find an empty Blu-ray film case to store it. Quite unacceptable dear Amazon.

I ordered this DVD for two reasons. Firstly I heard, recently, a BBC-Radio-4 programme about the book which 'spawned' the film "To Catch A Thief". The (American) author of the book had lived in the South of France, where the action is set, next-door to the villa in which the burglaries really took place, thus giving him the kernel of the story. It was while listening to that programme that reason number two began to form; and that was that I began to remember that I had seen the film, in a cinema, back in the fifties, soon after its release. Unfortunately, "anno domini" had dulled my memory of the film. The DVD duly arrived and I watched it with great, great pleasure. In fact I watched it twice, the second time immediately after the first. I had forgotten VistaVision, newly out in the fifties, and I was absolutely bowled over by the sheer quality of Hitchcok's film-making. His camera-angles are breath-taking masterpieces. It was a sheer delight to listen to that dialogue: words spoken clearly and unhurriedly, unlike today's garbled garbage; and no series of one close-up of a face after another! I had forgotten what excellent actors were Grace Kelly and Cary Grant. 5 stars to Amazon for prompt delivery, as promised, and at a more-than-decent price. The recording is of good quality and the disc was securely sealed in its box, that within a robust, card delivery-sleeve. Full marks all round.

Great movie, really enjoyed it.

TO CATCH A THIEF Verkocht door Chalkys NL Voorwaarde: Nieuw Aantal: 1 Niet ontvangen (pakket zoek geraakt)

Sehr Gut

Class one by four outstanding actor!

What may be considered a minor work for Hitchcock, "To Catch A Thief" would be considered a great film if directed by anyone else. This little jewel from Monaco is in fact a great film, which has been overshadowed by its less glamorous siblings such as "North By Northwest". As retired jewel thief John Robie "The Cat" Cary Grant is every inch a study in grace, strength and agility in all areas of his life, be it eluding the French police to escaping the finely set trap of Pacific Northwest Heiress Grace Kelly. He is as always the perfect image of a movie star and brings with him all the charm and style we expect from Cary Grant, but just beneath the surface there is something else. John Robie is someone who is hiding the real man he used to be submerged below the smooth glamour of his post war persona. He is very like the Cockney Archie Leach that lived buried deep below the skin of Cary Grant. This makes his performance all the more complex and compelling to watch. The duality of the star mirrors the duality of the character. Grace Kelly is of course the perfection of all the blonde, icy hot, impossibly smart and beautiful objects of the Hitchcock world. But she two is hiding something in her performance in this film as she did all of her films. Just like Grant she is an imposter hiding behind a movie star. It is all in her voice, that beautiful upper mid Atlantic accent that no one else in her Philadelphia background shares. Her Frances Stevens is from the Northwest but by way of Bryn Mawr or Wellesley she has eradicated her past almost as well as Robie The Cat. Almost, that is except for the presence on this trip to the south of France of her bejeweled and earthy Mother. Thus in the high and rarefied atmosphere of Cannes, Nice and Monte Carlo, these two imposters meet and are drawn by mutual understanding and attraction into a perfect little Hitchcock mystery. To watch these two unearthly beautiful actors as they move through the hotels, beaches and villas of the area is to watch perfection in every sense of divine fakery and double sided joy of their beauty and talent. Jesse Royce Landis appears as Kelly's mother and with only a few words and a look nearly steals the picture. She is the only person in the story who is not hiding who she really is and in so doing is the comic center of not only the jewel thief's attentions but the pictures as well. She is the hook upon which the crook hangs. The screenplay by John Michael Hayes who also wrote such varied fair as "Butterfield-8", "Peyton Place" and "Rear Window" here in this work comes up with some of the most clever lines and double entendre in the genre: John Robie: Say something nice to her, Danielle. Danielle: She looks a lot older up close. Frances: To a mere child, anything over twenty might seem old. The dialog is funny and full of delirious wit and a little wisdom as well. Just like the two main characters in the film, "To Catch A Thief" is a great film hiding behind the mask of it's reputation as one of it's genius director's lesser efforts, don't buy it for a second. It is first-rate entertainment and not a paste imitation among the jewels of Hitchcock's repertoire. A finely crafted gem.