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I have seen most of the Saint films and was expecting not to like this one which starred Hugh Sinclair. Why? Well, because the other one he made (THE SAINT MEETS THE TIGER) was a very dull little B-movie--one of the worst, if not the worst, in the series. Also, when I think of the Saint, I still think I prefer the extremely suave George Sanders--who made the role particularly enjoyable. However, here Sinclair seems more in his element and more importantly, he's got a very good script by the series creator, Leslie Charteris. Plus, and I hate to admit it, but Sinclair is actually better than Sanders in a way because he is a much more physical character--more likely to get in a fist fight or other manly pursuits.

The story itself is about a stolen puzzle box and naturally the Saint gets caught up in the affair. While the individual elements aren't always successful, the overall plot is very good and makes for a film that is actually better than some of the American-made versions--even the ones with Sanders.

I hadn't seen this one for nearly 20 years until tonight on cable, and an excellent watch it was at 58 minutes long. Necessarily then a fast paced thriller, the story lifted straight off The Lady Vanishes with Cecil Parker in both but having more immoral fibre in this as the Nazi. At least, I think he was on the Nazis side - nothing is made clear until the very end when this McGuffin is breezily explained by Felix Aylmer. Dressed to Kill provided another variant of this plot 5 years later for Holmes and Watson.

Basically everyone's after a mysterious box and prepared to kill for it. In one scene Parker coldly shoots dead two unarmed train guards for hindering him in his quest, even though we the audience know the whole episode was a deliberate false trail laid by (the apparently uncaring) Templar to throw the baddies off his track.

All it really needed was Charters and Caldicott in one of the foreign hotels arguing about cricket to complete the similarity to TLV. However, the former packed in some rather poor model shots for buildings etc whereas in TSV we're treated to some splendid Gothic Bavarian sets, of hotels, castles and woodland. I wonder what period film they were used for first? With all faults, still a nice little film.

All the Saint wants to do is take a little trip abroad…but the gang of reporters tracking him down to the pier just won't believe he's not on a case. Among those reporters is Mary Langdon (Sally Gray), the only girl reporter in the bunch, determined to catch a big scoop to launch her career.

Along with his friend Monty, Simon tries to convince Mary he's on vacation, but suddenly things start to happen all at once: a mysterious parking lot meeting, a pursuit by automobile, a foot chase through the woods, a fight in a darkened clearing in which even our heroine assists, stomping a prone tough guy's wrist and taking away his knife just in time….

Simon Templar may be on vacation, but a case certainly finds him. Gradually he learns that all the to-do concerns a small, mysterious package that multiple parties seek (and Templar soon has).

Gray and Sinclair work well together, and exchange some enjoyably clever repartee. (Mary: "I suppose you realize we stand an excellent chance of being sent to jail for a couple of years." Simon: "Well, you can't expect to have your fun for nothing, can you.")

The picture really gets interesting when veteran English actor Cecil Parker comes on the scene as villain Rudolph Hauser, a spy who—like everyone else—badly wants that little box. Parker and Sinclair are excellent together—two experienced operators who maintain an exceedingly polite surface while playing a deadly game.

Hugh Sinclair is actually a quite pleasing Simon Templar—he captures the character's polished and polite exterior as well as the cool alertness and ready athleticism lurking just beneath. The picture's strong cast and a plot that presents a few surprises help to make this a very entertaining series entry. Only the resolution seems a bit weak…but that may be because the buildup was so good.

Best dialog exchange: In a highly tense moment, Templar bursts into Hauser's living room to find the owner ready to confront and presumably trap him. Templar plays it suave: "You don't mind me….butting in like this?" To which the reply is equally civil: "Oh, on the contrary, I…I'm always pleased to see you."

