To Catch a Thief
(1955)
(1955)
As lightweight and breezily enjoyable as
Hitchcock's third collaboration with Cary Grant is, it is maybe a little bit
too pleased with itself. With all the ingredients for success present, there’s
a sense of not needing to try very hard to win the viewer over.
John Michael Hayes' script is rife with
innuendo-laced (censor-baiting) dialogue, which means that all the cast has to
do is show up in the Riviera (or on the sound stage) and deliver their lines. The
flipside of this is that it doesn’t give credit where it’s due for making it
all seem so effortless. But, really, Grant’s could play this in his sleep. Witness
his leisurely conversation over lunch with insurance investigator Hughson (John
Williams).
Hughson: The pastries are light as air.
John Robie: Germaine has very sensitive
hands and an exceedingly light touch. She strangled a German general – without
a sound.
Following hot on the heels of Rear Window
(contender for the best of the auteur’s films) and with back-to-back male stars
and back-to-back Grace Kelly, this is as close as the director would come to a
“sure thing” period in his career. By all accounts Thief was a decent-sized hit,
but his slightly mercurial tastes meant it was never certain what he would turn
to next (The Trouble with Harry would follow). The talent on board is all that
weighs down a film that so slight it could blow away at any moment.
We are presented with mild intrigue but little
real suspense. The result is that Hitchcock amuses rather than tests himself
(although, the extensive location shooting was something of a departure and he
makes use of helicopter shots; needless to say he wasn't present). The film certainly
looks gorgeous (Robert Burke’s cinematography won an Oscar). It was only on the
language side that there were problems to overcome. Notably, Charles Vanel (as
Bertani) was dubbed as he did not speak English.
Grant plays retired cat burglar John Robie,
falsely accused of being back in the game, and makes a more convincing fist of
it than Sean Connery would much later in Entrapment. There’s clearly a desire
to make Robie a fine and upstanding former criminal; not only is he repentant
but he served with the resistance during the War. And still he can’t catch a
break! The former Archibald Leach was a 50 when this was released, and
considering retirement (it took him another decade). The script pegged Robie at
35. As healthy as he looks, his tan is slightly scary; everyone else appears
bleached in comparison. Grace Kelly [i]did[/i] retire a couple of years after
making this (only a quarter of a century Grant's junior). She and Grant have a
playful chemistry, although it’s difficult to believe that Grant wouldn’t come
across as easy going opposite anyone. If all this age concern seems excessive,
the studio didn’t think so. The film was in the can in ’54 but delayed by
Paramount execs fretting over the gap between them.
The "thriller" plot is really
just there to top and tail Kelly’s (Frances Stevens’) conquest of the reluctant
older man, which she does with relish (“Do you want a leg or a breast?” she
asks him as they picnic). Her first scene is subdued, very much the demur ice
queen. But when Grant escorts her to her door she reveals herself, moving to
kiss him. Later, Hitch takes delight in cutting from Robie and Frances
embracing on a sofa to a succession of exploding fireworks. Post-Airplane! such
scenes can never be seen as less than ridiculous, but it’s not as if Hitchcock
wasn’t smirking as he gave full rein to the naughty schoolboy within.
Regarding Kelly, I have to be honest; I was
more taken with Brigitte Auber's Danielle (the daughter of one of Robie's old
associates). She's so much more playful and, well, fun than Kelly. (Auber’s
interplay with Grant is marvelously feisty; told she is only a girl compared to
Kelly, she asks Robie “Why buy an old car if you can get a new one cheaper? It
will run better and last longer”). Since I’m stuck on the cast’s ages I’ll
mention two more; Auber was a couple of years older than Kelly. And then
there’s the older lady.
Jessie Royce Landis steals every scene
she's in as Kelly's mother (no wonder Hitchcock invited her back for North By
Northwest, this time as Grant's mother – there are eight years between them). A
motif of the director’s, destruction towards eggs, is present on twice here. One
of which repeats the particularly violent act of subbing a cigarette out in a
fried egg that was last seen in Rebecca. The mother-in-law final gag (she will
come and live with the happy couple) seems very familiar, but achived the
desired aim of not to making the ending too blissful.
***1/2
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