Raffles stories and adaptations

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File:Out of Paradise 01.jpg
1904 Collier's illustration by J. C. Leyendecker

A. J. Raffles is a British fictional character – a cricketer and gentleman thief – created by E. W. Hornung. Between 1898 and 1909, Hornung wrote a series of 26 short stories, two plays, and a novel about Raffles and his fictional chronicler, Harry "Bunny" Manders.

The first story, "The Ides of March", appeared in the June 1898 edition of Cassell's Magazine.<ref name="strand" /> The early adventures were collected in The Amateur Cracksman<ref name="cracksman">Template:Cite book</ref> and continued with The Black Mask (1901).<ref name="mask">Template:Cite book</ref> The last collection, A Thief in the Night (1904)<ref name="thief">Template:Cite book</ref> and the novel Mr. Justice Raffles (1909)<ref name="justice">Template:Cite book</ref> tell of adventures previously withheld. The novel was poorly received, and no further stories were published.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Hornung dedicated the first collection of stories, The Amateur Cracksman, to his brother-in-law, Arthur Conan Doyle, intending Raffles as a "form of flattery."<ref name="strand">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In contrast to Conan Doyle's Holmes and Watson, Raffles and Bunny are "something dark, morally uncertain, yet convincingly, reassuringly English."<ref name="guardian">Template:Cite news</ref>

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Raffles is an antihero. Although a thief, he "never steals from his hosts, he helps old friends in trouble, and in a subsequent volume he may or may not die on the veldt during the Boer War."<ref name="independent">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Additionally, the "recognition of the problems of the distribution of wealth is [a] recurrent subtext" throughout the stories.<ref name="strand" />

According to the Strand Magazine, these stories made Raffles "the second most popular fictional character of the time," behind Sherlock Holmes.<ref name="strand" /> They have been adapted to film, television, stage, and radio, with the first appearing in 1903.

Plot

The "Raffles" stories have two distinct phases. In the first phase, Raffles and Bunny are men-about-town who also commit burglaries. Raffles is a famous gentleman cricketer, a marvellous spin bowler who is often invited to social events that would be out of his reach otherwise. "I was asked about for my cricket", he comments after this period is over. It ends when they are caught and exposed on an ocean voyage while attempting another theft; Raffles dives overboard and is presumed drowned. These stories were collected in The Amateur Cracksman.<ref name="cracksman" /> Other stories set in this period, written after Raffles had been "killed off", were collected in A Thief in the Night.<ref name="thief" />

The second phase begins some time later when BunnyTemplate:Spaced ndashhaving served a prison sentenceTemplate:Spaced ndashis summoned to the house of a rich invalid. This turns out to be Raffles himself, back in England in disguise. Then begins their "professional" period, exiled from Society, in which they are straightforward thieves trying to earn a living while keeping Raffles's identity a secret. They finally volunteer for the Boer War, where Bunny is wounded and Raffles dies in battle after exposing an enemy spy. These stories were originally collected in The Black Mask, although they were subsequently published in one volume with the phase one stories.<ref name="mask" /> The last few stories in A Thief in the Night were set during this period as well.<ref name="thief" />

Raffles was never quite the same after his reappearance. The "classic" Raffles elements are all found in the first stories: cricket, high society, West End clubs, Bond Street jewellersTemplate:Spaced ndashand two men in immaculate evening dress pulling off impossible robberies.

