The Iconic Collaborations of Alfred Hitchcock and Cary Grant

Notorious (1946)

Out of all the incredible films Alfred Hitchcock and Cary Grant made together, the very best has to be Notorious, which co-starred Ingrid Bergman and Claude Rains in one of the greatest love triangles ever committed to the big screen. A watershed moment for Hitchcock, Notorious represented the point where he went from a very good director into a truly great one and featured character depth, emotional resonance, and gut-wrenching humanity not previously seen in his body of work. The emotional intensity of Grant’s character, T. R. Devlin, also showcased acting abilities previously unseen in his Hollywood career.

Cary Grant as Johnnie Aysgarth and Joan Fontaine as Lina McLaidlaw Aysgarth in Suspicion (1941) directed by Alfred Hitchcock

Notorious told the story of Grant’s government agent enlisting the help of Bergman, a war criminal's daughter, to infiltrate Rains, the Nazi associate hiding in Rio de Janeiro after World War II. A serious love story, Notorious was categorized by themes of bitterness, distrust, and jealousy, and all three leads brought real humanity to their roles. A classic conflict of duty and love, Notorious was one of Hitchcock’s great artistic statements and remained Hitchcock and Grant's most personal, layered, and deeply sentimental movie.

Cary Grant as Johnnie Aysgarth and Joan Fontaine as Lina McLaidlaw Aysgarth in Suspicion (1941) directed by Alfred Hitchcock

To Catch A Thief (1955)

The final collaboration between Alfred Hitchcock and Cary Grant also featured one of the most iconic actresses of all time, Grace Kelly, and was an exciting romantic thriller about crime and distrust. In To Catch a Thief, Grant played John Robie, also known as The Cat, a former diamond thief suspected of stealing from wealthy tourists along the French Riviera. To clear his name, John tried to capture the real thief all while falling in love with Kelly’s character, Frances Stevens. To Catch a Thief featured many twists and turns and was a farewell to Grant and Hitchcock’s long-running partnership.

Alfred Hitchcock Cameo in Suspicion

However, while To Catch a Thief was an exciting mystery story, it lacked the intense suspense of Hitchcock’s best work and came across as much slower than his last movie, Rear Window, released the previous year. By the time, To Catch a Thief reached its grant conclusion and a rooftop face-off against the real burglar, the film had audiences on the edge of their seats, but the story took its time getting there and unfortunately stalled in the first half. While To Catch a Thief was a classic Grant and Hitchcock movie, they had previously produced more thrilling work.

Joan Fontaine as Lina McLaidlaw Aysgarth in Suspicion (1941) directed by Alfred Hitchcock

North by Northwest (1959)

As a story of mistaken identity, it did not get any better than North by Northwest, which was the most iconic of all Grant and Hitchcock’s work together. Grant played Roger Thornhill, opposite Eva Marie Saint as Eve Kendall, a New York advertising executive who was mistaken by a group of foreign spies for a government agent. This dangerous misunderstanding led to Grant being pursued across the country, escaping burning vehicles, and famously evading a plane that was chasing him in Hitchcock’s most ridiculous scene.

Cary Grant as Johnnie Aysgarth and Joan Fontaine as Lina McLaidlaw Aysgarth in Suspicion (1941) directed by Alfred Hitchcock

The over-the-top nature of North by Northwest made for thrilling viewing and Cary really gave it all to his role as the unfortunate Thornhill. North by Northwest was visually iconic, has gone on to be considered one of the best films Hitchcock ever made, and was the perfect showcase of how well he and Grant worked together. Much lighter than the brooding dark psychology of Hitchcock’s previous film Vertigo, North by Northwest was an influential movie that left its mark on subsequent spy-based action films such as in the James Bond series.

Cary Grant and Grace Kelly driving along the French Riviera in To Catch A Thief