the fresh films reviews

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To Catch a Thief (1955)

Director:
Alfred Hitchcock

COUNTRY
USA

Genre
Thriller/Crime

NORWEGIAN TITLE
Tyv fanger tyv

RUNNING TIME
106 minutes

Producer:
Alfred Hitchcock

Screenwriter (based on the novel by David Dodge):
John Michael Hayes


Cast includes:

CHARACTER ACTOR/ACTRESS RATING
John Robie ("The Cat") Cary Grant
Frances Stevens Grace Kelly
Jessie Stevens Jessie Royce Landis
H. H. Hughson John Williams -
Monsieur Bertani Charles Vanel -
Danielle Foussard Brigitte Auber -

 

Review

In To Catch a Thief, arguably Hitchcock's most fashionable movie, Cary Grant gets full value for his suave effortlessness as "The Cat", a retired jewelry burglar on the French Riviera. It's a remarkably attractive picture, and not only because of Grant and co-star Grace Kelly, who is at her most seductive here, but also because Hitchcock makes each scene come alive with sophistication. He makes you feel like a natural part of these surroundings; it's like travelling to 1950s France with your pockets full of money. Unfortunately, the scenes don’t sum up to a cohesive, intriguing whole the way Hitchcock's best works do. For that, John Michael Hayes' script from David Dodge's 1952 novel is too unremarkable. It lacks any real suspense. And the ending, which is built up to be a Hitchcockian climax, lacks nerve. This was the last of Kelly's three films with Hitchcock, after Dial M for Murder and Rear Window, before her early retirement.

Copyright © 18.09.2021 Fredrik Gunerius Fevang

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