Characters

A. J. Raffles

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} Raffles is, in many ways, a deliberate inversion of HolmesTemplate:Spaced ndashhe is a "gentleman thief", living at the Albany, a prestigious address in London, playing cricket for the Gentlemen of England and supporting himself by carrying out ingenious burglaries. He is called the "Amateur Cracksman", and often, at first, differentiates between himself and the "professors"Template:Spaced ndashprofessional criminals from the lower classes.<ref name="strand" /><ref name="cracksman" />

Bunny Manders

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}}

Bunny Manders, a struggling journalist, is Watson to Raffles' Holmes, his partner and chronicler. They met initially at school and then again on the night Bunny intended to commit suicide after writing bad cheques to cover gambling debts. Raffles, also penniless, but thriving, persuaded Bunny to join him instead.<ref name="strand" /><ref name="cracksman" />

Inspector Mackenzie

The most notable recurring character in the stories aside from Raffles and Bunny is Inspector Mackenzie, a Scottish detective from Scotland Yard. Mackenzie is an adversary to Raffles and appears in "Gentlemen and Players", "The Return Match", "The Gift of the Emperor", and Mr. Justice Raffles. He is first mentioned in "A Costume Piece" and is also referenced by name in "The Chest of Silver". He is probably the "canny man at Scotland Yard" mentioned in "The Rest Cure".

Mackenzie was based on Melville Leslie Macnaghten, the Chief Constable of the Criminal Investigation Department at Scotland Yard, according to Richard Lancelyn Green.<ref>Hornung (2003), p. 156, "Notes" by Richard Lancelyn Green.</ref> Owen Dudley Edwards wrote that the character Inspector MacDonald in The Valley of Fear seems to have been inspired by Inspector Mackenzie.<ref>Template:Cite book Stated under "Explanatory Notes" by Owen Dudley Edwards.</ref>

Though Mackenzie only directly appears in four of the Raffles stories, he is used as a more major character in several adaptations of Raffles, for example the 1977 television series Raffles. There are a few other minor recurring characters in the Raffles stories, such as the rival thief Crawshay, who appears in two early stories and is mentioned in "The Chest of Silver".

List of stories

File:The Ides of March 02.jpg
Bunny and Raffles in "The Ides of March", by John H. Bacon (Cassell's Magazine, 1898)

The Raffles stories include three short story collections and one novel. Most of the short stories appeared in magazines before being published in book form.

  1. "The Ides of March", first published in June 1898 in Cassell's Magazine.
  2. "A Costume Piece", first published in July 1898 in Cassell's Magazine.
  3. "Gentlemen and Players", first published in August 1898 in Cassell's Magazine.
  4. "Le Premier Pas", first published in this collection.
  5. "Wilful Murder", first published in this collection.
  6. "Nine Points of the Law", first published in September 1898 in Cassell's Magazine.
  7. "The Return Match", first published in October 1898 in Cassell's Magazine.
  8. "The Gift of the Emperor", first published in November 1898 in Cassell's Magazine.
  • The Black Mask (1901) – stories take place after "The Gift of the Emperor":
  1. "No Sinecure", first published in January 1901 in Scribner's Magazine.
  2. "A Jubilee Present", first published in February 1901 in Scribner's Magazine.
  3. "The Fate of Faustina", first published in March 1901 in Scribner's Magazine.
  4. "The Last Laugh", first published in April 1901 in Scribner's Magazine.
  5. "To Catch a Thief", first published in May 1901 in Scribner's Magazine.
  6. "An Old Flame", first published in June 1901 in Scribner's Magazine.
  7. "The Wrong House, first published in September 1901 in Scribner's Magazine.
  8. "The Knees of the Gods", first published in this collection.
  • A Thief in the Night (1905) – all except the last two take place before "The Gift of the Emperor":
  1. "Out of Paradise", first published in December 1904 in Collier's Weekly.
  2. "The Chest of Silver", first published in January 1905 in Collier's Weekly.
  3. "The Rest Cure", first published in February 1905 in Collier's Weekly.
  4. "The Criminologists' Club", first published in March 1905 in Collier's Weekly.
  5. "The Field of Philippi", first published in April 1905 in Collier's Weekly.
  6. "A Bad Night", first published in June 1905 in Pall Mall Magazine.
  7. "A Trap to Catch a Cracksman", first published in July 1905 in Pall Mall Magazine.
  8. "The Spoils of Sacrilege", first published in August 1905 in Pall Mall Magazine.
  9. "The Raffles Relics", first published in September 1905 in Pall Mall Magazine.
  10. "The Last Word", shorter than the other stories, first published in this collection.

