My September books

Ready for the September roundup?
To me it's interesting to see how many books I have finished in a month (not necessarily started in the same month) and how many I read to the cats which of course takes longer, those are marked with 😸
I will be adding a short explanation why I chose a book and possibly if it's a re-read candidate, but I'm not going to add real reviews or ratings (the cats also refuse to give ratings 😉)

1. "Neighbors and other stories" by Diane Oliver, first published in 2024

In 1966, Diane Oliver died in an accident, only 22 years old.
Four of her short stories had been published then, two more got published posthumously, and only much later eight more were found.
This book contains all of those stories about race and racism in the USA of the 50s and 60s, mostly told through the eyes of young women.

I found the book on Overdrive by accident when I was looking for a different name, and the description drew me in.

2. "The Grace of Wild Things" by Heather Fawcett, first published in 2023

12 year old Grace runs away from the orphanage offering herself as an apprentice to the witch living in the forest nearby.
They make a deal. If Grace learns how to cast all of the 100 1/2 spells in the witch's grimoire before the old cherry tree is blooming again, the witch will take her on as apprentice, if she fails, she'll have to give the witch her magic.

This one was mentioned in the comment to a blog post and sounded good. It's inspired by "Anne of Green Gables", but in a witchy, a bit dark way.

3. "Wenn Geister sterben" = "Death of a Ghost" by Margery Allingham, first published in 1934
(Albert Campion 6)

When a young painter is killed during a (more or less) private unveiling of a painting by the late Lafcadio, Campion, who's a friend of Lafcadio's widow Belle, has to investigate in the surprisingly murky world of the London art scene.

This is still part of my vintage crime project for which I keep getting books by Marsh and Allingham.

4. "The Three Investigators in The Mystery of the Fiery Eye" by Robert Arthur, Jr. (the books were published attributed to Alfred Hitchcock), first published in 1967 😸
(The Three Investigators 7)

Where is the mysterious stone hidden that Horatio August left to his great-nephew August August?
Will the Three Investigators be able to help Gus find it? Is that a dumb question because we all know Jupiter will solve this riddle, anyway?

I read this series a long time ago and am going through it again bit by bit after writing a blog post about it. This book is the seventh in the series.

5. "Trau keiner Lady" = "The Beckoning Lady" by Margery Allingham, first published in 1955
(Albert Campion 15)

Campion just wanted a small vacation with his wife Amanda, son Rupert and his friend, Chief Inspector Luke, but there's no rest for them, instead there's a body under a bridge.

This is still part of my vintage crime project for which I keep getting books by Marsh and Allingham.

6. "Der Geist der Gouvernante" = "The China Governess" by Margery Allingham, first published in 1963
(Albert Campion 17)

When adopted heir Timothy Kinnit wants to find out more about his biological parents before marrying American heiress Julia, Campion is asked to look into the matter.
Things are even more complicated - and murderous - than expected, though.

This is still part of my vintage crime project for which I keep getting books by Marsh and Allingham.

7. "Meet Me at Rainbow Corner" by Celia Imrie, first published in 2024

This is the story of Dot, a nurse, and Lilly, a driver/secretary, who are posted to London during World War II, and the people they meet at Rainbow Corner (also known as the American Red Cross Club) which will be changing both of their lives.

The book was a random find at Overdrive.

8. "Es geht noch ein Zug von der Gare du Nord" = "The Chalk Circle Man" by Fred Vargas, first published in 1991
(Kommissar Adamsberg ermittelt 1)

This is the first case for the unorthodox Commissaire Adamsberg in Paris.
Who is the man drawing the strange blue chalk circles around random items on the streets of Paris? No one pays them much attention except Adamsberg - until a body is found in one of them.

My little brother told me about the Vargas series a while ago already, I thought I'd give it a try. Only afterwards, he told me it was a DNF and he had only read one of the others of the series 😂

9. "Judaslohn" = "Traitor's Purse" by Margery Allingham, first published in 1941
(Albert Campion 11)

Albert Campion wakes up in hospital. He suffers from amnesia not knowing who he is and what it is he has set out to do, except that it's something really important.
On the run from the police and the enemy, he finds out bit by bit what kind of catastrophe he has to avert.

