To Catch a Thief is a middle-of-the-road mystery-thriller from Alfred Hitchcock, which does say something about the filmmaker, that works because of the chemistry between Cary Grant and Grace Kelly.
To Catch a Thief
— Paramount Presents —
(1955)
Genre(s): Mystery, Drama, Romance
Paramount | PG – 106 min. – $29.98 | April 21, 2020
Date Published: 04/22/2020 | Author: The Movieman
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Paramount provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Blog Post.
The opinions I share are my own.
THE MOVIE — 3.75/5 |
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Plot Synopsis: Notorious cat burglar John Robie (CARY GRANT) has long since retired to tend vineyards on the French Riviera. When a series of robberies is committed in his style, John must clear his name. Armed with a list of people who own the most expensive jewels currently in the area, John begins following the first owner, young Francie (GRACE KELLY). When her jewels are stolen, Francie suspects John, destroying their tentative romance. John goes on the lam to catch the thief and clear his own name. Quick Hit Review: To Catch a Thief isn’t one of Alfred Hitchcock’s best movies, not by far, with a thin plot, no real antagonist and the mystery element never really drew me in, not to mention there was some predictability on the culprit. However, the film excels thanks to the charms and chemistry between Cary Grant and Grace Kelly, two amazing actors in their own rights and when they’re on screen together, it’s pretty magical, Kelly especially was just incredible. |
SPECIAL FEATURES – 2.25/5 |
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This release, part of the new Paramount Presents line, comes with a slip cover with a foldout front revealing the original poster artwork. Unfortunately, not all of the features were ported over from the 2012 Blu-ray. Audio Commentary — Hitchcock Film Historian Dr. Drew Casper Filmmaker Focus (7:19) is the sole new featurette on this release with film critic Leonard Maltin talking about To Catch a Thief and director Alfred Hitchcock. Behind the Gates: Cary Grant and Grace Kelly (6:06) is a featurette from 2009, a brief history on the two golden era actors and their work together on the film. Original Theatrical Trailer (2:16) |
VIDEO – 4.0/5 |
| Paramount releases To Catch a Thief onto Blu-ray and has been remastered from a 4K film transfer and although it does look good, particularly colors are vivid, such as during the climax where there is a wide array of it, I felt the detail ranged from appearing overly-sharp to being a bit soft at times. I did a quick comparison with the 2012 Blu-ray release and… honestly I didn’t see a significant improvement. |
AUDIO – 4.0/5 |
| The movie comes with a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track whereas the previous release was 2.0 stereo. This one is a bit more evenly distributed across the board. Dialogue comes out with good clarity from the center channel and depth is at least adequate enough for a movie going on 65 years. |
OVERALL – 3.5/5 |
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Overall, To Catch a Thief is a middle-of-the-road mystery-thriller from Alfred Hitchcock, which does say something about the filmmaker, that works because of the chemistry between Cary Grant and Grace Kelly. This “Paramount Presents” line (#3) release apparently sports a new transfer but I didn’t see a significant difference in my brief comparison with the 2012 Blu-ray; although the audio was updated from Dolby TrueHD 2.0 to 5.1. However, a few featurettes were not ported over. Considering you can still get that version for $12.99 (at the time of this writing), not sure if this is worth the upgrade. |
Check out some more 1080p screen caps by going to page 2. Please note, these do contain spoilers.