Arsène Lupin

Arsène Lupin is a fictional gentleman thief who appears in a book series of detective fiction / crime fiction novels written by French writer Maurice Leblanc, as well as a number of non-canonical sequels and numerous film, television, stage play and comic book adaptations.

Overview

A contemporary of Arthur Conan Doyle, Maurice Leblanc (1864-1941) was the creator of the character of gentleman thief Arsène Lupin who, in Francophone countries, has enjoyed a popularity as long-lasting and considerable as Sherlock Holmes in the English-speaking world.

There are twenty volumes in the Arsène Lupin series written by Leblanc himself, plus five authorized sequels written by the notorious mystery writing team of Boileau-Narcejac, as well as various pastiches.

The character of Lupin was first introduced in a series of short stories serialized in the magazine "Je Sais Tout", starting in No. 6, dated 15 July 1905.

Arsène Lupin is a literary descendant of Pierre Alexis Ponson du Terrail's Rocambole. Like him, he is clearly a force for good, while operating on the wrong side of the law. Those whom Lupin defeats, always with his characteristic gallic style and panache, are worse villains than he. Lupin is somewhat similar to A.J. Raffles and anticipates characters such as The Saint.

The character of Arsène Lupin might have been based by Leblanc on French anarchist Marius Jacob, whose trial made headlines in March 1905, but Leblanc had also read Octave Mirbeau's "Les 21 jours d'un neurasthénique" (1901), which features a gentleman thief named Arthur Lebeau, and seen Mirbeau's comedy "Scrupules" (1902), whose main character is a gentleman thief.

Bibliography

1. Arsene Lupin Gentleman Burglar (1907 coll. 9 stories) "Arsène Lupin, gentleman cambrioleur"

2. Arsene Lupin vs. Herlock Sholmes (1908 coll. 2 stories) "Arsène Lupin contre Herlock Sholmès" 3. The Hollow Needle (1909) "L'Aiguille creuse"

4. 813 (1910) "813"

5. The Crystal Stopper (1912) "Le Bouchon de cristal"

6. The Confessions of Arsene Lupin (1913 coll. 9 stories) "Les Confidences d'Arsène Lupin"

7. The Shell Shard (1916) "L'Éclat d'obus"

8. The Golden Triangle (1918) "Le Triangle d'or"

9. The Island Of Thirty Coffins (1919) "L’Île aux trente cercueils"

10. The Teeth Of The Tiger (1921) "Les Dents du tigre"

11. The Eight Strokes Of The Clock (1923 coll. 8 stories) "Les Huit Coups de l'horloge"

12. The Countess Of Cagliostro (1924) "La Comtesse de Cagliostro"

13. The Damsel With Green Eyes (1927) "La Demoiselle aux yeux verts"

14. The Barnett & Co. Agency (1928) "L'Agence Barnett et Cie."

15. The Mysterious Mansion (1929) "La Demeure mystérieuse"

16. The Mystery of The Green Rubi (1931) "La Barre-y-va"

17. The Woman With Two Smiles (1933) "La Femme aux deux sourires"

18. Paris-Soir (1933) "Victor de la Brigade mondaine"

19. The Revenge Of The Countess Of Cagliostro (1935) "La Cagliostro se venge"

20. The Billions Of Arsene Lupin (1939) "Les Milliards d'Arsène Lupin"

21. The Last Love of Arsene Lupin (unpublished) "Le Dernier Amour d'Arsène Lupin"

* "Dorothée, Danseuse de Corde" (1923) is not an Arsène Lupin novel, but its eponymous heroine solves one of Lupin's four fabulous secrets.

By other writers

* by Boileau-Narcejac:
** 1. "Le Secret d’Eunerville" (1973)
** 2. "La Poudrière" (1974)
** 3. "Le Second visage d’Arsène Lupin" (1975)
** 4. "La Justice d’Arsène Lupin" (1977)
** 5. "Le Serment d’Arsène Lupin" (1979)

