To Catch a Thief

Year: 1955

Country: USA

Tagline: WANTED by the police in all the luxury-spots of Europe!... A catch for any woman!  »

Plot: "The Cat" is John Robie (Cary Grant). Now a respectable and well-to-do grower of grapes and flowers on the French Riviera, before World War II he was a jewel thief -- a cat burglar -- who was imprisoned but granted parole so he could fight the Germans. Someone is using the Cat's M.O. to steal jewelry again, and the police think Robie must be involved. When they visit his handsome stone villa to take him in for questioning, he gives them the slip with help from his housekeeper Germaine (Georgette Anys), who leads the cops on a car chase while Robie catches the bus.He drops in on his old gang from the French Resistance, a group of ex-cons whose war work, like Robie's own, led to grants of parole that depend on keeping their noses clean. Restaurant manager Bertani (Charles Vanel), wine steward Foussard (Jean Martinelli), and the others are all under a cloud while the Cat is at large, and they blame Robie. Still, when the police arrive at Bertani's restaurant, Foussard's teenaged daughter Danielle (Brigitte Auber), who has apparently enjoyed flirting with Robie in the past, spirits him across the bay in a motorboat to the safety of a Cannes beach club.Robie enlists the aid of an insurance man of Bertani's acquaintance, H.H. Hughson (John Williams) of Lloyds of London, in order to prove his innocence. Robie's plan is to catch the new cat burglar in the act. To do this, he obtains a list of the most expensive jewels on the Riviera from the reluctant Hughson. The first name on the list is Jessie Stevens (Jessie Royce Landis), who is traveling with her daughter Francie (Grace Kelly). Robie strikes up an acquaintance with them -- one met with delight by Jessie, a pretense of modesty by Francie, and claws-baring jealousy from Danielle.Francie is not afraid of a little fun. Although she sees through Robie's cover as an American industrialist, the considerable charms of this thief are worth catching. She dangles before him her jewels, teases him with steamy tales of rooftop escapades, exposes herself as a feline of a special breed: an accomplice who might share his passion. Fireworks fill the night and can even be seen in the sky.That night, Jessie's jewels are stolen, and Francie suddenly feels that Robie has taken advantage of her. He narrowly evades the clutches of the police and goes back on the lam.He stakes out a house where he believes the new burglar will strike and is violently attacked. In the ensuing struggle he kills the attacker. It's Foussard, Bertani's wine steward.The police chief is satisfied that Foussard was the jewel thief, but, as Robie points out to him in the presence of the abashed Hughson, this would have been impossible: Foussard had a prosthetic leg and couldn't possibly climb on rooftops.After Robie is ejected from Foussard's funeral, Francie apologizes and confesses her love for him. They agree to attend a masquerade ball the coming weekend.At the ball, Francie is resplendent in a gold gown in the style worn at the court of Louis XV, Robie unrecognizable behind the mask of her attendant, a Moor. The police hover nearby, hoping to arrest Robie. When Jessie asks the Moor to go get her "heart pills," Robie's voice tips off the authorities to his identity. After he returns, Francie and the Moor dance the night away while the police wait them out. But upstairs the cat burglar strikes, cleaning out many a jewelry box. Finally, Francie and the Moor go to her room, and the mask is removed: the Moor is Hughson, switched in to conceal Robie's exit.Meanwhile, Robie waits and watches on the roof. His patience is rewarded when another figure in black appears. But just as his pursuit begins, the police throw a spotlight on him. Again he flees and shots ring out, but he manages to corner his foe with jewels in hand. Unmasked, his nemesis turns out not to be a man after all. Danielle is the new Cat, and she confesses that she's been working for her father and Bertani to frame Robie for the latest thefts. Danielle tries to get away but slips and nearly falls, until Robie has a change of heart and saves her from falling off the roof to a certain death and turns her over to the police.In the final scene, Robie speeds back to his vineyards, and Francie races after to convince him that he needs a woman around to help. He agrees but seems less than thrilled about including her mother.To Catch a Thief (1955) is crime, mystery, romance film. It opens when a reformed jewel thief is suspected of returning to his former occupation, he must ferret out the real thief in order to prove his innocence.

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