This is still part of my vintage crime project for which I keep getting books by Marsh and Allingham (as you can tell I had a good month and got several Allinghams at a good price from one seller).

10. "The Three Investigators in The Mystery of the Silver Spider" by Robert Arthur, Jr. (the books were published attributed to Alfred Hitchcock), first published in 1967 😸
(The Three Investigators 8)

After meeting the young Prince Djaro of Varania, the Three Investigators are asked by the Secret Service to travel to Varania because of a rumor that there's a plot to dethrone Djaro. When the symbol of power, the silver spider, is missing and turns up in their room, Jupiter, Peter, and Bob have to run from the current regent Duke Stefan and his conspirators, helped by Djaro's friends.

I own the German version of this book which was published in 1981, but haven't read it in a long time. Persons and setting were changed, but the plot is basically the same, a plot, the silver spider and the escape with the help of friends, in this case from the current managing director.
Actually, this book is about Lars, the heir of a company in a small Swedish colony in Texas that cultivates old Swedish traditions.
Maybe they just wanted to avoid stereotypes about European monarchies like that?

I read this series a long time ago and am going through it again bit by bit after writing a blog post about it. This book is the eighth in the series.

11. "Mord vor vollem Haus" = "Light Thickens" by Ngaio Marsh, first published in 1982
(Roderick Alleyn 32 (the final one))

Strange and disturbing things happen during the rehearsals for "Macbeth" at the "Dolphin" in London which feed the idea of the play being cursed.
Then the lead actor gets beheaded during a performance. Who killed him and why?

This is still part of my vintage crime project for which I keep getting books by Marsh and Allingham. What am I going to read when I'm done with them? (Still missing ten of the Marshs and six of the Allinghams (not counting some of the short stories), but we're getting there).

12. "Carbonel" by Barbara Sleigh, first published in 1955 😸
(Carbonel 1)

Ten year old Rosemary wants to help her widowed mother and go cleaning in her holidays. Convinced she will have to bring her own equipment, she goes to the marketplace where she buys a broom and a black cat from an old lady.
Her surprise is huge when the cat starts talking, telling her the old lady is a witch who has stolen him as a kitten and kept him bound by a spell, so he can't try to gain back his throne as the rightful king of cats. Rosemary and her new friend John do their best to help him.

The book, a middle grade novel, was recommended by book blogger Nicole from Momlit. It is adorable and so fun to read. I'm hoping the other two in the series are just as good.

13. "Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves" by Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, first published in 1963
(Wooster and Jeeves 13)

Bertie Wooster is an English gentleman, one of the idle rich, and Jeeves is his valet whose intelligence saves Bertie and his friends from one or the other pickle.
The pickle in this case that Madeline Bassett tries to turn her fiancé Gussie Fink-Nottle into a vegetarian which is a strain on the relationship. Wooster is afraid they will break up and Madeline will be trying to marry him. Matters get complicated even more by an amber statuette, a vicarage needed for another marriage, and the daughter of an American millionaire working as a cook.

Lisa from Boondock Ramblings started reading "Jeeves and Wooster" stories, and since my last Wodehouse read had been ages ago, I'm having a go as well.

14. "Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries" by Heather Fawcett, first published in 2023
(Emily Wilde series 1)

Emily Wilde is a dryadology scholar in Cambridge where she works on putting together an encyclopedia of fairies in different countries. To finish it, she visits the village Hrafnsvik, but she learns and experiences more there than she could have expected.

This one was mentioned in a blog post and sounded like fun.

15. "Raffles: The Amateur Cracksman" by Ernest William Hornung, first published in 1899

A. J. Raffles - national cricket hero and gentleman thief in late Victorian Great Britain. Together with his younger friend Harry "Bunny" Manners, he steals preferably jewelry from the upper society, not just for the money but also the thrill. 

This is the first collection of the "Raffles" short stories (all of them were published as "Engelhörnchen" in German, by the way). I put it on my list after watching the silent movie with John Barrymore.

