Last week’s story “To Catch a Thief” introduced the world to the first “gentleman thief” in the mystery genre back in 1898. A.W. Raffles, the brainchild of E.W. Hornung, was a hit back in its time, second only to Sherlock Holmes.

As we discussed, readers were drawn to the theme of the antihero who could navigate invisibly through social class, tricking the rich and famous. The “justice served” principle comes to mind (distrust, dislike, and perhaps jealousy of the wealthy class). We also talked about the idea of honor among thieves.

This week’s version of “To Catch a Thief” provides a different (but related) spin on the motif. Alfred Hitchcock directed this film later in his long career. He had already established himself as a respected filmmaker whose work influenced the mystery genre.

In this lesson you’ll find a fun article full of trivia, as well as an interview with Hitchcock. And for extra credit, you can even read a copy of the screenplay.

Click here to download or print a pdf version of this lesson.

Hitchcock was born of humble stock in the east London. His father was a greengrocer with a stern sense of discipline who picked on Alfred. The family moved around during his childhood, and young Hitchcock attended a number of different schools. He was especially interested in geography. He was fascinated by maps and public transportation. He memorized all the stops on the Orient Express as well as the trams in London. Many of his movies include scenes on trains or trams.

When Hitchcock’s father died in 1914, Alfred took a job at Henley Telegraph and Cable Company. He started as a lowly clerk. He also began attending University of London, where he took design and drawing classes. This work eventually helped him get a job at the American film company called Famous Players, where he designed title cards for the silent film industry.

World War I changed the world and British society, and of course it also altered Hitchcock’s life. For one thing, he became interested in creative writing. He returned to his employment at the Henley Telegraph and served as business manager and founding editor of their in-house magazine. He had a few stories published as he polished his writing skills. He considered this job his first step toward the film industry, as he became a frequent movie-goer. He especially enjoyed the works of Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Fritz Lang, and D.W. Griffith.

In the early 1920s, Hitchcock began to freelance with independent producers, learning the skills of production and art design, as well as editor and writer. By 1922 he had directed his first film, “Mrs. Peabody.” He received his first solo direction credit a few years later (1925) with “The Pleasure Garden.” This early film showed the “bones” of what would make his movie structure famous. A common man was accused of being a killer, and he had to fight hard to prove his innocence.

Another important event occurred in the 1920s: Hitchcock’s marriage to film editor and script supervisor Alma Reville. Throughout his career, Reville collaborated on Hitchcock’s writing. She wrote and re-wrote many of his scripts.

By the late 1930s, Hitchcock had reached his peak in Britain. When American producer David O Selznick offered Hitchcock a lucrative contract ($40,000 per film, which is the equivalent of about $770,000 today).

Later in his career he formed his own production company in 1948, Transatlantic Pictures. This gave him the ability to experiment further with his innovative use of cinematography, light, and color. Hitchcock signed on with other production companies over the years, including Paramount Pictures and Warner Brothers.

Hitchcock’s films usually center on either murder or espionage, with deception, mistaken identities, and chase sequences complicating and enlivening the plots. Wry touches of humor and occasional intrusions of the macabre complete this mixture of cinematic elements. Three main themes predominate in Hitchcock’s films. The most common is that of the innocent man who is mistakenly suspected or accused of a crime and who must then track down the real perpetrator in order to clear himself (e.g., The Lodger and North by Northwest). The second theme is that of the guilty woman who enmeshes a male protagonist and ends up either destroying him or being saved by him (e.g., Vertigo and Marnie). The third theme is that of the (frequently psychopathic) murderer whose identity is established during the working out of the plot (e.g., Shadow of a Doubt and Psycho).

Hitchcock’s greatest gift was his mastery of the technical means to build and maintain suspense. To this end he used innovative camera viewpoints and movements, elaborate editing techniques, and effective soundtrack music, often supplied in his best films by Bernard Herrmann. He had a sound grasp of human psychology, shown both in his credible treatment of everyday life and in the tense and nightmarish situations encountered in his more-chilling films.

