DVD Spotlight

Continuing what they started with Sunset Boulevard, Paramount now inducts two more movies – The Odd Couple and To Catch a Thief – to their Centennial Collection, a group of films given deluxe treatment by way of special features and packaging. While the specific criteria for what does and does not constitute a “Centennial Collection” film is elusive, a pattern has emerged, namely one of iconography. From Gloria Swanson’s portrayal of the insistent starlet in Sunset Boulevard, to Audrey Hepburn’s ostensible socialite in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, each picture projects something as larger than life; be it a character, event, or place. The two newest installments to the series are of no exception.

Playing up his suave charm, Cary Grant acts as infamous cat burglar John Robie. Now retired near the French Riviera, Robie is suddenly, and involuntarily, thrust back into the spotlight when a series of copycat robberies plague the area’s wealthiest locals and patrons. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, a name synonymous with cinematic iconography, Thief is shot in Technicolor, causing its aesthetic to take on a pastel look, which adds an air of otherworldly romanticism to the already beautiful countryside (it won an Oscar statuette in 1955 for Best Cinematography). In order to protect himself and his name, Robie takes it upon himself to track down the robber, ducking policeman all the while. Hitchcock makes mystery a focal point of the narrative, planting seeds of doubt in both the characters’ and the viewers’ minds. While we contemplate whether Robie could actually have gone straight, thus eschewing his legend and past, our players wonder who the real “Cat” is. The result is hardly Hitchcockian suspense at its finest, but it entertains nonetheless. It does bat around weightier notions, like escaping one’s reputation and the romantic rush of crime, but never fully delves into these ideas; instead toying with them, as a cat would a mouse.

In order to compliment the film, a series of extras accompany it on this two-disc set. As in past Centennial releases, these featurettes are generally short in length and largely craft and industry based. None of the extras are too insightful but do address the film with an appropriate amount of depth, provided its not one of Hitch’s more existential efforts.

The collection’s other new inclusion, The Odd Couple, also features some iconic motifs, though this wit-ridden comedy extends beyond superficial concerns. Screen legends Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau play Felix and Oscar, two friends with a host of problems. Oscar (Matthau) is slovenly, lazy, and indifferent; his living arrangements reflect this. Felix is his opposite – high strung, neurotic, obsessive. Following a sudden divorce, Felix finds it best to take his own life, a failed attempt that eventually leads to his staying at Oscar’s very humble abode. Though most remember the picture for the performances and the polar nature of the characters, an interesting dynamic surfaces about relationships – specifically, the effects of two men living together. While the 1960’s were hardly bastion of homosexual expression, The Odd Couple does well in lightly sprinkling in these themes, hiding them amongst sharp dialogue and physical comedy. In this regard, the film’s execution calls for subtlety and balance, the latter of which being a main consideration of the film itself. The “couple” must find a way to balance their new life together, a task made all the more difficult by their opposite natures. Still, the movie does more than offer light commentary and create comical juxtapositions. It shows how a happy or, at least, structured home life projects outwardly. The film does tend to overly dwell on the situational instead of allowing its roots to thoroughly spread, but what it does emphasize is well done.

The accompanying extras are sparse here, even more barebones than the second disc of To Catch a Thief. Part of the problem lies in the fact that both leads have since passed away, though there is a featurette to commemorate their work onscreen. Memories from the film’s production are shared by surviving members of the cast and crew, done tastefully in an extra independent of the token “making of” segment.