To Catch a Thief [Blu-ray]

My preference is for Hitchcock's grittier suspense movies, but "To Catch a Thief" has so many things going for it, I can't give it less than 5 stars!It's the early 50's and in an introduction, we see the arms only of a black-gloved thief stealing jewelry. Then to a French Villa, where the housekeeper sees a newspaper heading: "The Cat Prowls Again?" The column continues, "Is it true, or just a rumor - that John Robie, former cat burglar of Paris before the war, is once again on the prowl? Fashionable resorts on the Riviera are being regularly looted by a skillful jewel thief. Robie, once a hero of the French Resistance Army, was said to have reformed - however, the style of this new crime wave is certainly his."Robie, in his French sailor-like striped sweater with rakish red & white scarf, is not amused when the police arrive in force to "talk" to him. He escapes (cleverly) and goes to the restaurant of another reformed thief/Resistance fighter, Bertani. Robie tells him that he is not behind the new robberies, but no body believes him: "What I can't understand is how this thief can imitate me so perfectly. It has to be someone who knew every detail of my technique.... I've got to catch this imitator myself."And that's what he does, aided by Mr. H.H. Hughson, an insurance agent who is very nervous indeed. Hughson manages an introduction to a likely future burglary victim, the redoubtable Mrs. Stevens and her cool calm and exceedingly beautiful daughter, Frances.There are so many fabulous scenes between Grace Kelly and Cary Grant that it needs a book to describe them. And Grant has his humor on in several more scenes, such as when he's trying to escape through a flower market and a diminutive gray-haired flower seller stops him.These are the extras on the one-disc DVD "Special Collector's Edition":1. Commentary by Peter Bogdanovich and Laurent Bouzereau. Bogdanovich knew both Hitchcock and Grant, and Bouzereau co-wrote a book about Hitchcock with the director's daughter, Pat Hitchcock. "To Catch a Thief" was filmed right after the very successful "Rear Window", and Bogdanovich said that the later movie has more of a vacation quality to it; Hitchcock could be more relaxed. In his own words, Hitchcock could rely on the charm of two leading actors "who were beyond charming".Grant was 50 years old when he filmed "To Catch a Thief", and he looks great. Bogdanovich and Bouzereau agree that he was in great shape, even though he never exercised. Or, rather, Bogdanovich tells us, Grant once told him that "he never exercised, he just made love."Grace Kelly fell in love with Prince Rainier right after "To Catch a Thief", so it's her last movie.2. "Writing and Casting 'To Catch a Thief' " a 2002 short with commentary by Pat Hitchcock (his daughter), Mary Stone (Hitchcock's granddaughter) and Steven deRosa (author, "Writing with Hitchcock"), accompanied by movie shots and stills as well as personal movies and photos. One of the things they touch on is how Hitchcock got the innuendo-laden dialogue and shots between Grant and Kelley past the PCA (Production Code Association).3. "The Making of 'To Catch a Thief' ". The extras # 2, 3 and 4 were pretty much all filmed together, and then they divided them into three extras. Nothing wrong with it, but they could have put it into one long featurette. Commentators in this short are Mary Stone, Doc Erickson (production manager), Steven deRosa, Pat Hitchcock and Sylvette Baudrot (continuity in France). Baudrot remembers that Grant showed up for filming the beginning in a dress shirt with buttonholes on the collar. The film was supposed to take place right after the war, in '48-'49, and Baudrot told Hitchcock that the shirt-style was more modern and American, at that. And that's why John Robie is wearing a sweater with a scarf tied around his neck!I also got a kick out of one of Mary Stone's reminisces. Her grandfather liked happy endings, she says, but he liked to have a last little twist at the end. In this case, the very last scene has Grant and Kelly embracing on his villa's porch and Kelly murmers, "So this is where you live. Oh, Mother will love it up here."!!4. "Alfred Hitchcock and 'To Catch a Thief': An Appreciation " The same people as #2 & 3. Still interesting tidbits, just not sure why they divided it up like this.5. "Edith Head - The Paramount Years". This documentary was filmed in 2002 and has also been an extra on a DVD release of "Sunset Blvd.". I hadn't seen this documentary before, however, and I really enjoyed it. Head's career spanned 60 years, 40 of them with Paramount. Commentors include David Chierichetti (Edith Head biographer), Tzetzi Ganev (head of Custom-Made Dept for Western Costume at Paramount), Bob Mackie (fashion designer) and Rosemary Clooney (actor, who knew Head from the movie "White Christmas").Head got her first big break when the lead costume designer didn't get along with mega-star Clara Bow. He gave Bow's assignments to Head, who learned a big lesson from that which she carried throughout her whole career: Get along with everybody.Head had told people that Hitchcock was her favorite director, and "To Catch a Thief" was "her all time favorite film".6. TrailerLovely movie. I watch it for the humor - which can be tongue-in-cheek. Such as when Robie escapes by boarding a bus and ends up in the back seat. Between a woman with a bird in a cage and ... Alfred Hitchcock!Happy Reader