His ability to convincingly evoke human menace, subterfuge, and fear gave his psychological thrillers great impact while maintaining their subtlety and believability. He was also a master of something he called the “MacGuffin”—that is, the use of an object or person who, for storytelling purposes, keeps the plot moving along even though that thing or person is not really central to the story. (Examples include the titular steps in Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps and the microfilm in North by Northwest.)

Decades after his death, crime writers still model his works for narrative, meaning, and mood. Although much of his work was adapted from novels and short fiction, Hitchcock is the only filmmaker to receive a “grand master” Edgar award from the Mystery Writers of America, a lifetime achievement prize that has been given to Agatha Christie, Elmore Leonard and James M. Cain. Hitchcock also received a Raven Award from the mystery association for his “contribution” to the genre.

Otto Penzler, a leading editor of crime fiction and owner of the Mysterious Bookshop in Manhattan, says that Hitchcock’s mastery of showing ordinary people caught up in events beyond their control can be found in the fiction of Thomas H. Cook and Alan Furst, among others. He also cited Mary Higgins Clark as one who “fully understands the Hitchcock methodology.” Clark, one of the world’s top thriller writers, said that she admires Hitchcock’s “ability to create tension before the main character is even aware of the impending danger.”

“The reader is thinking ‘be careful’ as the protagonist, unsuspecting, puts herself in danger,” Clark wrote to the AP. “I think my book ‘A Cry in the Night’ is an example of this technique. Again, insinuating suspense before it is realised by the central character makes the reader feel helpless and creates wonderful drama.”

While he was known as the Master of Suspense, Alfred Hitchcock tried his hand at different genres. His films always had the Hitchcock touch of suspense, but he dressed his thrillers with the trappings of other genres. Marnie is Hitchcock’s woman’s picture. Shadow of a Doubt is Hitchcock’s WWII domestic drama. Rebecca is Hitchcock’s gothic romance. The Birds is Hitchcock’s monster movie. And, To Catch a Thief is Hitchcock’s romantic-comedy. The Cary Grant-Grace Kelly jewel thief thriller is one of Hitchcock’s breeziest, wittiest, and most glamorous films. While the film is appreciated, it doesn’t have the same kind of reputation as other films in Hitchcock’s stellar 1950s-early 1960s period. It’s a really easy movie to watch and enjoy, even just for its visuals alone.

Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘To Catch a Thief’: Bringing Cary Grant Back From a Premature Retirement and Saying Goodbye to Grace Kelly

The first out of five movies that Alfred Hitchcock made with VistaVision and his third and final collaboration with the magnificent Grace Kelly, To Catch a Thief is the master’s welcome and precious break from the phenomenal but somber thrillers that marked his career during the fifties. Set in the unbelievably charming Mediterranean landscape of the French Riviera, To Catch a Thief is a highly polished romantic thriller which tells the story of an experienced, masterful but retired burglar forced to catch the mysterious criminal molesting the insanely rich visitors of the Riviera.

Cary Grant plays the charming protagonist whose shady history easily makes him the prime suspect for the French police, but if it wasn’t for the combination of three influential factors, we would hardly have the chance to see Grant in this picture. The star announced his retirement from acting, but simply couldn’t say no to Hitchcock’s invitation for dinner. Grant was allegedly intrigued by the story to some degree and reluctantly accepted to read the screenplay, but warned Hitchcock not to get his hopes up. It was then, at the end of dinner, that the old fox delivered the punch that destroyed Grant’s defenses, as he informed Grant on the two, seemingly casual pieces of information. The film is to be shot on the French Riviera, and Grace Kelly agreed to play the lead female role. Retirement, it seemed at that moment, was something that Grant could easily put on hold.

