LA's Most Tasteful Burglar: The MCM Thief

Curated Mid-Century Modern Home Listings 📍

Apr 27, 2026

Cary Grant and Grace Kelly cruising Monaco in the 1955 film *To Catch a Thief*

Alfred Hitchcock taught us in 1955 that a burglar could be a man of flawless taste. To Catch a Thief, featuring Cary Grant as a semi-reformed Monaco burglar, kicked off a legacy of aspirational heists carried on by the likes of The Thomas Crown Affair (1968 & 1999) and Ocean’s Eleven (1960 & 2001).

Modern Los Angeles has blessed us with a new persona of pilferer: the MCM Thief. A recent NBC News video follows the story of Zack Vincler, a man who broke into million-dollar homes and high-profile businesses and ignored the Rolexes in favor of vintage Eames and Roche Bobois furniture pieces. Curiously, he didn’t employ a crew of safecrackers, and he didn’t even attempt to dodge security cameras or lasers. Zack Vincler is less Danny Ocean and more Silver Lake design snob with a U-Haul, an eye for aesthetics, and an almost hilarious disregard for the law or life consequences.

Watch the whole video below: