RAFFLES, THE AMATEUR CRACKSMAN starring John Barrymore, Frank Morgan, Kathryn Adams and Christine Mayo. Directed by George Irving. I do not own the rights to this material.
We must to be thankful to have the chance to watch these films in times times. Just imagine how many silent movies lost many decades, even, many movies from Barrymore are part of that list of lost films.
It's kind of impressive how many of the short stories they worked into one movie: "The Gift of the Emperor," "The Ides of March," "Gentlemen and Players," "The Return Match," and a little bit of "An Old Flame." It's definitely funny to see a Raffles story beginning with "Gift of the Emperor." Raffles and Bunny's friendship is also really cute, and I'm glad more of it was included than in some of the other movies.
It wasn’t the screenwriters who did this; it was Hornung himself. This (like the ‘20s Raffles film) is a fairly straightforward adaptation of Hornung’s Raffles stage play. It was Hornung who worked all those elements from the stories into a single Robin Hood-esque tale that makes Raffles a little more morally sympathetic. (Of course, the play doesn’t include any scenes on the ship; those take place prior to the play’s first scene, although both film adaptations chose to open by depicting it.) I wonder why Hornung chose to make MacKenzie the late ship’s detective and replace him with Bedford, whom the play describes as “the Sherlock Holmes of New York”; maybe to make yet another allusion to his brother-in-law.
@@PapistWitness That's so nifty! Thanks for letting me know! (I have to say that I kind of prefer a more jerkwad Raffles who's just in it for himself and Bunny). It's also pretty satisfying to see a Miss Werner equivalent getting some revenge (she deserves it).
@@generalsleepy3859I also prefer the literary Raffles; the stories have a kind of tragic quality as we see Raffles’ inevitable defeat get closer and closer and see his own recognition of his moral bankruptcy (he has moments of moral clarity which are truly haunting, as in Mr Justice Raffles or The Field of Philippi). That said, I can see why all the movie adaptations followed the play, which is a nice self-contained single story with a love triangle and a satisfying ending. For what it’s worth, the David Niven adaptation (which takes the most liberties from the play but still basically follows the same plot) *does* replace the Bedford character with MacKenzie.
The exquisite John Barrymore with the lovely Kathryn Adams as Gwendolyn. So wonderful to see "The Great Profile" in such an historic performance.
We must to be thankful to have the chance to watch these films in times times. Just imagine how many silent movies lost many decades, even, many movies from Barrymore are part of that list of lost films.
Fabulous early John Barrymore film also with Frank Morgan as “Bunny”! And an early short appearance by Evelyn Brent!
It's kind of impressive how many of the short stories they worked into one movie: "The Gift of the Emperor," "The Ides of March," "Gentlemen and Players," "The Return Match," and a little bit of "An Old Flame." It's definitely funny to see a Raffles story beginning with "Gift of the Emperor." Raffles and Bunny's friendship is also really cute, and I'm glad more of it was included than in some of the other movies.
It wasn’t the screenwriters who did this; it was Hornung himself. This (like the ‘20s Raffles film) is a fairly straightforward adaptation of Hornung’s Raffles stage play. It was Hornung who worked all those elements from the stories into a single Robin Hood-esque tale that makes Raffles a little more morally sympathetic. (Of course, the play doesn’t include any scenes on the ship; those take place prior to the play’s first scene, although both film adaptations chose to open by depicting it.) I wonder why Hornung chose to make MacKenzie the late ship’s detective and replace him with Bedford, whom the play describes as “the Sherlock Holmes of New York”; maybe to make yet another allusion to his brother-in-law.
@@PapistWitness That's so nifty! Thanks for letting me know! (I have to say that I kind of prefer a more jerkwad Raffles who's just in it for himself and Bunny). It's also pretty satisfying to see a Miss Werner equivalent getting some revenge (she deserves it).
@@generalsleepy3859I also prefer the literary Raffles; the stories have a kind of tragic quality as we see Raffles’ inevitable defeat get closer and closer and see his own recognition of his moral bankruptcy (he has moments of moral clarity which are truly haunting, as in Mr Justice Raffles or The Field of Philippi).
That said, I can see why all the movie adaptations followed the play, which is a nice self-contained single story with a love triangle and a satisfying ending.
For what it’s worth, the David Niven adaptation (which takes the most liberties from the play but still basically follows the same plot) *does* replace the Bedford character with MacKenzie.
I've been searching for this film. Thank you so very much. Barrymore and Morgan are fantastic, as usual. Reading both bios. Once again, many thanks.
Much appreciated. Great film.
wonderful
thoroughly enjoyed the movie!
Read the book, enjoyed the film. Not so cohesive as some films, but 1917, it is early days.
John Barrymore actor legendary 🎭
♥️♥️♥️♥️