The character of Arsène Lupin, "gentleman burglar," first appeared in the novels of French writer Maurice Leblanc, who spun the character off as the hero of a popular stage play coauthored with Francis de Croisset (aka Francis Wiener). A debonair jewel thief ever one step ahead of the Sûreté, Lupin seemed bespoke for the burgeoning medium of film and adaptations of the Leblanc novels were brought before the cameras in the United Kingdom in 1916, in Hungary in 1921, in Japan in 1923, and in the United States in 1917, 1919, and 1920. With the advent of sound came greater opportunities to maximize the charm of the character (a dapper forerunner of such chic sneaks as David Niven in Raffles and Cary Grant in To Catch a Thief), prompting Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to mount Arsène Lupin (1932) as a vehicle for John Barrymore. The Great Profile had in effect warmed up for the assignment by playing Raffles, the Amateur Cracksman in 1917. Cast in the supporting role of long-suffering Paris cop Guerchard was the star's brother, Lionel Barrymore, with whom he would appear again in Grand Hotel (1932), Rasputin and the Empress (1932) - also starring sister Ethel Barrymore - and Dinner at Eight (1933). In 1938, Metro brought the character back - albeit reformed - for a belated follow-up, Arsène Lupin Returns, with Melvyn Douglas playing a retired Lupin who must evading police prefect George Zucco while helping FBI agent Warren William retrieve a stolen emerald necklace.

By Richard Harland Smith