Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		1.5
Audio		2.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		2.0

To Catch a Thief Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Stephen Larson September 24, 2023

This Paramount Presents selection of Alfred Hitchcock's TO CATCH A THIEF (1955) remains in print courtesy of the studio. Extras include a rehashed commentary track, an older featurette, and a featurette exclusive to this release.

My colleague Marty Liebman examined Paramount's first release over a decade ago. You can read his thoughts and analysis here.

To Catch a Thief Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

This Paramount Presents package contains a slipcover with original poster artwork that pops out from the inside. Ever since this "remastered from a 4K film transfer" was first put out by Paramount, it has justifiably been rife with controversy for reasons that will be detailed momentarily. Amidst the furor, Senior Vice President of Archives Andrea Kalas issued a statement of behalf of the studio, which read in part:

Paramount undertook a full restoration of To Catch a Thief from a 6K 16-bit scan of the original VistaVision negative, making it the first time the original negative has been directly sourced for a home entertainment release. The 2012 Blu-ray was sourced from an interpositive that was printed in 2006 from the Vista Vision negative.

The original negative contained some duplicate negative that was added to replace damaged sections in 1999. For this restoration, those duplicate sections were replaced with original YCM material so that we were sourcing the most original elements available.

The blue in the original negative was slightly faded in sections so the 35mm yellow separation master was scanned and recombined with the negative to restore the blue channel. An original IB print was used to verify that the color and optical fades matched the look of the original theatrical release. We find IB prints extremely valuable for restorations because they are known for their more stable, permanent dyes.

We made every effort to accurately restore this beautifully produced film by referencing the original print throughout the process. In addition, using the original negative allowed us to minimize the need for digital noise reduction. With these facts in mind, we stand by this restoration. We continually endeavor to restore Paramount's great films using the best technology available alongside every resource we can find to bring the original vision of the filmmakers to audiences.

Kalas's mention of minimizing the "need for digital noise reduction" is highly ironic given that practically every scene except for maybe one has excess DNR. Faces, seascapes and the Côte d'Azur, as well as landscape shots, have been scrubbed. Shots have been completely smoothed out. Even though the VistaVision process tends have less grain, there was surely more grain on the 1955 theatrical prints than the scant amount present here. Colors have been changed from the 2012 transfer. For example, a digital colorist at Paramount must have altered several of the green leaves to appear bright yellow in Screenshot #20. In addition, colors have been pumped up in general. Notice the liquid blue sky behind Frances Stevens (Grace Kelly) in frame grab #16 compared to the more natural blue in #15.

In the interview book, Hitchcock/Truffaut, Hitch told François Truffaut about a special filter he wanted to do for the nighttime scenes: "[S]ince I hate royal-blue skies, I tried to get rid of the Technicolor blue for the night scenes. So we shot with a green filter to get the dark slate blue, the real color of night, but it still didn't come out as I wanted it" (p. 166). In comparing the two transfers, it appears that the '12 presentation has the dark blue sky that Hitch sought. The remastered transfer also has a teal push, which looks more unnatural in the shot of John Robie (Cary Grant) on the clay-style roof in screen capture #28. Shot #27 has an ambient forest green filter. The blacks look crushed in the 2020 presentation. The only visual technicality that Paramount rectified was eliminating the aliasing on Robie's long-sleeved, pinstriped shirt (see #2 and #8).

Compression is superior on the old Paramount release. The video encode boasts a standard bitrate of 38002 kbps. Paramount's second edition sports a mean video bitrate of 33994 kbps.

Screenshots 1-12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26 & 28 = Paramount Presents #3 2020 4K Remastered BD-50
Screenshots 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, 25 & 27 = Paramount 2012 BD-50

Eighteen scene selections accompany both Paramount BDs.

To Catch a Thief Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Paramount Presents has supplied a Dolby TrueHD Audio 5.1 Surround remix (3013 kbps, 16-bit). Kalas stated that the new mix "was created after cleaning up the 2007 mix and we also created UHD HDR-10 files for future use." The first Paramount release has a Dolby TrueHD Audio 2.0 Stereo track (1353 kbps, 24-bit) and a monaural mix, which is rendered as a Dolby TrueHD Audio Dual Mono (969 kbps, 16-bit). I don't see the need for a remix since I could only hear sounds coming out of the surrounds during the main titles courtesy of Lyn Murray's bouncy score. To Catch a Thief was presented in theaters with Perspecta Stereophonic Sound but to date, not a single home video edition has included it.

Paramount includes English SDH as well as regular subtitles in English, French, and Spanish.

To Catch a Thief Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary by Dr. Drew Casper, Hitchcock Film Historian - Casper's commentary track is very formalist-based. It's highly detailed and informative, but contains some gaps. He delivers an interesting sidebar on Eisenstein's editing theories. In English, not subtitled.

• NEW Filmmaker Focus: Leonard Maltin on TO CATCH A THIEF (7:19, 1080p) - the renowned film historian sits in his screening room as he delivers a decent overview of Hitchcock's career up through To Catch a Thief. Maltin commends Burks's cinematography for looking "magnificent" on the scan prepared for this release. In English, not subtitled.

• Behind the Gates: Cary Grant and Grace Kelly (6:06, upconverted to 1080p) - this 2009 featurette features comments by producer A.C. Lyles and film critic Richard Schickel. In English, not subtitled.

• Original Theatrical Trailer (2:16, 1080p) - Paramount's official 1955 trailer for To Catch a Thief (reissued in 2011) that's presented in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen. It sports some film artifacts and not all the frames have been color corrected like they were on the 2012 BD.

To Catch a Thief Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Paramount may well have a beautiful Ultra HD scan of To Catch a Thief in its vault but if it plans to issue a 2160p presentation in the future, it needs to source a digital intermediate that does not contain the excess filtering and altered hues in abundance on this release. The studio has modernized and souped up the colors, which often look inauthentic. The colors may look stunning but they appear "off" more often than not. Paramount should consult its archives for any technical documentation that Hitchcock and cinematographer Robert Burks recorded. The Dolby TrueHD Audio 5.1 Surround track is a superfluous remix. Paramount needs to include a lossless mix that wholly reproduces this film's original Perspecta Sound. The only new extra is a brief featurette with Leonard Maltin. Missing are a commentary track with Peter Bogdanovich and Laurent Bouzereau, which Paramount recorded for its "Special Collector's DVD" in 2007, three featurettes the studio produced in 2002 for its maiden DVD, a separate featurette on costume designer Edith Head, and photo/poster galleries. I am hoping that a future 4K release will largely replicate the colors seen on the 2012 BD.