16. "Skinner's Big Idea" by Henry Irving Dodge, first published in 1918 😸

The third book in the Skinner series (which also inspired a silent movie which is considered to be lost, though) tells about Skinner's partners going on a long business trip and leaving him with the task to fire several of the "old men" in the office.
Skinner, however, doesn't want to do that and has a big idea ...

I read the first book after watching one of the silent movie versions of it and added the others to my list for quick reading.
It's interesting that the Disney Studio had it in their library (but passed it on to another library, there was another tag). I wonder why.

17. "The Dancing Floor" by Barbara Michaels, first published in 1997 

After the death of her father, Heather travels to England to see gardens, a trip they had wanted to do together.
In Troytan House, she finds more than a lost garden, though. Heather is drawn into an adventure of witchcraft, family problems, and love.

Barbara Michaels is one of the pen names of Barbara Mertz. I know a lot of the books she wrote under the name Elizabeth Peters, but not one she wrote as Michaels.
After I DNFed the first one, Erin from Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs recommended this one to me.

18. "The Bookshop on the Corner" (also as "The Little Shop of Happy Ever After") by Jenny Colgan, first published in 2016
(Happy Ever After series 1)

Nina is a librarian in Birmingham, but her library branch is shut down and she's out of a job.
How about turning a van into a mobile bookshop? Nina builds a new life for herself in a small village in Scotland, love included.

This was a random find on Overdrive. Librarian, bookshop, Scotland, worth a try for a quick, light read, right?


DNF:

1. "Coffin, Scarcely Used" by Colin Watson, first published in 1958  😸
(A Flaxborough Mystery 1)

Who's killing off respectable men in the city of Flaxborough? How respectable are they really, though?

I made it through three quarters of the book, but got more and more bored with it and skipped to the end which didn't surprise me.
Only then I remembered I used to have the box set of the TV show made after some of the 12 Flaxborough novels and found those boring, too. Duh.

2. "Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands" by Heather Fawcett, first published in 2024
(Emily Wilde series 2)

Emily Wilde is a dryadology scholar in Cambridge where she works on putting together a map of the otherlands after finishing her encyclopedia of faeries.
To help her friend (and possibly more) Wendell to find a door to his realm, she travels with him to Austria.

I got through half of the book, but it was just too repetitive for my taste. Getting attacked by faeries, escaping, making a lot of notes, getting attacked by different faeries, escaping ... repeat.
When I noticed I was only really interested anymore if her Black Dog Shadow would stay alive, I stopped reading in the middle of a sentence (and of course checked the ending for Shadow).

Random Saturday - Diaries

A while ago, I saw an Instagram post with a few pictures in which several people had shared bits of their teenage diaries. It made me cringe, not because of what they wrote, but because I had come across my own diaries the other day when I looked for something else.

I got my first diary when I was 12. During vacation, I spent a few days with my closest school friend and we were out and about a lot. One day we walked to the next little town to visit another school friend and on the way we discovered the window of a little shop.
I wonder if those kind of shops still exist in some villages and small towns. It's practically one room where you can get about anything, from pencils to magazines, glasses to figurines, lottery tickets to diaries.
Yes, there were diaries in the window and we spontaneously decided to give each other one because that's what best friends did instead of buying their own.

Do they look familiar to you? They were from Shanghai und I was surprised how many people seem to be looking for them.
There were two sizes, this is the "Shanghai diary 112" (the other one was 110), they came in all kinds of colors and different motifs. They also had notebooks and even recipe books like that (it said on the spine what it was).
They had lines, the left pages had an orange edge with a sun and flowers, the right ones had trees and mountains in pink. At least, that was the case for all of mine, maybe there were some with other pictures.

From the age of 12 to 24 I had three of those diaries and filled about two and a half of them. I wasn't a very regular writer and there were huge gaps at times.
It was so surprising to find them because in my memory I had disposed of them a long time ago. That was not the only time my memory had failed, it seemed.

I started with the one I had abandoned because it was the shortest one. It was from the time when I was training as a librarian and then began working which was also how I met my ex. So yes, it was all very much pink glasses and love songs in the air back then 😉, but there were no surprising memories, so the shredder did its work.

