Raffles stories and adaptations explained

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. The early adventures were collected in The Amateur Cracksman[1] and continued with The Black Mask (1901).[2] The last collection, A Thief in the Night (1904)[3] and the novel Mr. Justice Raffles (1909)[4] tell of adventures previously withheld. The novel was poorly received, and no further stories were published.[5]

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."[6] In contrast to Conan Doyle's Holmes and Watson, Raffles and Bunny are "something dark, morally uncertain, yet convincingly, reassuringly English."[7]

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."[8] Additionally, the "recognition of the problems of the distribution of wealth is [a] recurrent subtext" throughout the stories.

According to the Strand Magazine, these stories made Raffles "the second most popular fictional character of the time," behind Sherlock Holmes. 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. Other stories set in this period, written after Raffles had been "killed off", were collected in A Thief in the Night.

The second phase begins some time later when Bunnyhaving served a prison sentenceis 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. The last few stories in A Thief in the Night were set during this period as well.

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 jewellersand two men in immaculate evening dress pulling off impossible robberies.

Characters

A. J. Raffles

See main article: A. J. Raffles (character). Raffles is, in many ways, a deliberate inversion of Holmeshe 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"professional criminals from the lower classes.

Bunny Manders

See main article: Bunny Manders.

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.

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.[9] Owen Dudley Edwards wrote that the character Inspector MacDonald in The Valley of Fear seems to have been inspired by Inspector Mackenzie.[10]

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

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.
  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.
  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

Radio and audio

Theatre

Comics

Literary pastiches

Raffles and Holmes

Cameo appearances

References

Notes

Bibliography

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Hornung, E. W. . 29 April 2013 . The Amateur Cracksman . . 978-1484852606 .
  2. Book: Hornung, E. W. . 29 April 2013 . The Black Mask . Ulverscroft Softcover . 978-1444808094 .
  3. Book: Hornung, E. W. . 22 July 2013 . A Thief in the Night . . 978-1491069363 .
  4. Book: Hornung, E. W. . 25 December 2012 . Mr. Justice Raffles . . 978-1481841856 .
  5. Book: Rowland. Peter. Raffles and His Creator. 1999. Nekta Publications. London. 0953358321. 190 & 194–95.
  6. Web site: Raffles: The Gentleman Thief . Richard . Bleiler . Strand Magazine. 22 February 2014.
  7. News: Stuart . Evers . 28 April 2009 . The Moral Riddles of AJ Raffles . .
  8. Web site: Book of a Lifetime: Raffles by EW Hornung . Anthony . Quinn . 10 November 2012 . The Independent.
  9. Hornung (2003), p. 156, "Notes" by Richard Lancelyn Green.
  10. Book: Doyle, Arthur Conan . Arthur Conan Doyle

    . Edwards . Owen Dudley . Arthur Conan Doyle . Owen Dudley Edwards . 1994 . 1915 . The Valley of Fear . Oxford University Press . 9780192823823 . 181. Stated under "Explanatory Notes" by Owen Dudley Edwards.

