Brilliant and touching

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

The idea of an upper class 'Amateur Cracksman' who steals jewelry for a living has a romantic aura about it and should make for a better movie than "Raffles" turns out to be. The punch line of many scenes is telegraphed, the plot is simplistic, unadorned and full of holes and the ending is absurd.Ah, but it stars 'The Voice', Ronald Colman, and that makes all the difference. Colman and his mellifluous voice glide through every scene and anesthetizes an unbelievable story just by talking. Here he was at the height of his popularity as the dashing cricketer/thief and has as his leading lady Kay Francis, one of the loveliest stars of that era. She is unfortunately given little to do in a meager role as his fiancé. But there are some other Hollywood stalwarts in the cast, among them Alison Skipworth in one of her ditzy socialite roles and silent film bad guy David Torrence, a Scotsman with a thick Scottish accent, as the investigating detective. Also Bramwell Fletcher and Frederick Kerr, a very elderly gentleman I found delightful in "Waterloo Bridge (1930)" in the same blustery, old duffer-type role."Raffles" is uncomplicated and good fun, and about as deep as a dish of water, but worth your time to see and hear Colman say things - doesn't matter what, just listen to him talk. Thank TCM for dusting this one off.

Ronald Colman is Mr. Raffles, a gentlemen, a respected citizen of the community. But, what many don't know is that he's "The Amateur Cracksman," a jewel thief. Apparently, that's how he makes his way. But when he does a job, in order to help a friend out of a jam, things get sticky, as the job's under less than ideal circumstances. Kay Francis is his loving fiancée, whose devotion may be tested when she learns of his deceitful ways. Alison Skipworth portrays the wealthy lady of the house, whose jewels are the apple of his eye. He has even her fooled, as she singled him out as one of her favorite people at her party, where the heist is supposed to take place. To add to the mix, real burglars enter the house and run into Mr. Raffles.Honestly, Ronald Colman has never been one of my favorite actors, as it seems to me that he overacts. The only movies I like with him in it are adventures or historical types, like If I Were King, which is one of my favorite of the genre, and The Prisoner of Zenda. The Talk of the Town and Champagne for Caesar are good, too, but I can think of others I didn't care for, which I won't list here. But the point I was making was that, I really loved this film, because the viewer is immersed into his predicament and the director made good use of time and place. Frankly, I saw this because Kay Francis was in it. But I'm glad I discovered it. I hope you will, too.

This early talky really sucked me in and I highly recommend it. I'm kind of a naive Coleman fan from Lost Horizon and a movie that had me uncontrollably crying for real in Random Harvest, so this was a really good Coleman vehicle to enjoy. I pick his movies to watch with my wife so I call them date films and I'm sure that's what they were when they were first shown in the theaters. I wasn't too sure either when it first started because this is a real early talky when the prints were rough, in evidence the fish eye lens. But the sets are magnificent along with the cars and the clothes so it is a first rate production which was great. I loved all the booze in the beginning of the film, since it was in England they could do that, it must have made many an American audience thirsty during prohibition! My wife and I really got into it on a night when either of us could have easily passed on another old movie (we watch too many of them I think, it's my fault, lol), I guess we are suckers for cliffhanger jewel heist movies and who isn't? We would have liked to have seen the couple reunite in Paris, but I told my wife it was because of the censor and to just be happy he got away and wasn't gunned down by the law, lol, which even though this is pre code may be the case why there was no Paris scene to end it. Still, despite it being early talky quality, the sets, supporting cast, and Ronald Coleman make it raise way above my expectations. Highly recommended, 9 of 10.

Back when films were in their infancy, this Black and White movie made it to the top without much effort. The reason being it's star was at the height of his popularity. The film is called " Raffles " and stars Ronald Colman as the Gentleman Cat burglar, originally created by E. W. Hornung. In this episode, Raffles, who is a notorious Jewel thief, affectionately called the 'Amateur Cracksman' by the press, has fallen in love with Gwen his girl (Kay Francis). He promises to turn over a new leaf and go straight, when unexpectedly his best friend Bunny (Bramwell Fletcher) tells Raffles he is in serious financial debt and needs 1,000 pounds. He is so distraught he tries to commit suicide. Raffles decides to pull one more robbery to help him and targets 'The Melrose necklace.' What he doesn't know is that Inspector McKenzie (David Torrence) from Scotland Yard is planning to capture him when he goes to try. In addition, a second group of city burglars have targeted the rare necklace as well and plan to rob the mansion before Raffles does. The movie is tame in every respect and fun for the whole family. Recommended to all ages as a gift from a time when no body got hurt in films. ****