Notable pastiches

* "The Adventure of the Clothes-Line" by Carolyn Wells in "The Century" (1915)
* "The Silver Hair Crime" by Nick Carter in New Magnet Library No. 1282 (1930)
* Aristide Dupin who appears in "Union Jack" Nos. 1481, 1483, 1489, 1493 and 1498 (1932) in the Sexton Blake collection by Gwyn Evans
* "La Clé est sous le paillasson" by Marcel Aymé (1934)
* Gaspard Zemba who appears in "The Shadow Magazine" (December 1, 1935) by Walter Gibson
* "Arsène Lupin vs. Colonel Linnaus" by Anthony Boucher in "Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine" Vo. 5, No. 19 (1944)
* "L’Affaire Oliveira" by Thomas Narcejac in "Confidences dans ma nuit" (1946)
* "Le Gentleman en Noir" by Claude Ferny (c. 1950) (two novels)
* "International Investigators, Inc." by Edward G. Ashton in "Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine" (1952)
* "Le Secret des rois de France ou La Véritable identité d’Arsène Lupin" by Valère Catogan (1955)
* "In Compartment 813" by Arthur Porges in "Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine" (June 1966)
* "Arsène Lupin, gentleman de la nuit" by Jean-Claude Lamy (1983)
* Auguste Lupa in "Son of Holmes" (1986) and "Rasputin’s Revenge" (1987) by John Lescroart
* Various stories in "Tales of the Shadowmen, Vol. 1, The Modern Babylon", ed. by Jean-Marc Lofficier (2005) (ISBN 1932983268)
* Various stories in "Tales of the Shadowmen, Vol. 2, Gentlemen of the Night", ed. by Jean-Marc Lofficier (2006) (ISBN 1932983600)

* Arsène Lupin is also referred to as the grandfather of Lupin III in the Japanese manga and anime series of the same name.

* Arsène Lupin and Sherlock Holmes have been the basis for a popular Japanese manga series, Detective Conan. Lupin resembles Kaitou Kid, while Sherlock Holmes represents Conan Edogawa.

*In the "Adventure of The Doraemons", the robot cat The Mysterious Thief Dorapent resembles Lupin.

* A funny animal pastiche of Arsène Lupin is Arpine Lusène, of the Scrooge McDuck Universe.
* "Případ Grendwal" (A Grendwal Case), a play by Pavel Dostál, Czech playwright and Minister of Culture

Arsène Lupin and Sherlock Holmes

Arsène Lupin and Sherlock Holmes were bound to meet and, in an unprecedented act of literary pastiche and cross-over, Leblanc introduced Holmes in the short story "Sherlock Holmes arrive trop tard" in "Je Sais Tout" No. 17, 15 June 1906. In it, Holmes meets a young Lupin for the first time. After legal objections from Conan Doyle, the name was changed to "Herlock Sholmes" when the story was collected in book form in Volume 1.

Sholmes returned in two more stories collected in Volume 2, "Arsène Lupin contre Herlock Sholmes", and then in a guest-starring role in the prodigious battle for the secret of the Hollow Needle in "L'Aiguille creuse".

Sherlock Holmes, this time with his real name and accompanied with familiar characters such as Watson and Lestrade, also confronted Arsène Lupin in the 2008 PC 3D adventure game "Sherlock Holmes: Nemesis" (European name: "Sherlock Holmes vs. Arsène Lupin"). In this game you play the role of Holmes (and occasionally of other characters such as Watson and Lestrade) in an effort to discover and stop Lupin from stealing five English valuable items. Lupin wants to steal the items in order to "humilliate" England, but he also admires Holmes and thus challenges him to try and stop him.

He is mentioned once in "813".

Fantasy elements

Several Arsène Lupin novels contain some interesting fantasy elements: a radioactive 'god-stone' that cures people and causes mutations is the object of an epic battle in "L’Île aux trente cercueils"; the secret of the Fountain of Youth, a mineral water source hidden beneath a lake in the Auvergne, is the goal sought by the protagonists in "La Demoiselle aux yeux verts"; finally, in "La Comtesse de Cagliostro", Lupin’s arch-enemy and lover is none other than Joséphine Balsamo, the alleged granddaughter of Cagliostro himself.

Films

* "The Gentleman Burglar" (B&W., US, 1908) with William Ranows (Lupin).
* "Arsène Lupin" (B&W., 1914) with Georges Tréville (Lupin).
* "Arsène Lupin" (B&W., UK, 1915) with Gerald Ames (Lupin).
* "The Gentleman Burglar" (B&W., US, 1915) with William Stowell (Lupin).
* "Arsène Lupin" (B&W., US, 1917) with Earle Williams (Lupin).
* "The Teeth of the Tiger" (B&W., US, 1919) with David Powell (Lupin).
* "813" (B&W., US, 1920) with Wedgewood Newel (Lupin).
* "Les Dernières aventures d'Arsène Lupin" (B&W., France/Hungary, 1921).
* "813 - Rupimono" (B&W., Japan, 1923) with Minami Mitsuaki (Lupin).
* "Arsène Lupin" (B&W., US, 1932) with John Barrymore (Lupin).
* "Arsène Lupin Returns" (B&W., US, 1936) with Melvyn Douglas (Lupin)
* "Arsène Lupin, Détective" (B&W., 1937) with Jules Berry (Lupin).
* "Enter Arsène Lupin" (B&W., US, 1944) with Charles Korvin (Lupin).
* "Arsenio Lupin" (B&W., Mexico, 1945) with R. Pereda (Lupin).
* "Nanatsu-no Houseki" (B&W., Japan, 1950) with Keiji Sada (Lupin).
* "Tora no-Kiba" (B&W., Japan, 1951) with Ken Uehara (Lupin).
* "Kao-no Nai Otoko" (B&W., Japan, 1955) with Eiji Okada (Lupin).
* "Les Aventures d'Arsène Lupin" (B&W., 1956) with Robert Lamoureux (Lupin).
* "Signé Arsène Lupin" (B&W., 1959) with Robert Lamoureux (Lupin).
* "Arsène Lupin contre Arsène Lupin" (B&W., 1962) with Jean-Pierre Cassel and Jean-Claude Brialy (Lupins).
* "Arsène Lupin" (col., 2004) with Romain Duris (Lupin).

