"My only comment would be highly censorable!"
It's easy to like To Catch a Thief (1955), harder to defend it. Alfred Hitchcock sends Cary Grant and Grace Kelly on a romantic caper across France, not letting nonsense like plot interfere.French authorities blame a rash of burglaries on John Robie (Cary Grant), retired thief (known as "the Cat") pardoned for serving the Resistance. Robie seeks to prove his innocence, enlisting a flustered insurance agent (John Williams) to help him find France's most valuable jewels. One client is Jessie Stevens (Jessie Royce Landis), a rich American widow visiting Nice with her spoiled daughter Frances (Grace Kelly). Robie and Frances grow closer as they zero in on the jewel thief.
Appropriately, To Catch a Thief starts with a shot of vacation posters. Robert Burks' photography lingers on the French Riviera, from the beautiful beach at Cannes to sumptuous cliff-side villas. Indeed the movie seems like a paid vacation, its thin plot ignored for long stretches of sightseeing and bantering stars. Who can resist John and Frances's wild ride in the countryside, or Frances and Danielle (Brigitte Auber) trading seaside banter? It's so enchanting that we stop caring about the jewel thief story.
Thief plays Hitchcock's sexual obsessions for laughs: this time it's the woman pursuing her man, Frances "stimulated" by capturing a thief. The best-known scene has Frances seducing John while a fireworks display booms behind them. The erotic tension couldn't be thicker, overcoming the awkward blocking and set-up (silent fireworks?). A climactic dress ball degenerates into tasteful debauchery; then the burglar's eleventh-hour arrival belatedly reintroduces the plot. Hitchcock handles the resultant rooftop chase with skill, but it feels like an obligation.
Cary Grant plays at the peak of middle-aged virility, spouting quips, sporting swim trunks and an ageless tan. But Grace Kelly, in her final Hitchcock appearance, owns the movie. Often cast as an ice queen, Kelly lets loose with a playfully, sexually charged performance that's impossible to resist. Her sumptuous Edith Head wardrobe and memorable entendres don't hurt, telling a rival: "It looked as though you were conjugating some irregular verbs!" She and Grant have immaculate chemistry that renders Thief critic proof.
Jesse Royce Landis's nagging but likeable matron steals every scene; Hitchcock used her again for North by Northwest. John Williams has fun in a limited straight man role. Brigitte Auber makes a fun counterpart to Kelly, less glamorous but more amusingly sensual. Charles Vanel of The Wages of Fear plays Robie's Resistance comrade.
Critiquing To Catch a Thief is like reviewing Qdoba's burrito selection. You like it, but can't explain why while leaving your integrity intact. Rest assured that Cary Grant, Grace Kelly and some wonderful scenery are enough to overcome all but the stodgiest objections.
