In the novel At Bertram's Hotel, Mr Humfries is the manager of Bertram's Hotel whose capable management of the establishment made it highly attractive to both English guests and foreign tourists.
Humfries is a man of about fifty with very good manners and "the presence of a junior minister." He could at any time, be "all things to all people," able to chat with his English guests about local sports, current affairs or gossip or give advice to tourists about how they ought to spend their holidays, what to see, where to dine and so on. But strategically, he did not make himself too available. He would appear, "At brief intervals ... like the sun ... above the horizon" to charm his guests and flatter them with his personal attention.
Humfries also instituted several managerial practices which ensured that the hotel would be a success. First, he offered special rates to selected English guests like "decayed aristocrats, impoverished members of the old county families." Besides dowagers and senior members of the nobility, there were also retired generals and admirals, Church of English bishops and canons and judges. These were all to him "mise en scene", people who provided atmosphere to the place, a sort of old English atmosphere which foreign, especially American tourists wanted to experience. As part of this experience, there were also log fires, traditional English breakfasts and the enactment of the English ritual of afternoon tea, done to perfection with the help of his head waiter Henry.
Second, Humfries established a number of "American" rooms. There were specially created to be attractive to American tourists. Such rooms were heated several degrees higher than other rooms, with electric razors, showers as well as tubs, and provision for American breakfasts if desired.
Only towards the end of the book is it revealed that all these measures served to further the objectives of Bess Sedgwick's criminal gang. Humfries is a key member of the gang and the hotel was a front and headquarters for gang operations. Notable English guests with distictive appearances who stayed at the hotel were impersonated by members of the gang and set out to perform various acts of robbery. They would be recognised by witnesses at the crime scene but meanwhile the guests themselves had an alibi by staying at the hotel. This happened in the case of Justice Ludgrove for example, whose alibi was that he was in court during the day or staying at Bertram's during the night.
The large numbers of wealthy American tourists attracted to the hotel also provided useful camouflage. Gang members posed as American tourists who passed through the hotel and whose large suitcases were ideal for smuggling stolen contraband out of the country.
Portrayals[]
BBC's Miss Marple[]
In the BBC 1987 adaptation of the novel, Humfries is portrayed by Peter Baldwin. The portrayal here is very close to that in the original novel. He is depicted as one of the key gang members and subordinate of Bess Sedgwick. There is a scene of Bess reprimanding Humfries for employing Micky Gorman.
ITV's Marple[]
In the ITV 2007 adaptation of the novel, Humfries is portrayed by Mark Heap. Humfries plays a different role in this adaptation. Bess Sedgwick is not running an origanized crime gang. Instead, Humfries and Hubert Curtain are running a ratline used to smuggle ex-Nazi fugitives out of Europe to South America. For this purpose, Humfries also has a number of "American" bedrooms much like in the original. Bess Sedgwick is not involved in the operation. In fact Humfries does not welcome her presence at the hotel, perhaps because he suspects that Bess is providing help to Nazi hunters such as (in this adaptation only) Ladislaus Malinowski.