Adaptations

Film

There have been numerous films based on Raffles and his adventures, including:

Television

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Radio and audio

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  • A radio adaptation of "The Ides of March" aired on 9 December 1941 on the BBC Forces Programme, with Malcolm Graeme as Raffles and Ronald Simpson as Bunny. It was adapted by John Maitland and produced by John Cheatle.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • Horace Braham voiced Raffles in CBS radio productions between 1942 and 1945.<ref name=pittsthree/>
  • Six radio episodes with Frank Allenby as Raffles and Eric Micklewood as Bunny were broadcast on the BBC Light Programme between 3 December 1945 and 14 January 1946. The producer was Leslie Stokes.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • Austin Trevor voiced Raffles with Lewis Stringer as Bunny in a radio adaptation of Mr. Justice Raffles, adapted and produced by Val Gielgud. It aired on the BBC Home Service on 8 February 1964. Duncan McIntyre voiced Inspector Mackenzie.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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Theatre

  • The story of A. J. Raffles was first performed on Broadway as Raffles, The Amateur Cracksman on 27 October 1903 at the Princess Theatre.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The play moved to the Savoy Theatre in February 1904 and closed out in March of that year racking up 168 performances. It starred Kyrle Bellew as Raffles, a young Clara Blandick as Gwendolyn and E. M. Holland as Captain Bedford.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> The play was co-written by E. W. Hornung and Eugene Presbrey. It premiered in London on 12 May 1906, with Gerald du Maurier as Raffles.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> André Brulé starred as Raffles in a production that opened on 14 June 1907 at the Théatre Réjane, Paris. The play opened at the Teatro de la Comedia, Madrid, on 11 February 1908.<ref name=green/> Eille Norwood played Raffles in a touring version of the play in 1909.<ref>"Eille Norwood", Who's Who in the Theatre, Volume 3, ed. John Parker, Boston: Small, Maynard, and Co., 1912, p. 372.</ref>

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> Denholm Mitchell Elliott starred as Raffles in the 1975 premiere at the Aldwych Theatre.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Raffles has also been played in other productions by John Neville (1979), Jeremy Child (1979), and Brian Protheroe (1994). The play was adapted for radio in 1993 as part of the BBC radio series with Jeremy Clyde as Raffles.

Comics

Literary pastiches

  • The Raffles character was continued by Barry Perowne with the approval of the Hornung Estate. Published in the story paper The Thriller during the 1930s and early 1940s,<ref name="strand" /> his series featured Raffles as a fairly typical contemporary pulp adventure hero and plays the role of detective alongside that of thief. When he picked up the series again in the 1950s, and once again during the 1970s, the stories were set closer to the late Victorian-setting of the original stories. Over the course of 50 years, off and on, Perowne produced around 60 short stories, some at novella length, and five novels featuring Raffles. Rare for a pastiche writer, Perowne's stories have been compared favourably with the originals.<ref>David Vinyard's review of Raffles Revisited is typical.</ref>
  • Jon L. Breen's story "Ruffles versus Ruffles" is based on the conceit that Hornung's Raffles and Perowne's Raffles are separate people, playing off the differing characterisation used by the two authors.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
  • The 1977 novel Raffles, by David Fletcher, is a fresh re-write of many of Hornung's original stories, deriving from the television series of the same year.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
  • Peter Tremayne wrote the 1991 novel The Return of Raffles in which Raffles becomes involved in a plot between rival spies.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Although announced as the "first of a new series of Raffles adventure," it remains a single volume.
  • Around the turn of the 21st Century, John Hall wrote eight Raffles pastiches, some of which appeared in the Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine. Some were adaptions of scripts he wrote earlier for the Imagination Theatre radio series. They were collected in the 2007 book The Ardagh Emeralds.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
  • Adam Corres authored the 2008 novel Raffles and the Match-Fixing Syndicate,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> a modern crime thriller in which A. J. Raffles, a master of gamesmanship, explores the corrupt world of international cricket match fixing.

