Angie is out with her girlfriends, so I had fun with the kids tonight. We ate dinner and then Caroline and I played a bit. Then a bath for her. Edison suggested that we watch another Hitchcock film. Not wanting to sit through 80 minutes of a silent film like The Lodger, I suggested that we watch To Catch A Thief. I tossed him the DVD cover and he seemed generally interested. I reminded him that this wasn't going to be full of high tension, killers and suspense, but more of a light, romantic story, with a bit of humored writing. He showered, read his Bible and then joined me for the viewing. He started off the movie with the question of: "Now, you'll point out Hitchcock when he appears on screen, won't you?" and ended up with "What was the significance of the black cat on the roof at the beginning?" and "So, how did she know that he was the burglar when they had the picnic?" All fair questions. Hitchcock's appearance was obvious. I'll let you watch the movie and answer the others.It moved a bit slow, but he stayed with it. I think that some of the subtleties might have been lost on him, but he did enjoy it. Some of the dialogue was cute.
Grace Kelly's character, to Cary Grant's, after he was talking to a young French woman: Are you sure you were talking about water skis? From where I sat it looked as though you were conjugating some irregular verbs.
And in another scene, Cary Grant's character, to Grace Kelly's character: Not only did I enjoy that kiss last night, I was awed by its efficiency.
There were more quips. I think that the film was mostly just a vehicle for the two leading stars, although the screen writer, John Michael Hayes, had written other movies for Hitchcock. This one was adapted from a David Dodge novel. Will watching this again make me want to go read the novel? Nope.
I was disappointed that there was no card inside the DVD case showing the chapter titles or interesting facts, but I was greatly surprised that the DVD had the trailer, a 'making of' short, a photo and poster gallery and a few other tidbits.
Overall, a good film and a good time.
Required links: IMDB and an interesting technical page, comparing two different editions of the DVD.
1 comment:
Sounds like a fun evening. Haven't seen this one yet.
We watched The Maltese Falcon on Sunday, the first time for both of us. Good pic, although not necessarily one for boys.
Then Friday night over pizza we watched Sylvester Stallone in Driven - don't think that one was worth the time we spent on it. Stallone was the screen writer. Cheesy special effects. Gratuitous racing babes. I'd rate that one a 2 out of 10, and I'm being generous.
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