After a series of jewel robberies that occur up and down the French Riviera, that seem to suspiciously resemble a former cat burglar nicknamed “The Cat” style, the police come knocking on The Cat’s door. John Robie (Cary Grant) who is the now retired thief quickly gives the authorities the slip after realizing he must catch this thief himself. He first tries to get assistances with his friends from the days in the French Resistance, but quickly realize they are not happy to see him. Instead he offers his services to an insurance company that represents many of the most expensive jewels in the area. Robie explains he plans on catching the copycat in the act but in order to do so he needs a list of what and where these jewels are in the Riviera. H. H. Hughson (John Williams) reluctantly plays along and the first on his list is new money Jessie Stevens (Jessie Royce Landis) and her spoiled but beautiful daughter Francie (Grace Kelly).

So begins this cat and mouse caper that is one of Hitchcock’s lighter but still highly entertaining thrillers. The perfect pairing of Cary Grant and Grace Kelly proved to be sizzling Hollywood magic on the screen. This was Grace Kelly’s third but last picture for Hitchcock. She would soon marry Prince Rainier of Monaco a year later and retire from films forever. This was also Cary Grant’s third go around with Hitchcock and would make one more, North By Northwest before his career was over.

Now released as a two disc edition, To Catch a Thief is being rereleased with a nice collection of bonus material. First up is a new commentary track with Hitchcock film historian Dr. Drew Casper. The guy is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to Hitchcock and he should since he teaches about him at USC. The track is worth your time and will give you great insight to the film and the director.

After that we have several featurettes including A Night With the Hitchcocks, Unacceptable Under the Code: Film Censorship in America, Writing and Casting To Catch a Thief, The Making of To Catch a Thief, Behind the Gates: Cary Grant and Grace Kelly, Alfred Hitchcock and To Catch a Thief: An Appreciation, one on the famous Hollywood costume designer Edith Head: The Paramount Years and finally If You Love To Catch a Thief, You'll Love This. All of these are a lot of fun to watch and worth checking out after you watch the film.

To Catch a Thief has been released through the years in a variety of editions. But now with Paramount’s Centennial Collection, it looks like they have finally gotten it right. The film transfer has never looked better and I can not imagine what else they could offer as far as more bonus material. Let’s hope in the near future we will see the Paramount releasing this wonderful film in the blu-ray format.

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