According to  Mansur Manish:

Both actors would deliver better performances in other Hitchcock films, but in To Catch a Thief they are charming, flirty, and charismatic. The age difference is pretty noticeable (Grace Kelly is probably playing ten years older than she is, and Cary Grant ten years younger), but the pair’s chemistry is electric. Grace Kelly was Hitchcock’s favorite actress to work with; in their three films together he found new and interesting ways to approach her ethereal beauty and high-class persona. In To Catch a Thief, he presents her as a frigid and no-nonsense heiress—at first. Then, Frances reveals a cunning, excitable, and adventurous woman who longs for danger. Grace Kelly looks stunning in every frame, lovingly captured by Burks’ camera in her shiny jewelry and chic outfits.

The signature scene in To Catch a Thief is when John and Frances take in fireworks in her hotel room. Grace Kelly wears a stunning necklace, whose jewels form an arrow into her cleavage. Hitchcock has fireworks going off outside the window, with the fireworks symbolizing their mutual attraction. The cross-cutting between the fireworks and the romance inside is obvious, but in that special Hitchcock way that indicates he’s in on the joke. Another great scene is early in the film when John walks Frances back to her hotel room, and she kisses him suddenly—completely changing the dynamic between them.

Sven Miculec wrote:

Adapted from a novel by David Dodge, written by John Michael Hayes, the man with whom Hitchcock worked on the brilliant Rear Window, shot with the Oscar-winning talents of the cinematographer Robert Burks and based on the dynamic, seductive interplay of the two classic Hollywood superstars under the spotlight, To Catch a Thief turned out to be a splendid eye-candy of an audience-pleaser. It even led to another Grant-Hitchcock collaboration a couple of years later, in North by Northwest.

To much of Hitchcock’s disappointment, he failed in each and every attempt to lure Kelly back to Hollywood in the years that followed, since she moved to Monaco and married Prince Rainier, but this lovable cat-and-mouse story was indeed the final film the two of them made together. When talking about the numerous merits of one of Hitchcock’s most relaxed, least intense pictures, it would be a crime not to mention the work of the Oscar-nominated costume designer Edith Head, or the great composer Lyn Murray. But all in all, the main power of To Catch a Thief lies in its entertaining and clever writing, top-notch on-screen chemistry between Grant and Kelly, as well as the impressive visuals and breathtaking setting that contributed to the creation of a classic romantic flick that proves the versatility and talent of one of the greatest filmmakers in the history of cinema.

Hitchcock had enjoyed working with John Michael Hayes on Rear Window and the screenwriter was hired to write To Catch a Thief towards the end of 1953. While Rear Window was still post-production, Hitchcock arranged for Hayes and his wife to spend two weeks at the Hotel Carlton in Cannes researching the area in preparation for starting the screenplay. By February 23rd, Hayes and Hitchcock had completed a 9 page story outline. Four weeks later, Hayes had completed a first draft which ran to 212 pages and this was hastily translated into French in order to obtain the necessary filming permits and work permits for the American cast and crew. By the end of March, key contracts were in place and work on budgeting the film began.

To Catch a Thief was the first film you shot on location in France. What do you think of the picture on the whole?
It was a lightweight story.

Along the lines of the Arsene Lupin stories. Cary Grant played “The Cat,” a former high-class American thief who has retired on the Cote d’Azur. When the area is hit by a wave of jewel robberies, he is the logical suspect, both because of his police record and his expert skills. To resume his peaceful existence, he uses these skills to conduct his own investigation. Along the way he finds love, in the person of Grace Kelly, and in the end, it turns out that the guilty party is a “she-cat.”
It wasn’t meant to be taken seriously. The only interesting footnote I can add is that since I hate royal-blue skies, I tried to get rid of the Technicolor blue for the night scenes. So we shot with a green filter to get the dark slate blue, the real color of night, but it still didn’t come out as I wanted it.

Like several of the others, the plot hinges around a transference of guilt, with the difference being that here the villain turns out to be a girl.
Brigitte Auber played that role. I had seen a Julien Duvivier picture called Sous Ie Ciel de Paris in which she played a country girl who’d come to live in the city. I chose her be­ cause the personage had to be sturdy enough to climb all over the villa roofs. At the time, I wasn’t aware that between films Brigitte Auber worked as an acrobat. That turned out to be a happy coincidence.

