![]() And on it's face, it is therefore a touch less credible. Sadly, Arthur Pinner's plan is much more prosaic, and therefore much less interesting. And Clay goes big to assure the verisimilitude of the con: the newspaper ad, the audition with hundreds of redheads attending.if only Nigerian prince email scams could be so convincing! It's so crazy an idea that it just could be true. For sheer audaciousness, the idea of a bequest that will pay red haired gentleman £4 per week as long as they copy out the Encyclopedia Britannica by hand just can't be beat. a fake business to export crockery to France? THE SCAM-The odd will of a nutty American millionaire vs. ![]() It's probably a draw, or maybe a slight edge to Arthur Pinner.he may not be as good a villain as Clay, but he just might be a more interesting character. Then again, we spend much more time with Arthur than we do with John Clay, and the fact that he was able to pull off the double act for as long as he did suggests he's a pretty good actor. And the way Arthur falls apart upon news of his real brother's capture makes me suspect he wasn't the bold villain of the family. Arthur's decision to play both himself and his " brother" led to the mark seeing through the con job, something that John Clay never allowed to happen (although, in part, that might be due to Pycroft being a bit more intelligent than Jabez Wilson.). Pinner and his brother are forgers and "cracksmen."Ĭertainly Clay comes across as somewhat smarter. Clay is the " fourth smartest man in London," a " murderer, thief, smasher, and forger." He's willing to play a very long con, taking a job as a pawnbroker's assistant for months in order to achieve his goal. Beddington (we never learn the full true name of " Arthur Pinner".let's just agree to call him Arthur from here on). Pycroft, on the other hand, just isn't written with all that much personality, aside from his quickly-vanishing Cockney slang. Jabez, if nothing else, makes a more sympathetic victim, as a pathetic figure whose fading business leaves him vulnerable to the scheme. Certainly Wilson is a better role for an actor, and a better written character. The middle-aged, somewhat comical pawnbroker with his fiery red hair, to me, is somewhat more interesting than the " smart young City man" in his dapper suit. And in almost every point of comparison, the earlier-published version is more interesting and exciting and adaptation worthy. The basic premise-man conned away from his place of business by false set-up so that crooks can take advantage of his absence-is one Sir Arthur Conan Doyle already used, in one of the more famous Holmes stories. ![]()
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