4 Charming Cary Grant Hitchcock Movies You’ll Love

Classic Movies"Best of" Movies ListsHitchcock Movies

Feb 27

This post may contain affiliate links

These 4 suave Cary Grant Hitchcock movies are must-sees for Hitchcock and Cary Grant Fans. Not only are these some of the best Hitchcock movies, but they are also some of the best Cary Grant Movies as well. This was obviously a collaboration that should’ve continued longer.

How many movies did Cary Grant make with Alfred Hitchcock?

They made a total of four movies together, starting with Suspicion in 1941, then Notorious in 1946.

Nine years later they made To Catch a Thief, and then finally North by Northwest in 1959.

You would think that over such a long period of time they could’ve made a few more movies together, right? We certainly wish they did.

Suspicion 1941 starring Cary Grant, and Joan Fontaine

Notorious 1946 starring Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman

To Catch a Thief 1955 starring Cary Grant and Grace Kelly

North by Northwest 1959 starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, and James Mason

Charade, the 1963 movie starring Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn was not directed by Alfred Hitchcock, but was specifically created to be like a Hitchcock movie.

It’s added on to the end of this post as a bonus if you’re looking for movies similar to Hitchcock movies, because it really does feel like one.

This post is all about Cary Grant Alfred Hitchcock Movies

Cary Grant Hitchcock movies humor

One of the defining characteristics of the later films Cary Grant collaborated on with Hitchcock is the witty dialogue that is liberally sprinkled throughout the films.

Suspicion, their first collaboration seems to be more of a ‘warm up.’ Notorious, their next movie had a few good lines. But it seems like once they hit the 50s with To Catch a Thief and North by Northwest, the humor really came out.

Alfred Hitchcock had a great sense of humor that he didn’t always show in some of his earlier films, although he actually did make a few comedies, one of which, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, starring Carole Lombard and Robert Montgomery, he actually wanted Cary Grant for Montgomery’s part.

In To Catch a Thief, Cary Grant’s character John Robie has a lot of good lines. Whether it’s in banter with Grace Kelly’s character Frances Stevens, the insurance agent that is trying to help him find the thief, or virtually any character for the matter, he manages to stick in some humor.

“You’re here in Europe to buy a husband.”

“The man I want doesn’t have a price.”

“That eliminates me.”

cary grant hitchcock movie to catch a thief

North by Northwest has a similar type of humor as To Catch a Thief.

Cary Grant’s character Roger Thornhill has a snarky remark to everyone, whether it is his love interest Eve Kendall (Eva Marie Saint) or even the bad guys led by Philip Vandamm (James Mason.)

One example is end the end of the movie where Roger Thornhill and Eve Kendall are hanging off of Mt. Rushmore in a climatic end to a spy chase where both their lives are in danger and he asks her if she will marry him.

She asks what happened to his first two marriages and he tells her they divorced him because he led too dull of a life.

Cary Grant Hitchcock Movies #1: Suspicion 1941

In their first collaboration together, Cary Grant stars as Johnnie Aysgarth in the Hitchcock film Suspicion.

The charming Johnny woos and marries the wealthy heiress Lina Aysgarth (Joan Fontaine).

After they are married, she begins to suspect him of ulterior motives for marrying her, hence her growing suspicion of him.

This is a slower style Hitchcock, that is still decent, but not as fast paced as the later Hitchcock Cary Grant movies like To Catch a Thief or North by Northwest.

Hitchcock’s preferred ending (Spoiler alert!)

In Suspicion, the most suspenseful scene is built around Lina’s fears when Johnny is bringing her a glass of milk.

He comes slowly up the stairs, the camera focused on the glass of milk which she believes is poisoned.

She believes the milk is poisoned and Johnny is trying to kill her to get access to her money because he is careless with money.

In the end of the movie it turns out that Johnnie is innocent after all (although careless with money) and his trying to kill her was all in her imagination.

However, according to The Art of Hitchcock, Fifty Year of his motion pictures, the ending Hitchcock really wanted was for Johnny to have actually ended up poisoning his wife with the afore-mentioned glass of milk.

She would’ve written a letter to her mother explaining that her husband was a murderer before being poisoned, and the camera would fade out as he mailed her last letter to her mother telling her that Johnny was a murderer.

Pressure from studio executives who were worried about Cary Grant’s public image force Hitchcock to actually make the ending a relatively happy one.

One where he’s still a bit of a creep, but at least he’s not trying to murder her.

Fun fact:

According to The Dark Side of Genius, by Donald Spoto, Cary Grant and Joan Fontaine didn’t have a very “warm” relationship. Perhaps this played into the lack of chemistry between the two on film.

