Plot Points -- To Catch a Thief (1955)

posted March 14, 2007 - 11:55pm

Plot Points -- To Catch a Thief (1955)

PROTAGONIST JOHN ROBIE'S DILEMMA: Everybody thinks he is behind the new wave of jewelry robberies around French Riviera but he cannot convince people otherwise because he had been a notorious burglar himself in the past.

PROTAGONIST'S DESIRE: To prove his innocence and catch the real “cat burglar.”

HIS CHIEF OBSTACLE: He had been a famous jewelry burgler in the past.

ESTABLISHING SHOT: The store window of a travel agency with a model cruise ship and tourism posters of France and Nice.

INCITING INCIDENT: An apartment overlooking the famous seaside drive in Nice, France. A woman wakes up screaming that her jewelry is stolen.

PLOT POINT 1: Robie convinces the Lloyd's insurance agent H. H. Hughson to give him a list of the richest mansions in Nice in order to set up a trap for the real burglar and catch him in the act of stealing jewelry.

MID POINT EVENT: Frances makes it very clear that she knows John Robie is not the lumber merchant from Oregon that he pretends to be. She knows Robie is a famous jewelry thief and she wants to be his partner in crime, although Robie vociferously denies his identity.

PLOT POINT 2: Robie, Frances and her mother Mrs. Stevens participate in a masked ball at the Silva's Villa where they expect another jewel burglary to take place.

3rd ACT RESOLUTION: Robie catches the real thief in the act after a short chase on top of the roof of the Silva's Villa.

Read the FULL REVIEW of this film:
http://www.xomba.com/movie_review_to_catch_a_thief_1955

Also by Cary Grant,

CARY GRANT'S “BOB PENDER YEARS”
http://www.xomba.com/movies_cary_grants_bob_pender_years

OPERATION PETTICOAT
http://www.xomba.com/movie_review_operation_petticoat_1959

HIS GIRL FRIDAY
http://www.xomba.com/movie_review_his_girl_friday_1940

BISHOP'S WIFE
http://www.xomba.com/movie_review_bishops_wife_1947

AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER
http://www.xomba.com/movie_review_an_affair_to_remember_1957

PENNY SERENADE
http://www.xomba.com/movie_review_penny_serenade_1941

WALK, DON'T RUN
http://www.xomba.com/movie_review_walk_dont_run_1966

PEOPLE WILL TALK
http://www.xomba.com/movie_review_people_will_talk_1951

PHILADELPHIA STORY
http://www.xomba.com/movie_review_the_philadelphia_story_1940