To Catch a Thief (1955)

Made during the height of Hitchcock’s creative powers, this film is easy to dismiss as a relative trifle compared to his better-remembered films from that period, but its paper-thin plot doesn't matter much when you have the gorgeous location photography, French Riviera setting, and of course Cary Grant and Grace Kelly. One criticism I have of Hitchcock’s work from this period (especially his remake of THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH) is that it occasionally feels over-produced where the simpler, lighter touch of his British work might have worked even better, and there are moments in THIEF that feel unnecessarily drawn out in this regard (particularly the costume ball toward the end). All in all, however, it’s the kind of cinematic confection that Hitchcock had pretty much perfected by this point in his career.

I sometimes wonder if this one gets overlooked because it was not included among Hitchcock’s Paramount titles that were sold to Universal, and is therefore excluded from that studio’s home video box sets and is perhaps not as easily accessible (plus the current Paramount DVD leaves something to be desired in comparison to the restorations that Universal did on his other films). [Seen at Loew's Jersey, 35mm print, January 26, 2013.]