Television

* "Arsène Lupin", 26 60 min. episodes (1971, 1973-74) with Georges Descrières (Lupin).

* "L'Île aux trente cercueils", six 60 min. episodes (1979) (the character of Lupin, who only appears at the end of the novel, was removed entirely).

* "Arsène Lupin joue et perd", six 52 min. episodes (1980) loosely based on "813" with Jean-Claude Brialy (Lupin).

* "Le Retour d'Arsène Lupin", twelve 90-min episodes (1989-90) and "Les Nouveaux Exploits d'Arsène Lupin", eight 90-min episodes (1995-96) with François Dunoyer (Lupin).

* "Lupin (Philippine TV series)", Philippines (2007) with Richard Gutierrez (Lupin).

tage

* " Arsène Lupin" by Francis de Croisset and Maurice Leblanc. Four-act play first performed on October 28, 1908, at the Athenée in Paris.

* "Arsène Lupin contre Herlock Sholmès" by Victor Darlay & Henri de Gorsse. Four-act play first performed on October 10, 1910, at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. (American edition ISBN 1932983163)

* "Le Retour d'Arsène Lupin" by Francis de Croisset and Maurice Leblanc. One-act play first performed on September 16, 1911, at the Théâtre de la Cigale in Paris.

* "Arsène Lupin, Banquier" by Yves Mirande & Albert Willemetz, libretto by Marcel Lattès. Three-act operetta, first performed on May 7, 1930, at the Théâtre des Bouffes Parisiennes in Paris.

Animation

* "Lupin III", a manga and anime series of films and television based on the adventures of Arsène Lupin's grandson.

* "Les Exploits d'Arsène Lupin" aka Night Hood, produced by Cinar & France-Animation, 26 26 min. episodes (1996)

Comics

* "Arsène Lupin", written by Georges Cheylard, art by Bourdin. Daily strip published in "France-Soir" in 1948-49.

* "Arsène Lupin", written & drawn by Jacques Blondeau. 575 daily strips published in "Le Parisien Libéré" from 1956-58.

* "Arsène Lupin contre Herlock Sholmès: La Dame blonde", written by Joëlle Gilles, art by Gilles & B. Cado, published by the authors, 1983.

* "Arsène Lupin", written by André-Paul Duchateau, artist Géron, published by C. Lefrancq.
** 1. "Le Bouchon de cristal" (1989)
** 2. "813 - La Double Vie d'Arsène Lupin" (1990)
** 3. "813 - Les Trois crimes d'Arsène Lupin" (1991)
** 4. "La Demoiselle aux yeux verts" (1992)
** 5. "L'Aiguille creuse" (1994)

*"Arpin Lusène" is featured as a character in the Donald Duck & Co stories "The Black Knight" (1997), "Attaaaaaack!" (2000) and "The Black Knight GLORPS again!" (2004) by Don Rosa.

*In Alan Moore's "", Lupin is featured as a member of " _fr. Les Hommes Mysterieux", the French analogue of Britain's League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

References in Detective Conan

Kaito Kid from the manga series "Magic Kaito" and "Detective Conan" is often compared to Arsene Lupin. Also, Arsene Lupin is mentioned in the Detective Encyclopedia at the end of the manga "Case Closed Volume 4".

External links

* [http://librivox.org/the-extraordinary-adventures-of-arsene-lupin-gentleman-burglar/ "The Extraordinary Adventures of Arsène Lupin, Gentleman-Burglar"] Public Domain Audio Book
* [http://www.coolfrenchcomics.com/arsenelupin.htm Arsène Lupin at "Cool French Comics"]
* [http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/world/authrec?fk_authors=1358 Free Arsène Lupin eBooks by Project Gutenberg]
* [http://www.coolfrenchcomics.com/arsenelupintimeline.htm Arsène Lupin timeline by A.-F. Ruaud] (English version)

References