  11. Book: Pitts . Michael R. . Famous Movie Detectives II . Metuchen, New Jersey . Scarecrow Press . 1991 . 116 . 978-0810823457 .
  12. Irving, George (Director) . 1917 . Raffles, the Amateur Cracksman . Motion picture . 25 February 2014.
  13. Quiribet, Gaston and Gerald Ames (Director) . 1921 . Mr. Justice Raffles . Motion picture . 25 February 2014.
  14. Baggot, King (Director) . 1925 . Raffles . Motion picture . 25 February 2014.
  15. Fitzmaurice, George and Harry D'Abbadie D'Arrast (Director) . 1930 . Raffles . Motion picture . 25 February 2014.
  16. Markham, Mansfield (Director) . 1932 . The Return of Raffles . Motion picture . 25 February 2014.
  17. Wood, Sam (Director) . 1939 . Raffles . Motion picture . 25 February 2014.
  18. Web site: Raffles The Amateur Cracksman (1975). https://web.archive.org/web/20090213131120/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/325748. dead. 13 February 2009. British Film Institute. 26 February 2014.
  19. 1977 . Raffles . Television production . 25 February 2014.
  20. Corcoran, Bill (Director) . 1991 . Sherlock Holmes: Incident at Victoria Falls . Television production . 25 February 2013 .
  21. News: Banks-Smith. Nancy. Cutglass vowels and strangled yowls in the last summer of peace. The Guardian. 11 July 2001. Nancy Banks-Smith. London. 22.
  22. Book: Pitts . Michael R. . Famous Movie Detectives III . Lanham, Maryland . Scarecrow Press. 2004 . 301 . 978-0810836907.
  23. Web site: Raffles Saves Crime For Air . Radio Guide . 15 September 2019.
  24. Web site: The Ides of March . . 2019 . BBC Genome . BBC . 11 September 2019.
  25. Web site: Frank Allenby as 'Raffles' . . 2019 . BBC Genome . BBC . 11 September 2019.
  26. Web site: Saturday-Night Theatre . . 2019 . BBC Genome . BBC . 11 September 2019.
  27. Rintoul, David (Narrator) . 2013 . Raffles: The Amateur Cracksman . Audiobook . . 25 February 2014.
  28. [Doctor Who – The Companion Chronicles]
  29. Book: Bordman . Gerald . Hischak . Thomas S. . January 2004 . The Oxford Companion to American Theatre . Oxford, UK . . 9780195169867 . 25 February 2014.
  30. Web site: Raffles, the Amateur Cracksman . . ibdb.com . . 22 February 2014.
  31. Book: Rowland . Peter . Raffles and His Creator: The Life and Works of E. W. Hornung . London . Nekta Publications . 1999 . 261 . 0-9533583-2-1.
  32. "Eille Norwood", Who's Who in the Theatre, Volume 3, ed. John Parker, Boston: Small, Maynard, and Co., 1912, p. 372.
  33. Book: Kabatchnik, Amnon . Sherlock Holmes on the Stage: A Chronological Encyclopedia of Plays Featuring the Great Detective . Lanham, Maryland . Scarecrow Press . 2008 . 978-0-8108-6125-1 . 190785243 . 47–51.
  34. Horning (2003), pp. xlviii–lvi, "Further Reading" by Richard Lancelyn Green.
  35. Book: Greene, Graham . 4 December 1975 . The Return of A. J. Raffles . The Bodley Head . 0370106024 .
  36. Web site: Graham Greene's 'Raffles' Is No Sherlock Holmes . Nightingale . Benedict . 21 December 1975 . The New York Times.
  37. Web site: The Return of A J Raffles . . Shakespeare Birthplace Trust . 12 September 2019.
  38. Book: Moore, Alan . 4 November 2008 . The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier . . 978-1401203078 .
  39. Book: Moore, Alan . 19 May 2009 . The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Volume 3: Century #1 1910 . . 978-1603090001 .
  40. David Vinyard's review of Raffles Revisited is typical.
  41. Book: Breen, Jon L. . Ruffles versus Ruffles . . 25 February 2014 .
  42. Book: Fletcher, David . 1977 . Raffles . Putnam . 0399119485 .
  43. Book: Tremayne, Peter . July 1991 . The Return of Raffles . Severn House Pub Ltd . 0727841408 .
  44. Book: Hall, John . 2007 . The Ardagh Emeralds . Linford Mystery Library, F. A. Thorp (Publishing) . 9781846178672 .
  45. Book: Corres, Adam . 14 January 2008 . Raffles and the Match-Fixing Syndicate . Grosvenor House Publishing Limited . 9781906210625 .
  46. Book: Bangs, John Kendrick . R. Holmes & Co. . 2013 . . 978-3955630782 .
  47. Book: Bangs, John Kendrick . Mrs. Raffles . 3 January 2014 . . 978-1494875060 .
  48. Web site: The Century illustrated monthly magazine. v.83 1912. . HathiTrust Digital Library . 514 . 2027/inu.32000000491920?urlappend=%3Bseq=514 . 26 January 2021.
  49. Book: Panek, LeRoy Lad. The Origins of the American Detective Story . 80 . McFarland & Company . 2006 . 978-0-7864-8138-5 .
  50. Web site: Collected Short Stories by Carolyn Wells . 26 January 2021 . Project Gutenberg Australia.
  51. The Adventure of the Clothes-line . Wells . Carolyn . Carolyn Wells . 1915 . The Century Magazine.
  52. Book: Farmer, Philip José . April 1981 . Riverworld and Other Stories . The Problem of the Sore Bridge – Among Others . The Gregg Press science fiction series . Gregg Press . 0839826184 .
  53. Book: Fish, Robert L. . 1 August 1990 . Schlock Homes: The Complete Bagel Street Saga . The Adventure of the Odd Lotteries . Gaslight Publications . 0934468168 .
  54. Book: Newman, Kim . 4 October 2011 . Moriarty: The Hound of the D'Ubervilles . . 978-0857682833 .
  55. Book: Foreman, Richard . Raffles: The Complete Innings . 25 March 2013 . CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform . 978-1480203136 .
  56. Book: Newman, Kim . 24 May 2011 . Anno Dracula . . 978-0857680839 .
  57. Book: Fforde, Jasper . 24 February 2004 . Lost in a Good Book (A Thursday Next Novel) . . 0142004030 .