Then I turned to the first one because I figured there would be a few things in there I didn't remember and I was right about that.
Early teenagehood was a relatively carefree time. I wrote mostly about friends, what we did, what we ate, what we bought, where we went. The rest was filled up with talking about school and that once again I hadn't practiced enough for my violin lesson.

The second diary, however, is full swing puberty and it was downright embarrassing to read about my being awkward (that's a euphemism) and pining for one or the other boy (or young man as I grew older). Reading it made me cringe so badly 😂
Some of those memories had been shoved into a small cabinet in a cobwebbed little corner of my mind and that's where I decided to put them back into.
Just imagine I'll get famous after all - stop laughing - and someone pulls out that diary after my death, I would roll over in my grave! Okay, I wouldn't want anyone to read it, famous or not.
So yeah, into the shredder it went.

There were some redeeming features, though. I stood up against racism (for a friend), I was not self-centered (or infatuated) enough to not contemplate the state of the world (and of course worry about it), and I was there for friends. 
It was a relief to read I wasn't a complete idiot, just a teenager.

After abandoning my diary at 24, I never picked one up again. I have always been terrible with even keeping up notebooks and calendars, so it's more of a surprise I even wrote that much.
The only thing I regret in that regard is never trying to write a dream journal. My dreams are wild, but hardly ever embarrassing, I think they would have been a much more fun read - most of them, anyway. I'm not going to start that now, though.

Do you (still) have a diary or your diaries from your past?

Silent movies - Putting Pants on Philip

After I brought you a short with just Stan Laurel the other week, it's time for one of Laurel and Hardy's silent shorts, one of the earliest of the 34 in which they appeared together.
It's "Putting Pants on Philip" from 1927.

I guess the picture already gives you a small idea of the plot, but let me give you the rest - with spoilers.

Piedmont Mumblethunder is waiting for his Scottish nephew to get off a ship. He has never seen him, and when he notices a man in a kilt, he's laughing just as much about him and his encounter with the customs officer in regards to the medical exam as everyone else. He's not as amused anymore when he finds out that this is his nephew Philip.

Walking around town, Piedmont also finds out that his sister hasn't been wrong about Philip liking the ladies as she wrote in her letter. Not only does Philip pursue one lady in particular whom they happen to meet more than once, but he also draws crowds every time in the attempt to meet her.
His "Marilyn number" also draws crowds - meaning his kilt is flying up when he walks over ventilation grates -  and even makes two ladies faint when he loses his shorts at one point (off screen 😉).

Piedmont decides to get Philip some pants which is easier said than done as his nephew absolutely refuses to have his inseam taken (which of course made me think of Mr. Humphries, IYKYK) and finally escapes through a window in another attempt to follow the pretty lady from before.

In order to impress her, he puts down his kilt on a mud puddle for her, but she easily jumps across the puddle without stepping on the kilt and leaves nephew and uncle behind.

To teach Philip a lesson, Piedmont decides to take up the offer instead and promptly ends up in a hole full of mud.

If you are like me, you probably mostly know the Laurel and Hardy talkies and you have a certain idea of the characters they play.
I think you already see some of those coming through in this short, even if they are not a team yet as in wreaking havoc together. Stan is already testing Ollie's patience here, though - the awkward kilt-wearing Scottish nephew, a bit whiny, who can't resist a nice Flapper versus the slightly pompous Piedmont trying to keep Philip in check and failing spectacularly.

While the film is a bit cheeky, I don't have the feeling it ever goes too far, and I really enjoyed the way our pretty Flapper not only got away from Philip, but even mocked him by repeating his signature jump before she left. Pretty impressive on her heels if you ask me!

One of our weekend entertainments was "Als die Bilder laufen lernten" (literally "when the pictures learned how to run" ("moving pictures"), the original title was "Mad Movies") in which Bob Monkhouse presented silent movies. Of course, it was dubbed in Germany and as a kid I probably didn't even think about the clips being silent thanks to the narrator.
Probably Laurel and Hardy were included as well, but I can't actively remember that.
So this is their first silent film I have watched consciously. You remember I had fun with jumping Stan in "Dr. Pyckle and Mr. Pryde" and it was just as funny here. I really liked Ollie as well and felt with him, though!

