Leonardo DiCaprio ran from Tom Hanks in the memorable modern-day picture, “Catch Me If You Can." This week, it only seemed right to embrace a film from 1955 that follows a similar storyline.
“To Catch a Thief,” directed by Alfred Hitchcock, famous for his suspense thrillers, was a delight to see. The storyline did his genre justice, as it was intriguing with numerous plot twists. John Robie (Cary Grant) is a intelligent, strategic, retired jewel thief, so when jewels start to go missing throughout France where he currently resides, all fingers are pointed at him. In attempt to clear his name, he attempts to beat the current thief in the act by remaining one step ahead of him.
Soon he meets Frances Stevens (Grace Kelly) an upfront girl who knows exactly what she wants and is persistent when she wants to obtain it. She kisses Robie first and whisks him away on a date the very next day. She’s spunky, witty and isn’t afraid to put Robie in his place, a refreshing role for this time period. She also is intelligent enough to figure out that Robie is the robber in question. She offers to be his accomplice, as she looks for some spice in her high-society life. That all goes downhill once her mother’s jewels are stolen, and Frances believes the culprit to be Robie.
Among the storyline, the movie has numerous factors that add up to this Academy Award-winning picture. For one, the Parisian scenery in the first few scenes was breathtaking. Additionally, the chemistry between Grant and Kelly was unfathomable for an on-screen couple.
One of the final settings in the picture is a masquerade ball, and the elegant costumes put fourth made it the most memorable. Kelly is a vision in her golden ball gown, which reminded me of the Disney princess Belle, except even more dream worthy than that.
Edith Hill was the costume designer, and though I usually don’t acknowledge the creator behind the clothes of the actor, everyone in this film looks so constantly dapper that it was impossible to ignore. Even in the more subtle scenes, Kelly is seen in elegant sundress, ball gowns and more. One of the main reasons I adore classic movies is to see the fashion from that time period, and “To Catch a Thief” had the best ones I’ve yet to see, even given modern-day pictures a run for their money.
With a memorable storyline, spunky characters, costumes that make you swoon and a Parisian landscape to put it all in, “To Catch a Thief” is one of the best classical movies I have yet to see. It will be worth the watch for years to come.
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