Raffles

Released Jul 24, 1930

1h 12m

Crime

Drama

List

60%

Tomatometer

5 Reviews

59%

Audience Score

50+ Ratings

An infamous jewel thief in England known as "The Amateur Cracksman" is none other than the gentleman A.J. Raffles (Ronald Colman). When Raffles falls in love with a respectable lady (Kay Francis), he decides to forgo his life of crime for her. But when his friend Bunny (Bramwell Fletcher) is deep in debt and desperate for help, Raffles agrees to one last job. Once the plan is set, the heist meets complications with the arrival of an inspector (David Torrence) and a rival thief (John Rogers).

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Variety Staff

Variety

The essence of its interest is a rascal so captivating that you are pleased to see him emerge triumphant, though guilty, from his brush with Scotland Yard.

Mar 26, 2009

Full Review

Geoffrey Macnab

Time Out

Raffles helped fix the ideal of the gentleman amateur, the handsome urbane sportsman with a hankering for illicit adventure.

Jun 24, 2006

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NYT Staff

New York Times

[There] are sequences of how love comes to a thief -- and what it does to him -- and interludes of a nature not particularly comic.

Mar 25, 2006

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Samuel Brody

The New Masses

It's all papier mache from the sets to the dramatis personae.

May 8, 2020

Full Review

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

British actor Ronlad Colman gives a suave, compelling performance in a dual role

Rated: B

Jul 11, 2011

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Steve D

Entertaining crime caper with good cast.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/27/24

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j f

Cracking 6's by day and safes by night? This should be the new Bond franchise, staring Chris Gayle.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

08/20/23

Full Review

Louisa E

This was a good, fun movie. I was interested in the plot, even if the pace was a little slow at times. The ending was great, and it was well done overall. The acting was superb by everyone too. Ronald Colman is excellent. He is the first star that I didn't know before this journey that I feel is underrated. He is Gable-esque but with a hint of Britishness that I just adore. This movie still holds its own today. There was one scene that must have been captured on the sped-up silent film stuff because it looked weird and out-of-kilter with the rest of the movie, but it was a good watch. If People magazine had a Sexist Man competition back then, my nomination would be for Ronald. Worth a watch.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

05/09/23

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Tom M

Colman is always sauve and fun to watch in a comedy. I prefer the 1940 remake with David Niven.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/26/21

Full Review

Jon C

Entertaining and atmospheric Ronald Coleman film A. J. Raffles, "the amateur cracksman," was a fictional English gentleman safecracker invented by E. W. Hornung in a series of stories beginning in 1898 as a sort of mirror image of Sherlock Holmes. Like Holmes, Raffles is a suave, upper-class intellectual involved with the underworld, but Raffles's involvement is on the wrong side of the law: he supports his upper-class lifestyle by his career as a jewellry thief. The Raffles stories were extremely popular and have been the subject of many film, theater, and television treatments. One of the best of these is this 1930, very early talkie starring cinema's quintessential English gentleman, Ronald Coleman. It's really quite a good film for its time, with an intelligent script, generally good acting (especially by Coleman and character actor Frederick Kerr, better known as Baron Frankenstein in James Whale's famous 1931 treatment of the monster story, who steals every scene he is in as a grouchy English lord.) Co-cinematographer Gregg Toland, who later worked on many Hollywood classics, is presumably responsible for the film's noirish, atmospheric lighting effects. All in all, I'd say this entertaining film will still be enjoyed by today's audiences, and is a must see for fans of Coleman. This review is based on the Warner Archives DVD (which includes a later remake of substantially the same story starring David Niven, which I haven't seen.) The image is a good transfer of a decentish, though somewhat streaky, original print.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

08/07/16

Full Review

Audience Member

#3- good version of this i guess its true 3rd time is a charm

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/21/23

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George Fitzmaurice

Director

Ronald Colman

A.J. Raffles

Kay Francis

Gwen

Bramwell Fletcher

Bunny

Frances Dade

Ethel Crowley

David Torrence

Inspector McKenzie

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Synopsis

An infamous jewel thief in England known as "The Amateur Cracksman" is none other than the gentleman A.J. Raffles (Ronald Colman). When Raffles falls in love with a respectable lady (Kay Francis), he decides to forgo his life of crime for her. But when his friend Bunny (Bramwell Fletcher) is deep in debt and desperate for help, Raffles agrees to one last job. Once the plan is set, the heist meets complications with the arrival of an inspector (David Torrence) and a rival thief (John Rogers).

Director: George Fitzmaurice
Production Co: Samuel Goldwyn Company
Genre: Crime, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jul 24, 1930, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): May 3, 2020
Runtime: 1h 12m

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