A cute little screwball comedy leaving the question open who did it better - Stan or Marilyn? 😏

Cats, cats, cats, and more cats, part 2

I said I would be back with the random cats around my house! If you are interested, you can find part 1 here in which I said "I have quite a few around the place, some because I fell in love with them myself, others because for some weird reason people think I like cats and have given me a lot of items over the years. Really strange, I know. Why would they think something like that? 😂"

Let's start with a cat in existential crisis. I get you, cat, I really do. I feel like screaming this way a lot these days.
When the resident artist with the fuzzy ears decided to turn my beloved bunny peeler into art - in other words, he knocked it down and broke it - I had to look for a replacement. The bunny peeler had been a gift from my cat food shop (the best blade ever), so I had to settle for a black cat instead. Gundel and I love black cats. As expected, it's not as good as the bunny, but it does the job.
Oh, and those are cat tins behind it. They came with some cat medication and are perfect for holding tea, wire, and beads.

"Are you interested in a Steiff cat?" As I have mentioned before, Steiff has a huge variety of dogs, but not so much of cats, and we already had the most common post-war ones, so our reply to our seller acquaintance was a little lukewarm.
"She has a red ribbon." Steiff cats (and dogs) often had a ribbon around the neck, so that didn't tell us much. "In the ear." Now that made our ears go up like those of a cat. If it was really a red ear tag, that would mean pre-war and was definitely worth looking at.
It was love at first sight. Not only has the lady the beautiful green-blue eyes (we always called them pre-war eyes because after the war the cat eyes turned a more vivid green instead) that we loved so much, she also wasn't a tabby as in striped, but had more of a dotted fur. She was absolutely gorgeous and is - along with Fluffy, but that's another story - still my favorite Steiff cat. She's almost 100 years old, can you believe that?

I deliberately took her photo next to those scratches on my sideboard. Wanna guess? Yes, it's another artwork by the resident artist (Marsha, how's that for the next SIA challenge? 😜). In his defense, he was inspired by an earlier piece of art by Greebo, displayed on the same sideboard.

When I saw this cat keyring at a jewelry shop, I just couldn't resist ... I had to make the ex buy it for me 😂 That sounds worse than it was, really. I just said "ooh, I love her" and he asked me if I wanted her. We were on a shopping tour through antique and thrift shops on a day off and had been prepared to put down a bit of money here and there.
Oh yes, I wanted her. I love my silver cat. She's cute and heavy, and if I can't find my keys in my shopper because they have once again hidden in the bottom corner, I always feel around for her.
Once I thought I'd lost her, the screw of the keyring had unscrewed. Ever since the first thing I do when grabbing my keys is to make sure the screw is tight.

This is another cat I can identify with on some days when I'm not in cat peeler screaming mode.
It's a print by Wiebke Rauers, a German freelance illustrator.

I told you before that Steiff didn't just make plush animals, but also a lot of wooden toys.
Pictures of Steiff animals also appear on a lot of other items, however (which is a topic for another post).
This is one of them. I have three of these little plastic bowls for children in my collection, another one with a Zotty teddy and a cat, and one with two dwarfs. This one has a Cosy Molly and a Cosy Snobby dog watch over a sleeping Floppy Kitty (Floppy animals had embroidered "closed" eyes).
There's just a copyright mark for Steiff on it but no maker, and I never bothered trying to find out more. I have some smaller plush animals sitting in there, so you can still see the design.
Can't you imagine toddlers eating from these? They are cute, sturdy and easy to grab. The bowls, not the toddlers.

