David Dodge’s writing style often reminds me of Montgomery Clift’s acting style; five minutes into the film or the narrative, you forget either exist. Clift’s fine performances were sometimes overlooked, because he became the character he was portraying so completely, that Clift no longer existed. In a David Dodge novel, the writer no longer exists, just the character and the story. In this case the character is John Robie, or Le Chat, the retired thief. As Somerset Maugham noted, the reader should never realize the writer exists if a story is told properly. Everything should happen as if by some magic happenstance where we are privy to a great story. That style isn’t showy, it doesn’t call attention to itself, but when it’s done to perfection, as Dodge so often did, it’s a heck of a read.

I love the film based on the book, but since it has been many years since I’ve viewed it, I’ll only state that a few differences certainly exist. Francie here is a blue-eyed brunette, for example, and the romance more intellectual. Robie, in fact — or Jack Burns throughout much of this book — doesn’t even realize romantic feelings toward him exist inside Francie. He believes — for good reason — that she in fact dislikes him. Only Robie’s friend Bellini is emotionally aware enough to realize Francie’s reason for living.

In many ways To Catch a Thief is the quintessential thief story. The colorful locations along the French Riviera make it all sparkle with glamor and elegance. Yet there is something more going on here, as Dodge subtly explores Robie’s own nature, and the world of the classic high-end thief. Beneath a fast-flowing and entertaining narrative are insights into Robie’s psyche, which encapsulates all those to whom he is loyal, and who are loyal to him. In Robie’s world, there is indeed honor among thieves, most of whom served beside him in a kind of Resistance during the war, called the Maquis. Once the war was over, the Sûreté looked the other way in regard to their prior crimes, and the great Le Chat — The Cat — simply ceased to exist. But someone has made it seem as though he has returned, their acrobatic feats as they plunder priceless jewels across the Riviera pointing to one man — Le Chat. If the American Robie is to remain a free man in France, rather than leave all he loves behind, and flee, he must gather his old loyal confederates and try to capture the imposter himself.

What follows is fun and exciting, as Robie changes identities, sets up surveillances, and hires an escort in Danielle, who it turns out mirrors the dead wife of his loyal friend Paul. It is Robie’s loyalty, however, which causes him problems, making him reluctant to reveal his predicament, and explain why he’s pretending to be Jack Burns. In Paul’s case, he doesn’t want to involve him on the chance that something will go wrong. But in Francie’s case, it is because she is not a thief, therefor she cannot be trusted. It is an interesting psychological insight, and is fully explored in a swiftly-moving narrative full of color and elegance. Francie does at first appear to warrant Robie’s reticence to allow her in, because she appears to be a very strange girl only out for kicks. Robie is chained to her by blackmail, because she’s guessed who he is, even wants him to steal her mother’s jewels.

A big party, an exciting and dangerous chase across rooftops — which is also how the book begins — and the startling discovery of who has been mimicking Le Chat, brings about a truly unconventional solution that once again, plays into the loyalty and psychology of thieves.

Is the ending of the book as romantic as the film? Does Robie finally realize what his pal Bellini has known all along? You’ll have to read it to find out. There is no existential, stream-of-consciousness, experimental nonsense here. This is simply an elegantly atmospheric narrative of crime and romance, wonderfully told by a writer who understood that the best way to tell a great story, was just to tell it. It makes for a smooth, enjoyable ride along the French Riviera. ( )

This is the book on which Hitchcock's movie of the same name is based, starring Cary Grant and Grace Kelly, one of my favourite movies.

The movie follows the plot of the book mostly faithfully, and each of them capture very well the dilemma of John Robie (the retired cat burglar) wanting to enjoy his retirement at the time that a copy-cat burglar is on the loose, though the police do not accept the copy-cat theory, and continue to try to capture John Robie in the act.

