![]() ![]() The first story to feature Raffles was published in a magazine in 1898 and introduces the present compilation. Both versions appear to be based upon a 1903 stage play crafted by Hornung after he had achieved considerable success with his books featuring the devious scoundrel. A later version in 1939 suffers some from the long arm of the Production Code, sanitizing the interplay between the two principals, yet it has its considerable charms, the elegance of David Niven and Olivia de Havilland being primary. Between her slinking and his lurking the screen was awash in luxurious charm. Breathtakingly, Ronald Colman played him in a 1930 early talking version opposite the luminous and striking Kay Francis. ![]() There were two silent versions, one starring John Barrymore and two other better known representations in the thirties. Raffles has seen numerous incarnations in film and several on television. (Ernest William) Hornung’s The Amateur Cracksman, we have such a gentleman swindler in A. We admire their cunning and ability to swindle those we don’t particularly like anyway, the idle rich. Generally dashing, good looking, sly, stealthy and charming with the ladies, such figures are sympathetic despite their capers or perhaps even because of them. The figure of the gentleman thief has become so much a part of our psyche in the western world that it’s easy to take such a character for granted. ![]()
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