Overlooked Movies: Raffles (!930)

There have been a lot of versions of this movie made, but the one I saw was the one from 1930 with Ronald Colman and Kay Francis and their matching haircuts.  There's no trailer, I'm sorry to say.

One thing this movie reminded me of was how much plot the moviemakers could get into a 90-minute film.  Colman is, of course, Raffles, the amateur cracksman, and he's decided to retire from his life of crime.  Unfortunately his great friend, Bunny, owes a huge gambling debt, and only Raffles can save him.  It will take a daring theft of the famous Melrose Necklace to do so, however, and the job is greatly complicated when a gang of thieves decides to steal the necklace.   It's further complicated by the fact that a Scotland Yard inspector finds out about the gang's plans and shows up at the Melrose estate to foil them.

There are some nice twists in the plot, and it's all carried forward with wit and good humor.  Colman is excellent, as usual, and so is Kay Francis as the love interest.  There's much here that is old-fashioned, and I doubt that very many people under 50 or 60 would get as much fun from it as I did.  I liked it a lot.