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Raffles

  • 19391939
  • ApprovedApproved
  • 1h 12m
IMDb RATING
6.4/10
1K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
52,926
5,166
Olivia de Havilland and David Niven in Raffles (1939)
AdventureComedyCrime
Man about town and First Class cricketer A.J. Raffles keeps himself solvent with daring robberies. Meeting Gwen from his schooldays and falling in love all over again, he spends the weekend ... Read allMan about town and First Class cricketer A.J. Raffles keeps himself solvent with daring robberies. Meeting Gwen from his schooldays and falling in love all over again, he spends the weekend with her parents, Lord and Lady Melrose. A necklace presents an irresistible temptation, b... Read allMan about town and First Class cricketer A.J. Raffles keeps himself solvent with daring robberies. Meeting Gwen from his schooldays and falling in love all over again, he spends the weekend with her parents, Lord and Lady Melrose. A necklace presents an irresistible temptation, but also in attendance is Scotland Yard's finest, finally on the trail.
IMDb RATING
6.4/10
1K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
52,926
5,166
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Directors
      • Sam Wood
      • William Wyler(uncredited)
    • Writers
      • John Van Druten(screenplay)
      • Sidney Howard(screenplay)
      • E.W. Hornung(based upon the celebrated adventures of: "The Amateur Cracksman" by)
    • Stars
      • David Niven
      • Olivia de Havilland
      • May Whitty
    Top credits
    • Directors
      • Sam Wood
      • William Wyler(uncredited)
    • Writers
      • John Van Druten(screenplay)
      • Sidney Howard(screenplay)
      • E.W. Hornung(based upon the celebrated adventures of: "The Amateur Cracksman" by)
    • Stars
      • David Niven
      • Olivia de Havilland
      • May Whitty
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 21User reviews
    • 11Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • Photos11

    David Niven in Raffles (1939)
    May Whitty in Raffles (1939)
    David Niven and May Whitty in Raffles (1939)
    Olivia de Havilland and David Niven in Raffles (1939)
    Olivia de Havilland, David Niven, and James Finlayson in Raffles (1939)
    Raffles (1939)
    Olivia de Havilland and David Niven in Raffles (1939)
    Raffles (1939)
    Olivia de Havilland and David Niven in Raffles (1939)
    David Niven in Raffles (1939)

    Top cast

    Edit
    David Niven
    David Niven
    • Raffles
    Olivia de Havilland
    Olivia de Havilland
    • Gwen
    May Whitty
    May Whitty
    • Lady Melrose
    • (as Dame May Whitty)
    Dudley Digges
    Dudley Digges
    • MacKenzie
    Douglas Walton
    Douglas Walton
    • Bunny
    E.E. Clive
    E.E. Clive
    • Barraclough
    Lionel Pape
    Lionel Pape
    • Lord Melrose
    Peter Godfrey
    Peter Godfrey
    • Crawshay
    Margaret Seddon
    Margaret Seddon
    • Maud Holden
    Hilda Plowright
    • Wilson
    Gilbert Emery
    Gilbert Emery
    • Bingham
    Keith Hitchcock
    • Merton
    Vesey O'Davoren
    • Butler
    George Cathrey
    • Melrose Footman
    George Atkinson
    • Art Gallery Attendant
    • (uncredited)
    Frank Baker
    Frank Baker
    • Art Gallery Attendant
    • (uncredited)
    Leonard Carey
    Leonard Carey
    • Bingham's Secretary
    • (uncredited)
    Herbert Clifton
    Herbert Clifton
    • Villager
    • (uncredited)
    • Directors
      • Sam Wood
      • William Wyler(uncredited)
    • Writers
      • John Van Druten(screenplay)
      • Sidney Howard(screenplay)
      • E.W. Hornung(based upon the celebrated adventures of: "The Amateur Cracksman" by)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      David Niven was due to join the British Army but was given a 21-day grace period to finish his scenes for the movie. The production crew worked double time and filmed Niven's scenes first to comply with his obligation to start his military service.
    • Goofs
      In the hansom cab, Raffles puts his arm behind Gwen above her shoulders, but in the next close-up shot of her, his arm isn't there.
    • Quotes

      Raffles: Tell me, Barraclough, why have you never been married? Surely there must have been some woman in your life.

      Barraclough: There was. Two of them, to be exact. Twenty-three years ago.

      Raffles: And neither of them became Mrs. Barraclough?

      Barraclough: No sir. Perhaps that was because I knew them both at the same time, sir. It didn't seem to work out.

    • Connections
      Featured in The Jarvis Collection: Scotland Yard (1971)
    • Soundtracks
      Fantaisie-Impromptu in C Sharp Minor, Op.66
      (1834) (uncredited)

      Written by Frédéric Chopin

      Played by an unidentified pianist at the party

    User reviews21

    Review
    Top review
    6/10
    The gorgeous Olivia de Havilland
    I'm an great admirer of the Raffles books. E W Hornung was a better writer than the more famous Arthur Conan Doyle, his more famous brother in law. The stories were very well constructed,characters well-defined and deserved classics. This is a thin lazy adaptation, combining of several of the stories losing a great deal of what was important. It is though a scene by scene and largely word for word re-make of the superior 1930 Ronald Colman version.

    One, and perhaps the, reason for the remake seemed obvious to me. The 1930 version was too steamy and too suggestive for 1939. When Ronald Colman courteously escorts the large and elderly Lady Melrose to her bedroom and wishes her goodnight, Lady Melrose affects to mishear and Colman repeats with great emphasis the finality of NIGHT!. It is made very clear from their expressions that Lady Melrose was hoping Colman would join her. It think it was not perhaps until the 1970s that Hollywood would again dare suggest such a thing. Colman's love interest is clearly passionately besotted with him and would do anything for him. It was realism but of a kind which Hollywood would I think never portray again. Firstly Hayes Code prudery and later the box office obligation to show women as heroic and independent.

    The adaptation removes Bunny's connection with Raffles (formerly a junior at Raffles public (fee paying) school and the odd obligations this entailed. Bunny in this version has little purpose. Raffles was the ultimate professional thief and corrupts Bunny and in the process teaches him (and the reader) his philosophy of life and crime. His cricket was a calculated necessary high profile front. Raffles lived alone without a servant - his night time arrivals and departures, often in disguise made that obligatory

    As other reviewers have said, Niven makes a good job of his part but only Olivia de Havillands loveliness makes the film at all watchable.

    The best screen rendering of the Raffles was a 1975 British TV series - again combining different stories but a seamlessly invisible adaptation. The interiors were those of a wealthy single gentleman of 1890s London - based on gentleman's clubs. Raffles, Bunny and McKenzie were authentically true to the books. It did Hornung honour. BBC Radio has done two versions (at least), first a reading and second a full production complete with distinctive signature tune.

    Thanks once again to Talking Pictures TV for screening these famous early Raffles versions. Otherwise I would never have known of them.
    helpful•10
    0
    • trimmerb1234
    • Feb 8, 2017

    FAQ1

    • Since this was released at near the same time as GWTW, which was actually filmed first? I suspect Raffles was filmed prior to Gone with the Wind but was curious.

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • December 29, 1939 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Caballero y ladrón
    • Filming locations
      • Samuel Goldwyn Studios - 7200 Santa Monica Boulevard, West Hollywood, California, USA
    • Production company
      • The Samuel Goldwyn Company
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $86,600
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 12 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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