To Catch A Thief

For me, Carry Grant is not the ideal choice to play Robie the Cat, the famed jewel thief in pre-war France. Humphrey Bogart is the go-to man to play a man with a murky past. I think, Peter O’Toole would have suited the role of a cat burglar better with his tall lean frame.

Grant was the ultimate hero material, the man who sweeps girls off their feet (An Affair to Remember). And, To Catch a Thief works not because of its mystery and Grant’s skills as the thief in question, but his chemistry with Grace Kelly.

Kelly is wondrous to behold, and there is a scene where she walks in the hotel lobby with a black and white dress and a big hat and everyone turns their heads to look at her. Yet, the film objectifies Grant as the sexual object, not Kelly. Franci’s mother immediately falls for him, and Danielle Foussard is after him from the beginning, so much so that when we finally realise the identity of the thief, it sort of makes sense.

Interestingly, the Grant character does not commit any theft in the film.