Hitchcock described a MacGuffin as a device or a gimmick which drives the plot, but which would defy closer examination. With Hitch's To Catch A Thief, the entire darned plot is a MacGuffin. There's something about jewels and burglars and the police, but really the entire plot is just a gimmick to set up verbal sparring between stars Cary Grant and Grace Kelly and to allow Grant to be suave and Kelly to wear lovely gowns designed by Edith Head. The light-weight plot prevents To Catch A Thief from holding a place among the best of Hitchcock's work, but the film is still a stylish romp.

The plot can be summed up in the title's source quote, "To catch a thief, you've got to think like a thief." We're on the French Riviera and somebody is stealing jewels. Based on the modis operandi, everyone assumes the culprit is John Robie (Grant), once known as "The Cat." Robie, who earned parole by fighting with the French resistance, denies responsibility for the crimes and determines to prove his innocence by catching the new Cat in the act. His plan involves getting close with an American, Frances Stevens (Kelly), whose mother's jewels may be irresistible for the real thief. But Frances is an independent girl and she knows more than Robie thinks!

Adapted from a novel by David Dodge, John Michael Hayes's script avoids the kinds of action set pieces Hitchcock was famous for in favor of teasing dialogue and double entendre (which almost prevented the film from getting a Production Code Seal). Even the now-famous scene with Kelly and Grant driving on the winding roads in the hills above Cannes is less about the chase and more about Kelly's attempts to capture the heart of a thief. There's very little mystery as to who the real Cat is, but you'd follow these characters anywhere.

Hitchcock (whose cameo occurs ten minutes in on a bus) shoots To Catch A Thief with his usual seamless combination of studio sets and second unit location work (though this film features more of the latter). Sometimes you even can get confused has to when the actors are on location and when it's all matte work. Robert Burks received a well-deserved Oscar for his loving evocation of the French seaside, including some of the earliest examples of filming from helicopters, as the camera pulls so far away from several car chases as to ignore the chase in favor of hills and crystal blue waters. But for all of the lovely imagery, it's only in the final six minutes that Hitch gets to have any fun, with a nighttime pursuit on a rooftop (obviously, but appealingly a set). If somebody told you after watching this film, that Hitchcock is called "The Master of Suspense," you probably wouldn't believe them, but he keeps things fast and stylish.

And how could they not be stylish with Kelly as the lead? In three different films she was the personification of Hitchcock's ideal of the "Cool Blond," making things steamier thanks to Head's costumes. She's breathtaking either in a bathing suit or an evening gown and she more than holds her own in conversations with Grant. Actually, this is one of the always reliable Grant's lesser performances. He spends much of the movie looking constipated, as if this whole New Cat Burglar thing was just too inconvenient for words. He also never gets to display the physicality one would expect from a former thief and circus performer. The rest of the cast is largely populated by French actors who are either badly dubbed or just have problems with the language.

This isn't a masterpiece, but "charm" is an underrated asset. Those in doubt need look no further than Jon Amiel's Entrapment which despite a similar plot, similarly exotic settings, and similarly attractive actors, falls flat.

On DVD for the first time, To Catch A Thief features a great widescreen transfer and four or five interesting and informative featurettes.

*******
This review is part of sleeper54's Lean-n-mean write-off. In honor of holiday bloating, sleeper54 challenged writers shape up and tone down their reviews, aiming for excellence in under 666 words, both to prove it could be done and to show that Very Helpful reviews *can* be written without the length. As a writer who averages over 2000 words per review, this one was a challenge, but the body of this review (which is all that counts) is exactly 665 words long.

To read more about the write-off, including the names of the other wonderful participants in this challenge, check out http://www.epinions.com/user-sleeper54.

Thus far the esteemed group of participants includes:

mjfrombuffalo * granimal * angel011 * lemon_lime

unhappycarrie * d_fienberg * annecal * mfunk75 * proxam

4-1-1 * AEOakley * panguitch * tbthorn

But it will probably grow. So check out their entries and enjoy I hope you've enjoyed this lean-n-mean d_fienberg write-up.

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Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD