Raffles

This is so dumb by any standards. Oh Raffles you old dog, not even your charm can save this film from being an absolute dud.

Niven is charming. De Havilland is beautiful. And yet this film is not very good. Very slow to get going and the ending made no sense at all.

Every inch the 'gentleman' cricketer he portrays (no cricket scenes), David Niven offers us a smart likeable cat burglar in a pacy crime thriller with some nice humour attached.

The title character of Raffles is one of those thoroughly charming sorts that seem to have nine lives when it comes to cinema, and indeed the gentleman burglar had already turned up in three films before David Niven was given the chance to put his stamp on the part. It's quite a good thing that he was given that chance, for Niven was born to play the role, and the character returned the favor by helping Niven to prove he could carry an entire film, thus boosting him toward the top tier of stardom. Certainly, Niven is excellent in the part, as suave as they come, blessed with the lightest of touches and an innate ability to play subtle comedy, as well as more than enough dramatic chops to handle the more serious aspects of the story. He carries the film along in a featherweight grasp that is exactly what is called for. This is a good thing, for director Sam Wood's work is so uninspired as to be, at best, perfunctory; without Niven, Raffles would be devoid of style, and one thing that this kind of film must have is style. Niven is well assisted by Dudley Digges as his officer-of-the-law nemesis; he gets unfortunately little assistance from Olivia de Havilland, who seems uninterested in her role and her performance.

version #4 is very good too

OK remake which - which an exhausted director merely recreated the scenes and pacing of the original with Reg Coleman. Nivens is his always charming self - watch for an underutilized EE Clive also.

Pleasant, unremarkable comedy/drama with a super cast. This was Olivia's follow-up to GWTW much to her chagrin, her part of the devoted sweetheart was something that challenged her not in the least, and added fuel to the fire of her dissatisfaction with her Warners contract which ultimately lead to her suing for her release and a landmark decision limiting all contracts to a defined period without extensions.

This was my favorite movie as a kid.