4K ULTRA HD REVIEW / HDR SCREENSHOTS
Grace Kelly plays Frances Stevens, an heiress who’ll do anything to get her man, John Robie a reformed jewel thief called “The Cat,” played by Cary Grant.
(1) The 2024 4K/HDR version is an exceptional upgrade, dialed to a warmer color grading, with a nice wash of natural film grain. Framing is tighter on the bottom and sides within a 1.85:1 aspect ratio. (2) The 2020 Blu-ray, shows signs of digital noise reduction causing waxy faces, and the color toning was dialed to the cooler side causing his gray jacket to turn blue. (3) 2012 Blu-ray, sourced from second-generation print from the VistaVision negative.
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“TO CATCH A THIEF” – PARAMOUNT PRESENTS
4K Ultra HD, 1955, Not Rated
Best extra: A comprehensive commentary with Dr. Drew Casper, film historian
THE OLD ADAGE “Third time’s a charm” couldn’t be truer than with Paramount’s spectacular 4K Ultra HD release of Alfred Hitchcock’s mystery-thriller-romance “To Catch a Thief.”
Four years ago, I wrote, “Hitchcock would shiver in his grave if he saw it now.” The third installment in the Paramount Presents series that premiered in 2020, the Blu-ray was plagued with waxy faces and lacked natural film grain. What’s strange, it had been sourced from a 6K 16-bit scan of the original VistaVision negatives (three-strip Technicolor), with some duplicate negatives to replace damaged sections. The gorgeous Oscar-nominated costumes from designer Edith Head and the breathtaking vistas overlooking the French Riviera where the story takes place were missing definition. And, for some crazy reason, the rich warm colors had been dialed to the bluish-cold side.
In 2012, Paramount released a respectable Blu-ray special edition, sourced from a second-generation interpositive from the original VistaVision negative (1.78:1 aspect ratio). At the time, the results were impressive compared to the previous DVDs.
4K Ultra HD vs. 2020 Blu-ray & 2012 Blu-ray
A view from John Robie’s villa as the police head towards his home.
(1) 4K Ultra HD has added resolution and a much richer Technicolor palette. (2) 2020 Blu-ray colors are off base, as hillside vegetation was changed from yellow to a greenish tone. (3) The 2012 disc lacks color richness. (4) Robie watches the police exit their vehicles. The 4K is darker and richer, but your HDR setup will provide the visual depth in the shadows. (5) In the 2020 disc, highlights are blown out with less definition on the stone wall and Grant’s face. (6) The 2012 disc has better detail, but Grant’s face is way too red, a common issue with (SDR) Standard Dynamic Range.
VIDEO
The restoration team at Paramount has now rectified its 2020 blunder with a new “Paramount Presents” release of Hitchcock’s film. A new 4K master from the 6K scan, with HDR10 and Dolby Vision grading (1.85:1 aspect), reinstates the fine film grain, and the exceptional VistaVision clarity is nothing short of a showcase.
Paramount’s premiere VistaVision large-format, widescreen process was revolutionary at the time, utilizing standard 35mm film stock and running the film horizontally through the camera (normally, the film runs vertically). This technique provided an exposed negative double the size of a traditional 35mm. It meant the picture would have exceptional clarity and detail – similar to the IMAX experience. Director Martin Scorsese calls VistaVision “high fidelity, 1950s moviemaking.” The additional resolution makes star Grace Kelly look that much more glamorous. “The camera fell in love with Grace Kelly,” producer A.C. Lyles says in a carried-over featurette.
Everything was encoded onto a 100 GB disc to ensure the best possible image and grain structure. The video bitrate varies from the low 50 Megabits per second to the mid-80s, and the HDR10 peak brightness hits 1560 nits and averages 116.
This scene was filmed at the flower market in Nice, France.
(1) 4K Ultra HD, features wonderful color and detail in the shirt and jacket of English insurance investigator H.H. Hughson (John Williams). (2) 2020 Blu-ray, Is the suit gray or blue? (3) 2012 disc, the colors are flat without HDR.
AUDIO
If there’s one demerit, the original straightforward Stereo soundtrack has been replaced with the upconverted six-channel Dolby TrueHD used on the 2020 disc. The majority of the time the soundstage is still front-centered with the dialogue and score from Lyn Murray (“The Bridges at Toko-Ri”). Composer Bernard Herrmann would take over scoring Hitchcock’s films for the next decade, from “The Trouble with Harry” (1955) and “Marnie” (1964) to his masterpieces for “Vertigo” (1958) and “Psycho” (1960).
EXTRAS
All of the previous bonus features (over four hours’ worth), produced over two decades, are included in this special edition. In the “Filmmaker’s Focus” featurette, critic/historian Leonard Maltin says that Cary Grant and Kelly were “possibly the most gorgeous screen couple ever to exist.”
