Some of our more recent discussions on Alfred Hitchcock have been focused on a few of his more atypical productions, such as the dark and gritty The Wrong Man, or the hilariously irreverent romantic comedy The Trouble with Harry. However, as much as it is fascinating to look at the esteemed director’s attempts to be slightly more experimental in both form and content, the truth is that his best work came when he was well within his comfort zone, since that’s where he bred the most inspired concepts and nurtured some very compelling films. To Catch a Thief is a relatively run-of-the-mill Hitchcockian film – it takes a very simple story, as filtered through the lens of a debonair protagonist and his mysterious (usually blonde) love interest, as well as blending a variety of genres, including psychological thriller, suspense and an abundance of romantic comedy, weaving them together in a way in which Hitchcock was particularly adept. It’s certainly a very well-known film, and one of the more popular of the director’s 1950s output – and while I do think it could’ve done more with a very promising set of ideas (as well as stretching itself far beyond the confines of the chosen genres) – it’s difficult to argue this film’s position as one of Hitchcock’s most endearing productions. Nearly everything that made him such a tremendous director can be found somewhere in this film, which truly benefits from the director’s keen insights into the filmmaking process, and his ability to deconstruct any genre of his choosing, since he intrinsically understood not only how to tell a good story, but knew precisely what could captivate audiences and keep us at the edge of our seat, even when there isn’t anything particularly daring about this film, at least not in contrast to other films he made during this decade.

Even at his most conventional, Hitchcock’s films are profoundly entertaining, never failing to give us that familiar sense of rich, evocative storytelling he was known for. To Catch a Thief, like many of his greatest thrillers, is built on a foundation of nothing but simplicity. The film centres on the story of a retired cat burglar hoping to spend his remaining years in retirement somewhere on the French Riviera, but forced to briefly return to his former profession when a copycat thief arrives and starts to create the illusion that he is back in business. There’s a lot of intrigue that goes into his journey, including an elaborate plot involving an insurance banker, as well as the arrival of a mysterious young woman who seems to be an ordinary American on vacation, but turns out to know a little more than she ought to, which only proves to be more concerning of the protagonist trying to work through the paltry clues he receives in order to solve a mystery. There’s a great deal of well-composed complexity throughout To Catch a Thief, which complements Hitchcock’s approach to telling this story through the most simple means imaginable. Unlike many thrillers, that seem to believe stories need to be devised as elaborate, labyrinthine plots that move at a breakneck speed, Hitchcock and writer John Michael Hayes (based on the novel by David Dodge) clearly demonstrate how absolutely essential having a firm and straightforward premise is to creating such stories, since what keeps audiences engaged into the plot itself, but rather what is done with it – and in all regards, To Catch a Thief stays true to the spirit of being an endearing thriller with overtures of romance and comedy, which complement, rather than complicate, the growing tensions borne from the remarkably simple story, which proves one of Hitchcock’s most remarkable qualities as a filmmaker was to show restraint, while still launching us into these deranged and peculiar worlds he so clearly enjoys curating.

Hitchcock could extract terrific performances from nearly anyone (and he certainly tried when it come to some less-talented actors), but some of his best collaborations, particularly later on in his career, was with bona fide movie stars. Two of his best were James Stewart and Cary Grant, who were frequently the leads of his films. In the case of To Catch a Thief, we’re witness to their third (and penultimate) pairing, with Grant playing the deceptively gifted cat burglar John Robie. This is a role that very few actors other than he could play – built entirely on a kind of easygoing debonair charm that simply exuded from Grant, he was a perfect fit for the character, and single-handedly lets us know that we’re in good hands, since there are few actors who were more willing to surrender themselves to a performance as much as him. It may not draw much attention to him as an actor, since he’s doing relatively conventional work, but it is the kind of self-reflective performance we saw from him in the second half of his career, where a lot of his performances depended on his ability to be self-aware without mocking himself or his stature as arguably one of the greatest actors of the Golden Age of Hollywood. He’s joined by another Hitchcock regular in the form of the sublime Grace Kelly, who is simply tremendous as the young but wise femme fatale who proves to be a lot more dangerous than the protagonist imagined. The film is slightly slow on the uptake, but the moment Kelly makes her appearance, it feels like it has gained an abundance of energy. Her performance is careful and measured, so much that it could seem to be veering into being too subtle – but not necessarily an actress known for a very keen sense of excess (at least not while actively working in the industry – her life after leaving Hollywood is another story entirely), which makes her a perfect screen partner for Grant, as they’re playing very charming characters that don’t need to do too much to capture our attention, which makes a monumental difference when looking at how these individuals function in relation to the story transpiring around them.

Tonally, To Catch a Thief is almost exactly what we’d expect from this story as seen through the lens of Hitchcock’s camera. It seamlessly combines elements of a variety of genres in its tale of two individuals traversing some of the most beautiful locales in Southern France in order to solve a mystery. It’s not particularly original work – both the concept of a criminal working for “the other side” by using their expertise on a particular subject to help the authorities is far from unique, nor is the idea of a romance set to the backdrop of a tense crime thriller. Yet, Hitchcock knows exactly how to plumb for emotion with this premise, quietly deconstructing the genre he helped create, without deviating too far from the root of the narrative. As usual, this is very much a difference between substance and style, since he was a director who could harness both in equal measure. In terms of the former, he was guided by the original text and a screenplay that paid it adequate respect by adapting it quite effectively, so there wasn’t any real need to develop on the plot intricacies, as it was relatively well-devised from the outset. Regarding the latter, we can see Hitchcock once again employing only the best artists in their various fields to help him realize the vision he had for this story. Robert Burks collaborates with Hitchcock yet again, the pair working in the medium of VistaVision, which is a now-outdated medium of filming, but lends such depth to the gorgeous scope of the film, including the climactic sequences set at a masquerade ball, which stands as some of the best work Hitchcock has ever done. Edith Head is hired to design costumes, many of them the stunning gowns and couture outfits worn by Kelly, whose glamour is one of the driving forces of the film. He may not have been working with arguably his most prominent musical collaborator in the form of Bernard Hermann, but Hitchcock still gets a stunning score on behalf of Lyn Murray, who captures aspects of both the zest-filled comedy and tense, paranoid thrills in his score. When it comes to Hitchcock, he made sure every aspect of the filmmaking process was in good hands, leading to multilayered, complex films that are teeming with such remarkable energy.

When it comes to To Catch a Thief, you get exactly what you are promised, with Hitchcock delivering another tightly-wound, captivating thriller that is filled to the brim with intrigue, laughter and the kind of romance he was oddly brilliant at portraying. This is a diverting thriller with a lot of interesting ideas embedded at the core, and while it may not be the apex of the director’s prolific career (and slightly less ambitious than another incredibly audacious film he made this same year), this film is still incredibly solid and convincing. It draws us into this world, and lets us have fun, while not allowing us to let our guard down for a moment, since there is a lot of intricate detail that went into the creation of this exceptionally enjoyable thriller. By the standards we have come to associate with Hitchcock, To Catch a Thief isn’t all that different from what we’ve seen before, especially in how it adheres quite closely to both the director’s aesthetic and narrative sensibilities – but when your entire career has been dominated by the perception of making well-crafted, riveting thrillers that set the foundation for numerous genres, saying a film doesn’t deviate from one’s style is far from an insult. It’s charming, beautifully-made and, most importantly, extremely fun, with the audience being taken on quite a journey into the most gorgeous locations around France, and given a comprehensive tour of both the Riviera and the high society folk who occupy it, all told through the lens of a subversive and entertaining crime thriller with as much heart as it has intelligence, which only adds more to the experience.