Raffles

1930 AdventureCrime 72 minutes Directed by George Fitzmaurice

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About Raffles

A. J. Raffles, a cricketer the papers call the Amateur Cracksman, gives Gwen a stolen bracelet and means to stop. His friend Bunny, ruined by gambling, tries to kill himself, so Raffles agrees to take the Melrose necklace at a weekend party. Burglar Crawshaw gets there first. Raffles takes the necklace off him, later hands it back for the reward Bunny needs, and escapes in Inspector Mackenzie's coat. Gwen, who has given the bracelet back, says she will meet him in Paris.

Cast & crew

More about Raffles

Samuel Goldwyn produced it and United Artists released it on 24 July 1930. Harry d'Abbadie d'Arrast started the direction and was replaced by George Fitzmaurice. Sidney Howard wrote the script from the 1906 play by E. W. Hornung and Eugene Wiley Presbrey, itself from Hornung's 1899 stories. George Barnes and Gregg Toland photographed it. Stuart Heisler edited.

Themes

  • One last necklace
  • A bracelet given to Gwen
  • A coat borrowed from the inspector
  • A. J. Raffles
  • Gwen
  • Bunny
  • Melrose necklace
  • Crawshaw
  • Inspector Mackenzie
  • cricket

Making

Fitzmaurice took over after d'Arrast. The Melrose weekend is where both Raffles and Crawshaw’s gang go after the same necklace.

Look

George Barnes and Gregg Toland shot the Melrose house party and Raffles’s rooms in London.

Preservation

A print is on the Internet Archive.

Notes

  • Ronald Colman plays Raffles. Kay Francis plays Gwen. Bramwell Fletcher is Bunny. David Torrence is Inspector Mackenzie. Frederick Kerr is Lord Melrose. Alison Skipworth is Lady Melrose. John Rogers is Crawshaw.
  • Oscar Lagerstrom was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Sound Recording. He did not win.
  • John Barrymore had played Raffles in 1917, and Universal made another version in 1925. Goldwyn produced a 1939 version with David Niven.
  • Gwen wears the stolen bracelet. Mackenzie’s warrant is for that theft, not the necklace.
  • The picture is pre-Code.

Scenes

  • Crawshaw lifts the Melrose necklace and Raffles takes it from him.
  • Gwen unclasps the stolen bracelet and hands it to Mackenzie.
  • Raffles leaves in Mackenzie’s frock coat and hat.

Influenced by

  • E. W. Hornung’s Raffles stories (1899) and the 1906 play

Also available

  • Internet Archive (raffles-1930)

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