TO CATCH A THIEF (1955). Alfred Hitchcock's romantic thriller is delightful and elegant but also one of his lightest works. Cary Grant is the reformed cat burglar forced to prove his innocence when the Riviera is plagued by a series of jewel thefts. The cool, incredibly ravishing Grace Kelly is the American society girl attracted to his suavity and danger and then angered when she suspects him of having stolen her mother's jewels. Hitchcock makes great use of the Riviera setting, and he stages a seduction in front of fireworks that may be his single most erotic scene. With John Williams, amusingly befuddled as the British insurance investigator, and Jesse Royce Landis in an appealingly earthy turn as Grace's mom.

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