This is the picture that aroused the press’s interest in your concept of movie her­oines. You stated several times that Grace Kelly especially appealed to you because her sex ap­peal is “indirect.”
Sex on the screen should be suspense­ful, I feel. If sex is too blatant or obvious, there’s no suspense. You know why I favor sophisti­cated blondes in my films? We’re after the draw­ing-room type, the real ladies, who become whores once they’re in the bedroom. Poor Mar­ilyn Monroe had sex written all over her face, and Brigitte Bardot isn’t very subtle either.

I appreciate your viewpoint, but I doubt whether the majority of the public shares your tastes in this matter. I think the male au­dience prefers a highly carnal woman. The very fact that Jane Russell, Marilyn Monroe, Sophia Loren, and Brigitte Bardot became stars, despite the many flops in which they appeared, seems to bear this out. The majority of the public, it seems to me, prefers the kind of sensuality that’s blatant.
That may well be true, but you your­self admit that those actresses generally make bad films. Do you know why? Because without the element of surprise the scenes become meaningless. There’s no possibility to discover sex. Look at the opening of To Catch a Thief I deliberately photographed Grace Kelly ice-cold and I kept cutting to her profile, looking classi­cal, beautiful, and very distant. And then, when Cary Grant accompanies her to the door of her hotel room, what does she do? She thrusts her lips right up to his mouth.

I’m willing to grant that you manage to impose that concept of icy sexuality on the screen, but I still feel the audience prefers the kind of sex that’s obviolls and tangible.
Maybe so. Anyway, when the picture is over, the public’s pretty satisfied with it.

I’m not overlooking that, but my guess is that this is one aspect of your pictures that’s probably more satisfying to the feminine view­ers than to the male audience.
I’d like to point out that it’s generally the woman who has the final say in which pic­ture a couple is going to see. In fact, it’s gen­erally the woman who will decide, later on, whether it was a good or a bad picture. On con­dition that it’s not displayed by a person of their own sex, women will not object to vulgarity on the screen. Anyway, to build up Grace Kelly, in each picture between Dial M for Murder and To Catch a Thief we made her role a more interest­ing one. Since To Catch a Thief is in a rather nostalgic mood, I didn’t want to wind up with a com­pletely happy ending. That’s why I put in that scene by the tree, when Cary Grant agrees to marry Grace Kelly. It turns out that the mother-in-law will come and live with them, so the final note is pretty grim.

As you watch this film, keep in mind our discussions about the gentleman thief as a mystery sub-genre.

The World War II context is crucial to this story. How would you explain this aspect of the plot?

Notice John Robie’s character as an outsider. He is considered an American, but he is also an ex-patriot. How do the French view him?

How is he similar or different from A.W. Raffles?

Consider also the concept of “honor among thieves.”  How does Robie’s code of honor influence his behavior?

See if you can identify the motivation of each character (Robie, Frances, Danielle, etc.).

How does Hitchcock’s version of catching a thief compare to others we have read?

What cinematic effects made this movie work for you (or not?)?

Enjoy “To Catch a Thief”!

Alfred Hitchcock. (2023). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Hitchcock

Alfred Hitchcock is Still Influencing Crime Fiction. (2018). Retrieved from https://gulfnews.com/entertainment/alfred-hitchcock-still-influencing-crime-fiction-1.2171404

Barson, M. (2023). Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Alfred-Hitchcock

Bergan, R. (2003). Frederick Knott. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/news/2003/jan/16/guardianobituaries.booksobituaries

https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/508197/11-thrilling-facts-about-dial-m-murder

Manish, M. (2017).  Beginners Guide to Alfred Hitchcock: To Catch a Thief. Retrieved from https://talkfilmsociety.com/columns/beginners-guide-to-alfred-hitchcock-to-catch-a-thief-1955

Mikulec, S. (2022).  Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘To Catch a Thief’: Bringing Cary Grant Back From a Premature Retirement and Saying Goodbye to Grace Kelly. Retrieved from https://cinephiliabeyond.org/alfred-hitchcocks-to-catch-a-thief/