Netflix Pick – To Catch A Thief
It took a while to find just the right movie to recommend to all you whiz kids. I fell into a trap of watching 4 of the most downer/depressing movies I’ve ever seen by random chance since Monday mid-day. Never fear! Alfred Hitchcock’s masterful (redundant, I know) To Catch a Thief is the Netflix Pick of the week.
While anything Hitchcock is far from a hidden gem or a little seen film it fits the criteria for the Netflix Pick because of quality and age. The digital age and in the time of millennials streaming every possible thing they may not be aware of some of these masterpieces from 1955. For any real film fan Hitchcock should be a household name. The man made great strides in creating what we consider standards in any film we watch. He literally invented certain shots and editing techniques. More impressively, his films are old when you look at a calendar but the stories are timeless and the quality holds up without argument.
John Robie (Cary Grant) is a retired jewel thief. He was once known simply as ‘The Cat’ but has put that life behind himself. Through years of service in the war his crimes have been paid for and legal pardons given out. That doesn’t stop the French police from making him suspect number one when a string of burglaries following his MO start springing up around the Riviera, John’s assumed refuge. John runs from the police, not in guilt, but to find this copycat (no pun intended) thief and clear his name. In the midst of his quest John runs across Jessie Stevens, a rich woman who he shadows and uses as bait for the new thief. He falls for Jessie’s daughter, Frances (the gorgeous Grace Kelly). These factors aren’t even as complicated as the plot gets. The twists keep coming and they are fun to keep up with.
There is something so pure about watching these classic films. Hitchcock was such a quality director that everything in his films hold up in any era of filmmaking. The pacing is slower than that of a modern film but it doesn’t intentionally waste time. Film was expensive and processing it in color was more expensive still. Hitchcock wouldn’t run the camera just for fun. Everything in the movie has a purpose and builds on the main story so if you feel your brain starting to wander take a brief break and get back to the quality acting and storytelling.
The video quality in To Catch A Thief is outstanding. This is also a stream on Netflix, not even a remastered Blu-Ray. The colors are vivid but not the abuse of color many films had to suffer when color was first introduced. Everything is realistically toned and lit. Much of the lighting, especially the night shots, appears to be natural. A feat that last year’s The Revenant bragged about (and rightfully so). The way the film is shot also speaks volumes to Hitchcock. The shots themselves tell a story without dialogue, though the dialogue is great. More on that later. The shots telling the story are great but somewhere a European traveling movie like this really shines is in the settings. To Catch A Thief was clearly shot on location in the beautiful countryside surrounding the French Riviera. The establishing shots are breathtaking and adds to the timelessness of the story.
The dialogue all throughout was also expertly executed. The delivery at times felt a little wooden since actors in older movies really ‘acted.’ Movies were movies and everyone acknowledged the actors being actors, selling it being 100% natural wasn’t as important as it is today. That being said, for 1955 much of the acting surpassed the read line quality of the dialogue and felt more natural than a lot of films in that era, including other Hitchcock titles. The dialogue itself has a consistent snap and wit to it. The people are clearly speaking the same language but the vernacular has evolved in the six decades since To Catch A Thief was shot. You have to listen a little closer to what they are saying since it is a speech pattern from a different era. It’s fun to hear the slang and intelligent way the people speak but it does have the pitfall of all characters having the same voice.
The dialogue isn’t the only familiar trait from an older era. The old style of filmmaking resonates through the entire movie. The protagonist feels like a James Bond character, smooth talking, cool under pressure, a man of means, a man men want to be, and of course he falls in with two women. Even more standard the women do get catty over him. The arguments, catty-ness, and sexuality are so innocent compared to 2016 standards it’s almost cute. The orchestral soundtrack is also classic cinema. The strings strike up and it isn’t John William’s Star Wars theme so it transports you back to Hollywood having this squeaky clean image for the general public and terms like ‘silver screen’ were thrown about unironically.
If it isn’t clear by now To Catch A Thief is a clear choice for the Netflix Pick of the week. Hitchcock will always be one of the absolute finest filmmakers to ever deliver us entertainment. Grace Kelly and Cary Grant are still well known names and this film shows you exactly why. The script is airtight and the scenery is beautiful.