I own a small collection of Zippos with cats on them, most of them gifts. I used to use all of them, but now they decorate my cat book cabinet.
Once we were at a pub. It was quite full and when we left the table, the next group was already over it. Right outside the door I noticed I had forgotten my pack of cigarettes - you can tell from that how long ago that was! - and my favorite Zippo. We are talking not even a minute before I was back, but both the pack and the lighter were gone. I asked at the table and just got shaking heads, so I asked the waiter and he said no one had given it to him.
So I went back to the table again and said it was impossible they hadn't seen it. All of them looked at one guy, one of the girls looking mad and giving him a sign, so he slowly reached into his pocket and pulled out my Zippo and cigarettes. I was upset and said "So you really just lied to me?". He didn't even look embarrassed and shrugged. One of them could have caught up with us easily. I admit I called him something when I left. He could at least have apologized. The girl said something I don't remember, but the others just laughed at him for getting caught. Some people!

I didn't try to polish these or anything, the use and wear is telling their own story.

I got this cute little pair years ago as a Christmas gift from a colleague. The pinkish stone is so pretty. I choose to believe that these two are friends.

Have you ever heard of The Kindness Rocks Project?
It's about painting pebbles or rocks and hiding them in public for someone else to find. Children do it, but also grownups. There are Facebook groups where you can share your finds or the rocks you painted yourself. The rocks can have messages, little paintings or both.

An artist friend of mine (I'm not saying the name because she's in web timeout as far as I know) painted rocks for a local project. She showed pictures, and when I said how much I loved this one, she very generously offered it to me as a gift.
It ended up in our customs office. At the time, they picked random private parcels for checks and you had to go to the office to open the parcel as they weren't allowed to, and then they would determine its value to see if fees incurred.
When I put the rock on the table, the clerk took it, turned it around and asked me what it was. "Uh, a rock with a cat painting on it?" "Yes, but what is it?" "It's a rock. There's nothing more to it. There's this project for which people paint and hide rocks. An artist friend participates in her town and sent this one to me because I liked it." "Oh." We looked at each other, maybe she tried to read my mind for the reason why anyone would do any of this. "A rock." "Your friend did that beautifully." "Yes." "Okay, I guess ... that's it then. Have a nice day." And off we went, my rock and I.

I love it when an item comes with an extra story on top of the original story 😁 

That's it for today, but I'm pretty sure there will be a part 3. See you then!

Barbie's Wardrobe - Patio Party

I'm not a fashionista. I'm ... you could say... a wearer of clothing. I like my clothes to be comfortable and the right size and possibly not to have holes or spots (that part is not always easy if you have cats).
There are features I love, like pockets in dresses or 3/4 sleeves, but beyond that, I'm fairly undemanding and not adventurous.
That doesn't mean I don't like to look at clothes at all, especially those that I would never be able to wear myself, due to money, my size, lack of occasion, etc. There are still ways to bring Haute Couture into my life, though. I mean Barbie and her friends.
I have always been fascinated by miniatures and Barbie's vintage outfits with their tiny zippers and buttons and buckles and accessories are incredible. This is my "fashion life", either through my own small collection or pictures.
(And yes, I do know Barbie's body isn't natural, I knew it as a child and I never strived to look like her ... if I had, something would have gone wrong).
Let me give you a glimpse in Barbie's wardrobe every, now and then.

Today we make a little trip into the mod era. Actually, this time both our model and her outfit are from the same time period, 1967 - 1968, that is.

Are you ready for a party? This pretty (not so young) lady is.
She's a TNT Barbie with titian hair. TNT stands for "Twist'n'Turn" meaning she could not only turn her head from sideways, but also her waist (like her British friend Stacey I wrote about the other day). She also had bendable legs.
Her straight hair with the irregular cut and the bangs came in four colors - "Chocolate Bon-Bon" (dark brunette), "Sun Kissed" (pale blonde), "Go Go Co Co" (brown/brownette), and "Summer Sand" (ash blonde). The titian is not an official color and isn't seen that often. It's still discussed if there are some genuine redheads or if it's always a result of oxidization.

Barbie is showing us a fabulous mod outfit called "Patio Party".
Mod designers sure knew how to combine colors.