Robie, had some years before, been captured and tried and sentenced to jail for previous thefts but was, along with many other prisoners in France, released by the invading Germans during WW2. Many of these, including Robie, joined the French Resistance, and following the end of the war, enjoyed an informal pardon and were not sent back to prisons for the remainder of their sentences.

But with these new thefts, with the police under pressure to solve these crimes, Robie and his colleagues are under pressure and threatened with being sent back to prison if they did not spill what the knew about those thefts (indeed if they did not deliver Robie up).

This led Robie to re-enter the fray, not to steal but to try to trap the new culprit.

A cat and mouse chase ensues.

And this is against the background of a potential romance between Robie (Grant) and Francie (Frances in the movie, Kelly) an American heiress. Hence the second cat and mouse (which is played up even more in the movie).

There are some differences between the book and the movie:
- as already noted in passing, the name of the Kelly character is Francie in the book and Frances in the movie. Not a big point and perhaps revealing a personal opinion only, but Frances seems more akin the American heiress trope;
- the book has a relatively minor (in scenes/words etc) character (Paul) who nevertheless has an important role to play at the end of the book. I cannot remember him in the movie (or if it existed there it was as to his interactions/relationship with Robie, as opposed to another central character).

As a fan of the movie, I quite enjoyed reading for the first time the book. In an odd way, reading/seeing both adds to each other.

But there is certainly no need to see the movie first.

So go off and read/ see what you can get to first, and then turn around and do the other!

Highly recommended

Big Ship

22 September 2023 ( )

To Catch a Thief (1952) is the novel that made David Dodge famous. Or at least, made those four words famous since most of us know it through the Hitchcock film which is considerably different. That is too bad as the novel is so very good. Although a fairly short book the plot grips you, the characters are interesting and the dialogue brisk. There is a recipe: exotic location, pretty young dangerous women in the French bikini, dashing male leads, thrilling plot. It is reminiscent of Ian Fleming's first bond novel Casino Royal .. which btw Fleming started work on about 4 weeks after Thief was published (hmm... caught a thief?). It is more literary and believable than Bond and also more lighthearted but no less engrossing. It is also a sort of travel book of the French Riviera in the early 1950s, one of the coolest places in the world to be at the time. Dodge was living there when a jewel heist occurred the building next to his and he was briefly suspected as being a cat burger, thus the inspiration for the novel. ( )

The novel is set on the fabulous, romantic French Riviera and takes the reader on a journey to the sandy beaches, the gated estates, and the lively casinos. Although during the day, bikinis are standard attire, at night, the gowns and the jewels come out and what follows, of course, are the jewel thieves.
John Robie, better known as Le Chat, was once a former circus acrobat and the greatest jewel thief to ever roam the cities of the Mediterranean coast. There was no wall to high for him to climb. No hiding place too secret. No jewel was ever safe from him until he was caught. Released during WWII, John fought against the Nazi Occupation and earned a gentleman's truce with the French authorities. As long as he didn't cause further trouble, he wouldn't be required to finish his sentence and could continue on in his estate on the mountain. But what happens when someone has copied his techniques, his signature, his modus operandi? All of a sudden, retirement is over and he can either flee the country or lay a trap for the real thief, the copycat so to speak. It is a well-paced thriller with something for just about everyone including crime, thievery, romance, and terrific descriptions of the Cote D'Azure. It's a game if cat and mouse and its a game with high consequences for Le Chat.
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David Dodge's novel is a fast-paced, entertaining page-turner that was subsequently turned into a memorable film by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Cary Grant and Grace Kelly. Now, Jean Buchanan's dramatisation brings it to radio. American John Robie is living quietly in the South of France, trying to put his career as a notorious jewel thief behind him. However, when a series of huge jewel thefts begins on the Riviera, targeting rich Americans, the police immediately suspect he's returned to his old ways. To prove his innocence, and trap the real thief, Robie must resort to subterfuge. But his plans go awry when the daughter of one of the rich American tourists takes rather too close an interest in him - and his past. ( )