Raffles and Holmes

  • John Kendrick Bangs authored a 1906 novel, R. Holmes & Co.,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> starring Raffles' grandson (and Sherlock Holmes's son, by Raffles' daughter Marjorie), Raffles Holmes. The novel's second chapter tells the story of Holmes's pursuit of Raffles and his growing affection for Raffles's daughter. Bangs also wrote Mrs Raffles,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> in which Raffles's sidekick Bunny Manders teams up in America with the cracksman's hitherto-unchronicled wife.
  • Carolyn Wells wrote several short parodies in which Sherlock Holmes leads a group called the International Society of Infallible Detectives. Raffles is depicted as a member of the society, along with other characters such as C. Auguste Dupin and Arsène Lupin. Raffles appears in four of the stories, which were published in magazines: "The Adventure of the 'Mona Lisa'" (1912),<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> "Sure Way to Catch Every Criminal. Ha! Ha!" (1912),<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> "The Adventure of the Lost Baby" (1913),<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and "The Adventure of the Clothes-line" (1915).<ref>Template:Cite wikisource</ref>

  • Several of Barry Perowne's Raffles short stories feature or reference Sherlock Holmes, including: "The Victory Match"; "The Baskerville Match" and "Raffles and an American Night's Entertainment".
  • In 1932, Hugh Kingsmill's "The Ruby of Khitmandu", in which Raffles and Bunny were pitted against Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, was published in the April issue of The Bookman. A portion of the story was republished in the collection The Misadventures of Sherlock Holmes (1944, edited by Ellery Queen).
  • Philip José Farmer put Raffles and Manders into a science-fictional situation in his story, "The Problem of the Sore BridgeTemplate:Spaced ndashAmong Others", in which he and Bunny solve three mysteries unsolved by Sherlock Holmes and save humanity from alien invasion.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
  • In one of Robert L. Fish's Schlock Homes stories, "The Adventure of the Odd Lotteries" (1980), Homes and Watney encounter a cracksman and hypochondriac known as "A.J. Lotteries."<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
  • Raffles and Bunny feature in Moriarty: The Hound of the D'Ubervilles (2011), by Kim Newman, in a chapter depicting the gathering of the world's greatest criminals.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
  • In 2011 and 2012 Richard Foreman published a series of six Raffles stories, collected in a single volume, Raffles: The Complete Innings.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> These stories, contemporaneous with The Amateur Cracksman, begin with "The Gentleman Thief," in which Raffles and Bunny are hired by Sherlock Holmes to steal a stolen letter. Later stories in the sextet see Raffles and Bunny encounter H. G. Wells and Irene Adler. Foreman's Raffles is also more moralistic than the original: the gentleman thief often donates part of his ill-gotten gains to various charitable causes.

Cameo appearances

  • Raffles makes a cameo appearance in Kim Newman's Anno Dracula (1992). Although never mentioned by name, the character is described as an amateur cracksman (a reference to the title of the first short story collection), and mutters the epigram, "You play what's chucked at you, I always say."<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
  • Raffles and Bunny make a minor appearance in Lost in a Good Book, a 2004 novel written by Jasper Fforde. They are pulled out of the literary world into the real world to help crack a safe containing the stolen manuscript of Shakespeare's Cardenio.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

References

Notes Template:Reflist

Bibliography

  • Larance, Jeremy. "The A. J. Raffles Stories Reconsidered: Fall of the Gentleman Ideal." English Literature in Transition, 1880–1920. 57.1 (2014): 99–125.
  • Rowland, Peter. Raffles and His Creator: The Life and Works of E. W. Hornung, Nekta Publications, London, 1999. Template:ISBN
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