| "A Retrieved Reformation" | |
|---|---|
| Short story by O. Henry | |
 | |
| Original title | A Retrieved Reform |
| Country |  United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Drama Short story |
| Publication | |
| Published in | The Cosmopolitan |
| Publication type | Magazine |
| Publication date | April 1903 |
"A Retrieved Reformation" is a short story by American author O. Henry first published in The Cosmopolitan Magazine , April 1903. [1] [2] The original title was "A Retrieved Reform". It was illustrated by A.I. Keller.
The story describes the events which lead up to the reformation of an ex-convict. In 1910, dramatist Paul Armstrong adapted the story into a highly successful Broadway play under the title Alias Jimmy Valentine which ran 155 performances at Wallack's Theatre in New York.
The play was subsequently adapted for several film versions:
The popularity of the story as a motion picture added greatly to the author's vogue, though in the English, French, and Spanish versions O. Henry's name was not mentioned. [1] The character of Jimmy Valentine is taken from life but there is a close parallel to the leading incident in chapter XLII of Hugo's Les Misérables . [1]
The story was adapted into a radio series, Alias Jimmy Valentine , that was broadcast from 1938 to 1939. [3]
Safecracker Jimmy Valentine was released from prison after serving less than ten months of a four year sentence, due to his criminal connections. He goes to his old apartment, packs up his tools, and leaves. In the following weeks, a few cash robberies are committed, and the detective who landed Valentine in jail in the first place, Ben Price, is called to work on the new case. He realizes that the robberies are committed in Jimmy's style.
Valentine shows up sometime later in Elmore, Arkansas. He goes to the town bank with the intention of checking it over before robbing it. However, as he walks to the hotel, he catches the eye of the banker's beautiful daughter, Annabel Adams. He falls in love with her immediately and instantly decides to give up his criminal career. He moves into the town, taking up the identity of Ralph D. Spencer, a shoemaker: he had been assigned shoemaking as forced labor in prison.
At the end of the year, Jimmy has risen socially and in business and has become engaged to Annabel. Two weeks before the wedding, he writes a letter to a friend, telling the friend to pick up the safe-cracker's tools that Valentine will not need anymore.
By this time, Price has tracked him down and shows up at the bank while Jimmy and Annabel's family are inside. Carrying the tool case, Jimmy watches as Annabel's father shows them the bank's new safe. Annabel's nieces are fascinated by it, and as they are playing, one accidentally shuts the other inside and locks the door, without the time lock's clock having been wound nor any combination set. Everyone panics, and Annabel begs Jimmy to do something. Jimmy, knowing that it will reveal his true identity, uses his case of tools to open the door and save the child. Unbeknownst to Valentine at that time, Price has witnessed the whole incident.
Valentine starts to leave the bank afterwards, and he sees Price standing by the door. Sheepishly, he gives himself up, but much to his surprise, Price pretends not to recognize him and walks away.
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Alias Jimmy Valentine is a 1928 American sound part-talkie crime drama film directed by Jack Conway and starring William Haines, Leila Hyams, Lionel Barrymore, and Karl Dane. The film features talking sequences along with a synchronized musical score with sound effects using both the sound-on-disc and sound-on-film process. The film is based on the 1909 play Alias Jimmy Valentine by Paul Armstrong, which itself was based on an O. Henry short story. The play toured in travelling production companies making it extremely popular. It was revived on Broadway in 1921. Two previous film adaptations had been produced at the old Metro Studios. A 1915 film version was directed by Maurice Tourneur and a 1920 version starring Bert Lytell was directed by Edmund Mortimer and Arthur Ripley.
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Salvatore Antonio "Sal" Naturile, also known as Donald Matterson was an American bank robber whose attempted robbery of a Chase Manhattan bank branch in Brooklyn, along with John Wojtowicz, in August 1972, inspired the 1975 film Dog Day Afternoon. In the film he is portrayed by actor John Cazale.
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Jimmy Valentine may refer to:
James E. Logue was a Philadelphia based burglar who is thought to have stolen more than $300,000 over the course of his criminal career. He mostly targeted homes and shops but also occasionally banks and spent time in and out of jail. In brief announcements of his death in 1899, he was referred to as "the notorious bank robber". He is perhaps better known for the disappearance of his third wife, Joanna, who was later discovered to have been murdered by her nephew, Alphonso Cutaiar.
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Alias Jimmy Valentine is a 1915 American silent crime film directed by Maurice Tourneur and starring Robert Warwick, Robert Cummings and Alec B. Francis. It is based on the 1909 play Alias Jimmy Valentine, which was subsequently made into films again in 1920 and 1928. The play was based on the O. Henry short story "A Retrieved Reformation".
Alias Jimmy Valentine is an old-time radio crime drama in the United States. It was broadcast on NBC-Blue January 18, 1938 - February 27, 1939.
Alias Jimmy Valentine may refer to:
Alias Jimmy Valentine is a 1909 play written by Paul Armstrong, based on the 1903 short story A Retrieved Reformation by O. Henry. It has four acts, a large cast, four settings, and fast pacing. The story follows a former safecracker's attempt to go straight, and the choice he must make between saving a child's life and exposing himself to arrest.
The full text of "A Retrieved Reformation" at Wikisource
A Retrieved Reformation public domain audiobook at LibriVox 