Presenting the Transcription Feature 187: RAFFLES

The Chronic Rift Network

The character of A.J. Raffles was created by E.W. Hornung in 1898. Hornung was Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s brother-in-law, and he was inspired to write about a sort of anti-Sherlock Holmes. His Raffles is thief, to be sure, but one who was charming. Raffles an “an amateur cracksman,” who lives the life of a gentleman. But if you don’t actually have an independent income, you have to be able to finance your lifestyle somehow. “Screen Directors’ Playhouse” adapted popular films to radio, often with the movie’s same stars and directors. There had been several silent film adaptations of Hornung’s tales, as well as a 1930 film starring Ronald Colman and a 1939 film starring David Niven. This broadcast adapts the 1939 film and features the equally suave-voiced Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.

Episode

Screen Directors’ Playhouse September 14, 1951 “Raffles” 3:30