Barbie is wearing a nylon jumpsuit in a multicolor paisley/floral print with very wide palazzo pant legs.
The asymmetrically colored overdress is from a midnight blue and a contrasting vivid green satin.
I chose this for her to wear because I think it goes great with her titian hair.
The high heels pick up the blue from both the jumpsuit and the overdress.
This hostess ensemble is in the tradition of older ones with the difference of the wide pant legs and of course the colors.

The only accessory is a pair of funky earrings. While the outfit itself - manufactured as #1693 - is one of those 1600s fashions that is easier to find, the earrings are hard to come by and can be replaced by reproduction earrings.
I got this outfit from the original owner, though, completely with earrings. Given how small and easy to lose they are, it is amazing to me that she still had them!

If you wonder why Barbie isn't wearing them, however, let me quickly mention the bane of the green ear. That may sound like the title for one of my early silent horror movies (or a book from the series of The Three Investigators), but it's just silent horror.
The vinyl of the dolls can react with the metal of the earrings and the green can really spread. Better not take chances at all as it's well possible you can't get rid of it!
Even without the earrings, it's such a cool outfit to wear to a patio party, though.

For full disclosure, I edited the doll stand out of the picture, but didn't change anything about the outfit.

Barbie is a registered trademark of Mattel, Inc. I am not affiliated with Mattel in any way.


Sources:

1. Sibyl DeWein and Joan Ashabraner: The Collector's Encyclopedia of Barbie Dolls and Collectibles. Paducah, KY, Collector Books, 1994
2. Sarah Sink Eames: Barbie Doll Fashion, Vol. II, 1968 - 1974. Paducah, KY, Collector Books, 1997
3. Vintage Barbie Patio Party. On: Fashion Doll Guide
4. Vintage Twist'n'Turn Barbie Doll. On: Fashion Doll Guide

Silent movies - Raffles, the Amateur Cracksman

I hadn't heard of Raffles before when I got the 70s box set cheaply from the UK years ago.
A. J. Raffles is the main character of 26 short stories and a novel around the turn of the century (obviously the 19/20th century). He became so popular that there are several adaptations.
One of them is the movie "Raffles, the Amateur Cracksman" (which was the title of the first collection of short stories) from 1917 with John Barrymore as Raffles.

Anyone surprised that they used
Barrymore's handsome profile
for the theatrical poster? No?
(Public domain via
Wikipedia Commons)

Let's start with the plot as usual (with spoilers).

"Count de Bauderay" is on board of a Mediterranean steamer. There he flirts with the divorced Mrs. Vidal who falls in love with him. Also on board is a swindler who tells Mrs. Vidal about the priceless "rose pearl of India" he has with him. The "Count" finds out he has hidden it in his shoe, steals it, and, when caught, escapes by jumping into the sea and swimming ashore.

In the months after, several daring robberies occur in town, attributed to "The Amateur Cracksman".
At the same time, A. J. Raffles, a champion cricketer, returns from Australia and is welcomed with joy and an invitation for a weekend visit with Lord Amersteth. His old college friend Bunny, who's in love with Gwendolyn, Amersteth's ward, is there and also Mrs. Vidal.
That is unfortunate as she is ready to pick up what she thought to be the start of a love affair while it was just a flirt for Raffles. And when she notices how fondly Raffles is looking at Gwendolyn, she starts threatening to expose him as she is sure that he's the "Amateur Cracksman" (surprise, she's right).

Another weekend guest is Mylord's neighbor, a retired detective named Bedford who is keen on catching the cracksman. He gets his chance thanks to Lady Melrose wearing her famous diamond necklace which is irresistible for Raffles.
The lady doesn't believe in safes and has the empty box locked in while hiding the necklace in her chest of drawers. If only she knew that her maid is in cohorts with a professional burglar, Crawshay. The maid takes the necklace and drops it out of the window for Crawshay to catch, but Raffles is quicker. They fight, the burglar is arrested and taken away swearing revenge - and promptly escapes on the way.

Ouch.
There were prints in which this was censored.

