"To Catch a Thief: Hitchcock's worst film?"

"Killer Elite"

 

I've always loved To Catch a Thief. It's one of my favorite Hitchcock movies.

 

Well at least in the case of Bring Me The Head Of Alfredo Garcia that would be true.To me that film compares well with The Wild Bunch and Straw Dogs.I think all three are masterpieces.

 

I think his worst is Family Plot.

And, Rope is genius.

 

I have to agree that Family Plot is one of Hitch's weaker films, if not the weakest that I have seen by him. I still have not seen all of his films (such as Topaz, Torn Curtain, and a few of his other, later films). I just didn't like this one.

To Catch A Thief would be among my favorite Hitchcock films, even if it's not up in the same class as films such as Vertigo, North by Northwest and Rear Window. I do have to agree the remake of The Man Who Knew Too Much is a bit sappy--it could just be the cast. I don't like it as much as I do To Catch A Thief, but still watch it.

Rope is interesting to me--not his worst, but more like an experiment that didn't quite go as planned. To me, the acting feels stiff or uncomfortable: it could be that the actors felt a bit restrained, knowing they'd have to redo the entire 10 minute scene again if a line were flubbed.

Strangers On A Train is, to me, classic suspense, with an undercurrent of male-male courtship going on there (Bruno Anthony courting Guy Haynes), which is more evident in the British version of the film. There are a couple of chilling moments in the film that "get" me every time.

 

I saw the new release in the DVD store the other day. Note the Hitchcock cameo.

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReview/tocatchathief.htm

 

The first time I saw "To Catch a Thief" was in the early 80's, I bought it on LaserDisc at the same time I bought my first LaserDisc player. I enjoyed it, but I don't believe I ever watched that LaserDisc again. It was just lightweight fun for me and Grace Kelly looked great. Hardly a classic by his standards but better than 95% of the films made today. It would have to be in the lower half of his films if I rated them from top to bottom, but it wouldn't be in the bottom 5, much less the abosolute bottom.

Chris

 

I like To Catch a Thief (check out my avatar). I liked Rope too. I saw The Wrong Man not too long ago, and even though it had Henry Fonda in it, I can't say it was a favorite. Family Plot would also rate as one of his weakest (IMHO).