So far my least favorite Hitchcock thriller, To Catch A Thief is a whodunit on the surface and a love story at heart. A supposedly retired international jewel thief (Carry Grant) living his life in the Rivera is being blamed for a spree of robberies. We follow him as he goes around the beautiful locals trying to find the actual culprit which would prove his innocence to the police and to his ex partners in crime, who themselves are being suspected.
Now, although just the presence of Grace Kelly makes the film worthwhile, I fear that as a thriller it fails tremendously, especially were we to compare it to say North By Northwest. There is no doubt the acting is excellent, but the entire movie seems more like an extended vacation for the crew. Maybe it's the beautiful setting, but aside from a few suspenseful scenes and some good witty dialogue, there really was not much going on.
From a different point of view, the movie also works as a love story between the cocksure thief Grant and the somewhat fascinated-by-a-criminal Kelly. Looking at it from this angle, with the love story amidst all that is going on in the story, the film does come across as more likable. But then again, if I were to go with my feelings during the time of watching the movie, and not analyzing it afterwards, then I would have to stick with my original thought of it as being my least favorite Hitchcock so far. Rating 2.5/5