When the theft of the necklace is discovered the next morning, Bedford is sure he can retrieve it. Raffles wagers for 150 pounds that Bedford won't be able to do it before midnight. He wants to give the money to Bunny who has gambling debts. The detective accepts as he already suspects Raffles to be the thief.
Raffles returns to his rooms in the city. When Bunny arrives, he tells him the truth about being the cracksman and his intent to send the necklace back after winning the money for him.
Then Crawshay comes for the promised revenge. When Bedford and his colleague turn up, Raffles helps Crawshay to escape. Bedford goes after the burglar. Next is Mrs. Vidal who has found a letter by Gwendolyn who's worried about Raffles after Mrs. Vidal has hinted at him being the cracksman. (Confused yet?) Bedford comes back and tells Mrs. Vidal he has a warrant to arrest Raffles. Enter Lord Amersteth and Gwendolyn. You know what, just enter everyone, the more the merrier.
It's past midnight and Bedford pays the 150 pounds to Raffles who gives them to Bunny before getting arrested. Then the detective lets Raffles speak to Gwendolyn alone. He's a smart one, that Bedford.
Yup, Raffles escapes - allowed to take Mylord's and Gwendolyn's car -  and Bedford says: "Well, I'm deucedly glad he escaped. He's splendid!" 😂
Of course he is, just look at this guy! Who wouldn't forgive him his daring robberies?

A. J. Raffles is the brainchild of E. W. Hornung, a British writer who happened to be the brother-in-law of Arthur Conan Doyle (I'm not a fan of not acknowledging people for who they are or what they did, but who they are or were married to or a relative of, but in this case I have a reason).

As a teenager, Hornung spent two years in Australia and he also wrote his first stories and novels about Australia.
In 1898, he published his first Raffles stories and dedicated them to Doyle although he had warned against writing them.
Raffles is no Robin Hood, the only poor he's giving to are his friend and accomplice Bunny and himself, and Doyle didn't think a criminal should be made a hero. While some critics agreed to that, the stories were popular and a financial success, and Raffles was even used a synonym for burglars in articles (I read an interesting article on how Raffles actually had an influence on how burglary was seen in the UK before the Second World War).
The stories were told in a style similar to Doyle's Sherlock Holmes, with Bunny as the narrator and chronicler for Raffles, only those two weren't the ones solving the crimes, but committing them.
Most of Hornung's work has been forgotten, but Raffles hasn't and got adapted for radio, TV, and the big screen more than once.

Back to our film.
In those times, it wouldn't have been acceptable to portray Raffles the way he was in the stories, so they made him more of a Robin Hood by noting that he stole from the rich and gave to charity or punished a crook.
As you might have been able to tell from my description, I found it rather amusing, but that has less to do with the plot or the quality of the film. Instead I very much concentrated on John Barrymore again.
If I had thought he had hammed it up a little in "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" - much to my enjoyment - I hadn't been prepared for Raffles.
In the second half, I started to think all he did was standing around holding his cigarette and either looking serious or surprised or with a knowing smile on his lips. 
Then, however, he confessed to Bunny that he was a burglar and described the thrill it gave him.

There and then, I regretted that Barrymore never got to play Dracula. I think that could have been wonderful.
Actually, I had to laugh at this scene, but not in a bad way. Like some of the other scenes, it gave me the impression that Barrymore didn't take the character too seriously, and I enjoyed that.

When he was in the study and shot in the air much to the shock of those standing outside, including Bedford waiting to arrest him, and then escaped via the secret opening in the grandfather clock (a scene that Wikipedia needs an update on, by the way, because it says it's not in existing prints), he seemed to have so much fun.

Again, he definitely made the movie for me which was okay otherwise, but I welcomed it being only an hour long. An hour I'd be willing to put in again just for Barrymore's performance.

P.S. YouTube recommended another of his films to me right away, so be prepared to see that profile again!


Selected sources:

1. Fritzi Kramer: Raffles the Amateur Cracksman (1917) - A silent film review. On: Movies Silently, February 4, 2013
2. Eloise Moss: "How I Had Liked This Villain! How I Had Admired Him!": A. J. Raffles and the Burglar as British Icon, 1898 - 1939. In: Journal of British Studies 53(2014), pp. 136 - 161 (doi:10.1017/jbr.2013.209, closed access)