Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs With Vogue’s September issue cover in the hands of the Oscar-winning auteur Baz Luhrmann, it’s no surprise the resulting spread story unfolds with a lush tale of star-crossed lovers. Presented like a type-written screenplay, the photos tell the story of a glamorous Monte Carlo cat burglar (Blake Lively) slipping through the fingers—like a diamond riviera necklace—of an undercover Interpol officer (Hugh Jackman), who is out to catch the thief. Or rather, To Catch a Thief, as the photos are largely inspired by Hitchcock’s 1955 ultra-classic flick starring Grace Kelly and Cary Grant.“It turns out that our thief is, in fact, to use an old term, a ‘femme fatale,’” says Luhrmann of his inspiration.“It was all about finding an imagined role for Blake, that perhaps we’d all like to see her play.”Starring alongside Lively and Jackman was a couple of necklaces with so many carats they’re on par with these Hollywood heavyweights. One necklace, named Tanabata, shines with a hulking 37.27-carat oval-shaped diamond inspired by the path of a comet. The other? A resplendent necklace with eight cushion and oval-shaped faceted Burmese rubies possesses quite the provenance—it belonged to Elizabeth Taylor.“And I had Elizabeth Taylor’s necklace!” Lively says in Vogue’s September issue cover story. “Elizabeth Taylor’s necklace in my hand. I have to show you. So there were these people there that had these rubber covers on their fingers, and I had a foam mat below me in case the necklace fell….”Jackman and Lively share a scene with (from left) George McNally, Marc Kudisch, Ali Fazal, Paloma Elsesser, Simon Jones, Anthony Michael Lopez, Morgan Spector, Dayle Haddon, and Amanda Murphy. Vogue, September 2024; Directed by Baz Luhrmann; Associate Photographer: Felix Kunze.In the famous fireworks scene of To Catch a Thief, Kelly’s character sports a sparkling costume necklace in a fruitless attempt to dangle danger in front of the man she suspects to be the notorious cat burglar. “You know as well as I do this necklace is imitation,” says Grant’s character.While Hitchcock indeed filmed Kelly wearing a paste necklace, Luhrmann, on the other hand, opted for the real deal. In the latter’s modern-day telling of the story, the necklace was one that Taylor’s third husband, film producer Mike Todd, bestowed upon her whilst vacationing in the South of France in the spring of 1957. So the story goes…Taylor was in the pool swimming laps wearing a diamond tiara her new husband had already given her when he appeared with more red leather in hand. In home video footage of the moment, she’s seen being lavished with the Cartier ruby necklace Lively wears in her September issue spread.