He also points out that icy blondes and Hitchcock were a perfect cinematic match. For more than three decades, he cast blonde actresses in his films, not as stereotypical sex symbols, but as daring and passionate characters. The lineup includes some of the U.K.’s and Hollywood’s hottest stars: Madeleine Carroll (“The 39 Steps”), Joan Fontaine (“Rebecca,” “Suspicion”), Carole Lombard (“Mr. & Mrs. Smith”), Ingrid Bergman (“Spellbound,” “Notorious,” “Under Capricorn”), Vera Miles (“The Wrong Man”), Kim Novak (“Vertigo”), Eva Marie Saint (“North by Northwest”) and Tippi Hedren (“The Birds,” “Marnie”).
(1&2) The police question Robie after a series of thefts in the French Riviera region. He fires a gun and escapes to the roof.(3)Robie leaves the scene and takes a seat on the back row of the bus beside director Alfred Hitchcock in his traditional cameo.(4)Robie is spotted by Bertani (Charles Vanel), a friend, and former jewel thief. Both fought as French Resistance fighters during WWII.(5)Danielle (Brigitte Auber), daughter of the wine waiter Foussard, flirts with Robie during a swim at the Carlton Hotel beach in Cannes, France.(6)Robie plops down and poses in front of Frances Stevens.
But his ultimate blonde was the cool and elegant Kelly, the former model from Philadelphia and future Princess of Monaco. In her first Hitchcock film, “Dial M for Murder” (1952), she played a wealthy, unfaithful wife who ends up stabbing her would-be assassin with scissors. In the next, “Rear Window” (1954), she was a member of highbrow society and girlfriend to photojournalist James Stewart. They try to solve a murder from the confines of his Greenwich Village apartment.
Then Hitchcock and his favorite blonde headed off to the picturesque French Riviera to film “To Catch a Thief.” Hitch convinced Grant, who was 50 years old, to step out of retirement to play John Robie, a reformed jewel thief called “The Cat.” Kelly, then 25, plays Frances Stevens, an heiress who’ll do anything for the man she loves. Their kiss is one of the hottest ever filmed, rivaling his kiss with Ingrid Bergman in Hitchcock’s “Notorious.”
“Hitchcock saw in her not only great beauty, of course, but an actress who was sensitive to his direction, somewhat pliable, malleable in his hands,” Maltin says of Kelly. The script is from John Michael Hayes, a frequent collaborator, and is loaded with double-entendres. “Yet it’s never dirty-minded, [having] to parry with the censors,” Maltin says.
Hitchcock hoped to make the production a working vacation since the French Riviera had been a favorite family holiday spot for years. “It’s never been better showcased or photographed. That’s for sure,” Maltin says. It was photographed by Robert Burks (“Strangers on a Train,” “Vertigo”), who worked on a dozen films. “He was very simpatico with Hitchcock,” Maltin says. Burks won the Academy Award for Best Color Cinematography.
“To Catch a Thief” premiered the same year Hitchcock began hosting his weekly TV show. “Up to that time, he’d been a familiar face to “sharp-eyed moviegoers” because of his cameos, though not everybody would’ve known who he was, Maltin says. “So, I don’t know if the audience erupted into laughter or snickers when he turned up on that bus Cary Grant hops onto.”
(1-3) Frances surprises Robie with a kiss. Grant’s reaction becomes a classic moment in his filmography. (4)The American heiress takes Robie to a picnic of chicken and beer, with a cliffside view of Monaco.
The extras also include the 23-minute featurette, “A Night with the Hitchcocks” (2008), where family members attend the popular Hitchcock Film Class at USC and answer students’ questions. It’s “an honor that Hitchcock’s creativity is being taught to future generations,” says granddaughter Mary Stone. “Understanding his body of work is understanding what the audience wants.”
What did the moviegoers crave? SUSPENSE!
“To them, it was extremely important because he wanted the audience on the edge of their seats,” says daughter Patricia Hitchcock, who starred in three classics, “Stage Fright” (1950), “Strangers on a Train” (1951) and “Psycho.”
In his 2008 commentary, Dr. Drew Casper, previously the Alma and Alfred Hitchcock chair at the University of Southern California School of the Cinematic Arts, calls himself a tour guide on this jaunt to the Côte d’Azur. He’s extremely prepared and leaves no stone unturned in what seems like a lecture at USC. It’s a perfect listen for any avid movie buff. His description of Grant’s physique is meticulous: “He has a deep tan. The brown eyes. Often suspicious eyes. The cleft chin … and that articulate English accent.”
The quintessential Hitchcockian wrong man, Grant played a similar role in Hitch’s classic 1959 spy thriller “North by Northwest,” which gets its 65th Anniversary 4K Ultra HD release next month.
— Bill Kelley III, High-Def Watch producer
(1&2) Robie attends the funeral of Danielle’s father, the wine waiter Foussard, held at the cemetery of Haut-de-Cagnes. (3&4) Robie tries to catch the real thief on a rooftop during a French 19th-century costume party. The police chase Robie and begin to fire. (5)Frances gives Robie a goodbye hug. Will there be more?
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