Jayclops' musings on his favorite pasttime and escape.
Thief for a thief.
May 23, 2007To Catch a Thief - (Alfred Hitchcock, 1955)
I remember watching Psycho and Vertigo when I was a kid in some shabby late night local Sunday programming. Though I can’t remember a single scene of Vertigo, and even at what age I was, the shower scene in Psycho is so trademark that I practically cannot single it out everytime I happen to watch a slasher flick.
And I’m not saying this because of a random thirst for wanton gore, but because you can’t help attributing suspense cinema to the master auteur of suspense that is THE Hitchcock. It’s not even about the gore and violence, because it’s basically an entirely different approach whether it’s shock cinema or as an element in itself or exercise in style. In old Hitchcockian style, it’s about the buildup of tension and how well it is sustained, whether you’re dealing with serial killers, or a classic cat-and-mouse chase. (Speaking of killer chases, David Fincher comes to mind.)
In To Catch a Thief, the classic cat-and-mouse chase is set in the lush French scenery of restaurants, hotels and village houses along the Riviera. Commotion is stirred when high-priced jewels start disappearing. The police are quick to point their fingers to a once-big time crook John Robbie (Cary Grant). Mr. Robie insists he has left this kind of life, with a mansion perched atop Cannes; however, he vows to catch the thief himself, to prove that he is innocent.
Grace Kelly plays Frances Stevens, an American lady he meets at the hotel with her insistent mother. She’s the elusive muse alright but sometimes may not seem as what she is. Kelly and Grant’s war-of-the-sexes banter shames just about every romantic comedy of recent memory. The camera lingers on the two as much as Hitchcock generously feed us with the visual pleasure of the scenery, which is actually a great diversion to balance off the general mood of the film. To Catch a Thief is dolled up with familiar characters and twists but catches us right before we doze off.