Cary Grant Hitchcock Movies #2: Notorious 1946

The second collaboration between Cary Grant and Alfred Hitchcock Notorious, came five years after Suspicion.

Notorious, in our opinion, is one of the best Hitchcock movies that he made in the 1940s.

The storyline holds together well, it has a good mixture of romance and suspense, although, per usual Hitchcock style, it does have a sudden ending.

Notorious is set in post world war II South America.

An American spy Devlin (Cary Grant) recruits Alicia (Ingrid Bergman) the daughter of a former Nazi to help them infiltrate a ring of Nazis in post war South America.

Devlin and Alicia fall in love, but when Alicia is faced with a tough decision, he lets her make up her own mind.

Notorious, like a lot of Hitchcock films, is a bit slow to get going.

Hitchcock takes him time showing how Devlin has to recruit Alicia, and how the two of them fall in love. However, once they get to South America and get to work is where the suspense begins to build.

Not only does she find out that her mission is to get back together with a former admirer Sebastian (Claude Rains) who is a Nazi, but she has to marry him as well.

Fun fact:

Cary Grant’s birthday is on January 18th which overlapped with the filming of Notorious.

Looks like he enjoyed some cake with Alfred Hitchcock and Ingrid Bergman.

Notorious Hitchcock Cameo

Hitchcock makes his cameo appearance as a guest of Alicia’s husband Sebastian (Claude Rains.)

He dines and then leaves quickly after.

Posts you may also like:

7 Questions about the Notorious 1946 Movie and does Alicia Die in Notorious?

Cary Grant Hitchcock Movies #3: To Catch a Thief 1955

The third Hitchcock Cary Grant movie To Catch a Thief, is perfect for 50s movies lovers.

It was right during Hitchcock’s prolific decade of movie making, and also stars another of his favorite actors, Grace Kelly.

To Catch a Thief is stylishly set on the french riviera, and it’s hard to tell who is more gorgeous, the scenery, Cary Grant, or Grace Kelly.

A must for stylish movie lovers.

Cary Grant plays John Robie the former “cat” jewel thief who has since retired from his profession and is living a quiet honest life in his french villa.

When a string of robberies begin along the french riviera, suspicion turn to him and he sets out to find the true thief and prove his innocence.

Grace Kelly stars as the stylish Frances Stevens, who figures out John’s true identity and plays her own game of cat and mouse with him.

To catch a thief alfred hitchcock cameo

Hitchcock makes his signature cameo appearance as a passenger on a bus. Cary Grant (John Robie) on the run from the Police who think he’s the jewel thief, narrowly escapes the Police who came to his house and hails a bus.

He goes to the back and sits right between a woman with a bird cage to his right and Alfred Hitchcock to his left.

Cary Grant Hitchcock Movies #4: North by Northwest 1959

Another late 50s movie, North by Northwest might just be one of Hitchcock’s most exciting movies.

It starts out right away with action, rare for Hitchcock which often take a while to get going, and is a spy thriller that feels similar to a James Bond movie.

Cary Grant stars as an advertising executive who get mistaken for a spy by an international spy ring. In danger of his life, and on the run for a murder he didn’t commit he sets out to find the real spy he was mistaken for to clear his name.

Eva Marie Saint is the cool and seductive “Hitchcock blonde” who he meets on the train and seduces him.

This movie includes the breathtaking ending on the Mount Rushmore, witty dialogue, romance, suspense, and of course another gorgeous couple in the form of Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint.

North by Northwest Hitchcock cameo

Hitchcock makes his cameo in a similar way as To Catch a Thief, this time he’s trying to catch a bus as the movie is opening and showing the bustle of the city.

Bonus: The Cary Grant film that most feels like a Hitchcock Movie

Charade 1963 starring Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn is the final resort when you just have to see another Cary Grant Hitchcock movie, although it’s actually not a Hitchcock movie.

It’s honestly hard to tell the difference. The director intentionally made it to feel like a Hitchcock film and it’s suspenseful and romantic.

Cary Grant stars as Peter Joshua who runs into Regina Lampert (Audrey Hepburn). Regina’s husband dies in the beginning of the film leaving the whereabouts of a large sum of money unknown.

A bunch of crooks associated with her husband begin to harass Regina, thinking she must know where the money is.

Regina falls in love with Peter, but isn’t sure she can trust him.

This movie is suspenseful with a bunch of twists and an interesting cast that also include Walter Matthau in a quirky role and James Coburn in his typical “bad guy” type role.

4 Charming Cary Grant Hitchcock Movies You’ll Love