To Catch a Thief was the director's first film (of five) made using the VistaVision widescreen process,[4] and the last of the three Hitchcock films with Grace Kelly. The film was the penultimate collaboration with Cary Grant; only North by Northwest (1959) followed. It is also about a man with a mistaken identity who goes on a breakneck adventure to prove his innocence.
The costumes were by Edith Head, including Kelly's memorable gold lamé gown for the film's costume ball.
The car driven by Grace Kelly was a metallic blue 1953 Sunbeam Alpine Mk I.
Locations
To Catch a Thief was filmed largely in the Paramount Studios, Hollywood, California, and on location in the Alpes-Maritimes of southeastern France, on the Mediterranean coast. It included the resorts of Cannes, Nice, Villefranche-sur-Mer and Saint-Jeannet.[5]
Crucial to the film's success in shooting on location was the presence of unit production manager C.O. "Doc" Erickson. He had developed a reputation for his work on prior Paramount films that had relied on a great amount of location photography, such as Shane (1953) and Secret of the Incas (1954). Erickson thoroughly researched the logistics of shooting in the South of France and communicated with Bill Mull, the production manager on Little Boy Lost (1953).[6]
