To Catch a Thief (1955)

Frances: "I'm in love with you."

John Robie: "Now that's a ridiculous thing to say."

Though To Catch a Thief is notable in that it is as Hitchcock film with little of his trademark suspense, it is nevertheless unmistakably a Hitchcock film. Indeed, much of it seems like a blueprint for 1959's masterpiece North by Northwest.
Cary Grant plays John Robie, an ex-cat burglar, retired to the French Riviera. A number of recent robberies that mirror his style leads the police to his home where they attempt to arrest him, however he escapes from them and decides that the best way to prove his innocence is to try and catch the copycat burglar in the act. Through his old contacts, Robie finds out where all of the most valuable privately-owned jewels in the Riviera are currently located. Then then leads him to make acquaintance with the owners of the most expensive jewels - Jessie Stevens (played by Jessie Royce Landis), and her beautiful daughter Frances (Grace Kelly). Posing as an American industrialist, the mother and daughter are not immune to his charms, even if Frances is initially cool she soon warms to him and sees through his cover, going as far as offering to strike up a partnership in his old career. The next morning the Stevens' jewels have been taken, and Frances is convinced Robie is responsible. The police are summoned and through Jessie's help, Robie is able to get away once more. When he is scouting an estate the next night, trying to apprehend the new burglar, he is attacked and in the ensuing struggle his assailant falls to his death from the cliff. His attacker is revealed to be Foussard, who had assisted him earlier along with his daughter Danielle Foussard (Brigitte Auber), an old flame of Robie's. Danielle now holds Robie responsible for her father's death, and says as much at his funeral.

The Blu-ray looks amazing, the film really does sparkle

Frances by now realises that Robie is innocent and confesses her love for him, and helps him attend a masquerade ball where he hopes to finally catch the true cat burglar. His plan works and he unmasks Daneille Foussard as the true cat burglar. She confesses and Robie and Frances (and her mother) are free to enjoy the rest of their lives together.
So that's a quick run through of the story. Oddly enough, the plot is by far the weakest thing about To Catch a Thief. The film is based on a 1952 novel by American author David F. Dodge, but with many details from the novel altered. The plot doesn't really stand up to scrutiny - if I were suspected of a crime and the police came round my house to question me about it, the last thing I'd do is escape through the bedroom window and go around trying to catch the criminal 'in the act'. I know films like this aren't meant to be taken too seriously, but when that's one of the first things that happen, it just doesn't seem very logical. And then there's the age of poor old Cary Grant. He'd actually semi-retired from acting by the time casting was underway on To Catch a Thief, believing that there wasn't a place for older actors like him in modern films.

A light-hearted cameo from Hitch, setting the tone for the film

Happily, Hitchcock coaxed him out of retirement (no doubt helped by being paid 10% of all the films' takings, eventually netting him around $700,000 and dwarfing Hitchcock's own $50,000 fee to produce and direct) and this led to a resurgence in his career - by 1961 the James Bond producers were even keen on him playing 007 in the first film, despite being 57 years old. A lot of criticism towards Grant in To Catch a Thief centres on the fact that he was 51 here, and his love interest was 25. Indeed Paramount studios were so concerned about this that there was a debate about whether to release the film. Jessie Royce Landis, who plays Frances' mother, was herself only 7 years older than Grant (though because in her lifetime she lied about her age, most people thought she was actually the same age as Grant), and even played his mother in North by Northwest. I don't think Grant's age matters at all. He looks here a good decade younger than his birth certificate suggests, and if I can suspend my disbelief over some of the plot points, I can easily ignore his advancing years. We also see here the stunning Grace Kelly at her best. She gets a good role to play here, being essential to getting Robie through the ordeal. As she tells him at the the end of the film: "are you afraid to admit that you just can't do everything by yourself, and that you needed the help of a good woman?". It was on the set of To Catch a Thief that she first came to the attention of Rainier II, the Prince of Monaco. A year later, she became Princess Grace of Monaco, and her film career was cut short. She is very good here, and despite the aforementioned age gap, her and Grant have some excellent chemistry, and the two were very good friends for the rest of her life. Grant later admitted that she was his favourite actress that he had ever worked with.

Hitchcock always knew how to get the perfect shot, and To Catch a Thief is probably the most good-looking feature he even made. He used the new VistaVision film, which was widescreen, and used a higher resolution than standard 35mm film. The French Riviera was the ideal location to employ this new film, and it looks amazing. The Blu-ray release of this really shows how good this film looks - the colours seem to pop out of the screen, and the detail that can be made out is extremely impressive (the images on this write-up have been taken directly from the Blu-ray, so you can get a sense of what I'm talking about). The only apparent problem with this is that it makes the numerous scenes where back-projection is used (such as the extended car chase scene) look very jarring.
The dialogue is similarly polished, being very snappy throughout with some excellent one-liners. The very last line, spoken by Frances as she and Robie embrace, has to be one of the best closing lines in cinema.
When watching To Catch a Thief one thing above all is apparent - its sense of fun. Hitchcock made this film to be great, escapist entertainment, and that's exactly what it is. There may be no hidden meanings or suspenseful lingering shots, but that's not what this is about. This is a film that looks fantastic, with great actors in a stunning location with a great script, and it is massively entertaining. Just don't concern yourself too much with the plot...