BLU-RAY REVIEW

To Catch A Thief

Featured In Issue 249, April/May 2020

Picture3.5
Sound2.5
WSR Score3
Basic Information on new release titles is posted as soon as titles are announced. Once reviewed, additional data is added to the database.
(Studio/Distributor):
Paramount Home Entertainment
(Catalog Number):
2126929
(MPAA Rating):
PG
(Rating Reason):
Some action violence, mild suggestive material, and smoking
(Retail Price):
$29.98
(Disc Type):
Single Side, Dual Layer (BD-50)
(Widescreen Edition):
Yes
(Full Screen Edition):
No
(Running Time In Minutes):
106
(Color Type):
Color
(Chaptered/Scene Access):
Yes
(Closed Captioned):
Yes
(Regional Coding):
A
(Theatrical Year):
1955
(Theatrical Release):
Yes
(Direct-To-Video Release):
No
(Disc Release Date):
4/21/2020
(THX® Digitally Mastered):
No
(Director):
Alfred Hitchcock
(Screenplay/Written By):
(Story):
(Music):
(Director Of Photography):
(Production Designer):
(Visual Effects):
(Costume Designer):
(Editor):
(Supervising Sound Editors):
(Re-Recording Mixers):
(Executive Producers):
(Co-Producers):
(Producers):
(Academy Awards):
(Principal Photography):
(Theatrical Aspect Ratio):
(Measured Disc Aspect Ratio):
(Disc Soundtrack):
Dolby TrueHD 5.1
(Theatrical Sound):
(Theatrical Re-Issue Soundtrack):
(DTS Bit Rate):
(Dolby Digital Bit Rate):
(Additional Languages):
(French Language):
(Spanish Language):
(Chinese Language):
(Subtitles):
(Cantonese Language):
(Mandarin Language):
(Japanese Language):
(Italian Language):
(German Language):
(Portuguese Language):

When a string of jewel thefts occur in the French Riviera, reformed thief John Robie (Grant) is the main suspect in Alfred Hitchock's "To Catch A Thief." Determined to clear his name, John heads to the land of the rich and lovely with plans To Catch A Thief. Determined to bait the real robber, he becomes involved with Frances (Kelly), a rich and spoiled heiress whose mother flaunts her fabulous jewels everywhere she goes. Frances believes that John is, in fact, the real thief and is intrigued with him, soon falling head-over-heels for the handsome stranger. As she works hard to save him from getting caught, he works just as hard to draw out the real thief and prove his innocence once and for all. Based on the novel by David Dodge. (Tricia Spears)

Special features include the featurettes "Filmmaker Focus: Leonard Maltin On 'To Catch A Thief'" (HD 07:19), "Behind The Gates" (2009), "Cary Grant And Grace Kelly" (HD 06:06) and the original theatrical trailer..

First reviewed in Issue 68 as an anamorphically enhanced 1.78:1 DVD and then in Issue 165 as a Blu-ray Disc™, this new "Paramount Presents" release has been remastered. The picture retains its dated appearance but one that has been restored. Hues are rich and fully saturated, though, fleshtones can appear a bit brownish and blacks are still crushed. Still, this Blu-ray Disc release looks significantly better, with good clarity and a saturated color palette. Fleshtones are inconsistent and at times unnatural. Resolution is excellent, especially during closeups. While slight grain is noticeable, the overall impression is clean. Still this is a dated visual experience that is a good marker for just how advanced filmmaking has come since 1955. (Gary Reber)

Unlike the previous DVD's Dolby® Digital 2.0 soundtrack and the Blu-ray's Dolby TrueHD 2.0 soundtrack, both big fat mono, the new Blu-ray carries a re-purposed Dolby TrueHD 5.1-channel soundtrack, though, essentially monaural in effect. Despite the inherently dated fidelity and preponderance of distortion, especially in the music recording, the audio has been restored, probably as best as it can be, with low background noise. The audio can have a "tinny" sonic character, though, and dialogue sounds "produced" and not well integrated. (Gary Reber)