The highest class of criminal

The intrepid jewel thief has always been an iconic figure in literature and cinema. From E.W Hornung’s Raffles, the gentleman burglar, to Cary Grant’s super-larcenist (“The Cat”) in Hitchcock’s 1955 comedy-thriller To Catch a Thief, he exists in a category far removed from other common criminals. Perhaps a descendant of the romanticized figure of Robin Hood, the diamond stealer is reputed only to take from the very, very wealthy, and if he’s using the purloined money for his own comfort rather than giving it to the poor, then that’s surely a fitting reward for the daring and ingenuity that he’s displayed in his raids. As Grant remarks in To Catch a Thief, “I never stole from anybody who would go hungry.”