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)