Too Old - To Catch a Thief (1955) Discussion

[–] louiseculmer 8 years ago

He is too old, in the book John Robey is described as being thirty-four, whereas grant was in his fifties when he made this. But he does look good for his age, and could probably pass for about 10 years younger than he is. Definitely not for thirty four though. But then what younger actor could have carried off the part so well? rock Hudson maybe? Victor mature? I don't know.

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[–] ATG6 (3000) 6 years ago

yeah, i thought the mother should have been after him.

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[–] BillySlater (4241) 5 years ago

Disagree, Grant looked great for his age. It wasn´t uncommon in that era for younger women to go after older men. After all, Grace Kelly had a fling with Clark Gable in that era, and he was even older than Grant.

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[–] Otter (24464) 5 years ago

Grant was a devastatingly attractive man in his fifties, handsome, fit, and radiating charm the way the sun radiates light.

It's believable that he'd be retired from a physically demanding job like cat burglary at his age, and it's also believable that younger women would thrown themselves at him. Who wouldn't.

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[–] greenbudgie (2355) 5 years ago

I reckon that Cary Grant could get away with it. Even for a few more years after this movie. Whereas James Stewart was still playing parts, at this time, where I reckon that he was definitely too old. And he was four years younger than Cary Grant.

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[–] liscarkat (18367) 4 years ago

Kelly was too young, and the teenage French girl who was in love with him was even more ridiculous. Kelly's mother was a suitable match for him. Still, I really enjoy this movie. Suspension of disbelief is a handy skill to acquire.

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[–] bobbydallas (8511) 3 years ago

he was supposed to play a more seasoned dude
get over it

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[–] ecarle (14979) 3 years ago

In 1955, there weren't all that men at 50(Grant's age) who could play shirtless scenes in swim trunks like he could.

One year before, in 1954 and also for Hitchcock, James Stewart had a brief split second moment with his shirt off(and still in a pajama top really) for a massage from Thelma Ritter and...yikes.

Grant with a younger woman in the 50's worked better than Bogart with a younger woman(Sabrina), Bing Crosby with a younger woman(High Society), Gary Cooper with a younger woman(High Noon), Gary Cooper with a younger woman AGAIN(Love in the Afternoon)

Hey, those younger women were almost always Grace Kelly or Audrey Hepburn. There's a trend (and Audrey would work 8 years after To Catch A Thief with a finally visibly older Grant in Charade -- and it worked fine.)

PS. Grant's character was evidently a jewel thief in the 30s, a war hero(trained killer) in the 40's, and "retired" in the 50's. He'd HAVE to be an older man.

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[–] bobbydallas (8511) 3 years ago

exactly, the character is supposed to be "aged"
i also find it believable that Kelly would fall in love with the dude in real life

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[–] Otter (24464) 2 years ago

Wrong!

Any other actor of his age would have been too old, but Cary Grant was, well, Cary Grant.

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[–] April-151-CT (10210) 2 years ago

Fuck that noise!! Cary Grant could get it!!

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[–] joegerardi (383) 2 years ago

Kind of need to do the math here...

Grant was 50 in 1955. World War II, in which he was a resistance fighter, had been over for ten years. That made him 40 when it ended; the war lasted 6 years, so he would have been 34 when it started, and he was in jail. Notoriously successful, he had to be burgling for years before that - say 5 at the minimum - that makes him 29. before that, he was a trapeze artist in a circus for a number of years, into his early 20's. And that's if he played it age appropriate, otherwise, if he played it 5 years younger (which was not a stretch) he was in his late teens.

Nope. The age is just about right. The book stated he was 34, but that doesn't add up: the war's end would have made him 24; the 6 years of war would have made him 18; burgling for even 4 years would have made him 14 when he started, and even if his circus career was a scant 4 years, he would have been 10 years old as a performer.

..Joe