Raffles (1939)

A cute little crime caper. London is under siege by a thief who calls himself the Amateur Cracksman. Scotland Yard is baffled and the papers are having a field day with it. However, they never would expect that A.J. Raffles (David Niven), a society man, is the thief. He has decided to reform his ways because he is in love with a beautiful young woman named Gwen Manders (Olivia de Havilland). Raffles, Gwen and some other people from high society are invited to the country home of Lord and Lady Melrose (Lionel Pape and Dame May Whitty) for the weekend. While there Raffles is informed by his friend Bunny Manders (Dudley Digges), Gwen's brother, that he is in trouble. It seems that he has a gambling problem and embezzled some money to cover his debts. He begs Raffles to help him so A.J. decides to pull off one last heist. He goes after a very expensive necklace Lady Melrose owns. However, a detective from Scotland Yard arrives and is on the Amateur Cracksman's trail.

I really enjoyed this short film. The performances were all wonderful. Niven downplayed his normal larger than life persona and that was nice. de Havilland was beautiful like she always was. There have been several versions of this story made. The first was filmed in 1905 and the latest was a made for TV version in 1975. However, this version is a very entertaining one to watch.