One of the better entries in a series that was starting to tail off. Sanders had left the part of the Saint to become "The Gay Falcon" for the same studio, RKO, and production was transferred to war-torn Britain. Unbelievably this film shows little signs of the conflict as it's a tale of a race across Europe (with train footage apparently dragged out of Hitchcock's "The Lady Vanishes") to solve the mystery of a strange music box. Hugh Sinclair is slightly wooden as Simon Templar, although he gets into his stride during the action sequences and promises to shape up well (actually his one sequel is slightly disappointing as he doesn't get the chance to display his athleticism in the same way again). Sally Gray, who popped up as the romantic interest in "The Saint in London" is reporter Mary Langdon, out to get a story whether the Saint wants her to or not -- she was easily the prettiest co-star of the series and could easily have outshone a dozen similar Hollywood actresses. Arthur Macrae is a fine comic Monty Hayward and Ealing Comedies regular Cecil Parker an excellent, hissable villain as Crown Prince Rudolph. Gordon McLeod makes the second of three appearances as Chief Inspector Teal, though sadly his is only a guest appearance right at the end of the film. Again, he is easily the best of the screen/TV Teals. The story is faithfully adapted (if shortened) from "Getaway", one of Saint creator Leslie Charteris's best books. Forget the Val Kilmer "Saint" film effort (which has nothing in common with Charteris's character, and doesn't even credit the author) and curl up and enjoy.

Hugh Sinclair is The Saint, Simon Templar, in "The Saint's Vacation," a 1941 film also starring Sally Gray, Cecil Parker and Arthur Macrae. Besides Roger Moore and Ian Ogilvy on television, the Saint has been played by Sinclair, Louis Hayward and George Sanders (that I've seen). I liked Hayward's smoothness, Sanders' turn of a phrase, and I like Sinclair's cool, casual, take it as it comes attitude. He doesn't have the dry wit of Sanders' Simon, but like Saints before him, nothing fazes him either. He also doesn't whistle the familiar "Saint" tune, which I kind of missed.

Now the Saint is veddy veddy British as the productions were moved over to the UK, and Simon is working with a friend (Arthur Macrae) who's afraid of his shadow. This time the plot concerns a highly sought after music box - where have we heard that before? And, as usual, people will kill to get their hands on it.

Sally Gray is pretty and energetic as a reporter who accompanies Simon as she tries to get a good story. Evidently she doesn't realize that if you like Sherlock Holmes and The Lady Vanishes, this variation on a theme is old stuff. Very pleasant film.

As well as showing several Falcon movies recently, BBC2 also shown The Saint's Vacation, so I set the video and was pleased I did.

The Saint goes on a vacation to Switzerland and gets involved to solve the mystery of a music box. After getting into several fights, the mystery is solved at the end.

The movie is rather fast paced throughout.

The Saint is played well by Hugh Sinclair and is joined by Cecil Parker, Sally Gray and Arthur Macrae.

A nice way to spend an hour one evening.

Rating: 3 stars out of 5.

"The Saint's Vacation" moves along briskly. The fast pace enhances what would otherwise be a pretty typical B-mystery of the era.

The incandescent Sally Gray is at her peak here and she is the main reason you don't want to miss this movie. Wow- blonde hair, vivaciousness, overall screen presence, but mostly her magnificent voice. One of the best screen voices (female or male) ever to grace the screen in 1940 or any era. You can't take your eyes (or ears) off her. She was truly one of the all time screen babes.

The film also features the "inevitable" Cecil Parker (I call him inevitable because of his participation in so many good British films such as "The Lady Vanishes").

Sinclair was no way comparable to the rakish George Sanders but is adequate as the Saint here, livened as he is by being forced to go at the fast pace required in this story. A competent actor.

You should catch this non-classic because of the vibrant screen presence of Sally Gray. For sheer screen "Presence"- that often alluded to but seldom describable factor- whatever it is Ms. Gray had it.

The Saint went through many iterations over the years, and those familiar with them will have their favorite actor or series, for instance, author Leslie Charteris said the 1960s TV version with Roger Moore was his. But Nobody's will be Hugh Sinclair.

George Sanders was a cool-tempered, urbane, public school Englishman, always a charming rogue, with just a hint of menace. Sinclair looks like a stand-in for Anthony Eden, and maybe more dried out than dry wit.

The story would be easily applied to the Saint character, but this one, made in Britain, seems to have ideas that the Saint as we knew him from the RKO Sanders series wasn't good enough, and had to be recast as Bulldog Drummond. Drummond, as we would be familiar with him in 1941, had standard elements of all detective series, but Drummond notably had a girl, usually his Fiancée, and a stupid/scared Bertie Wooster-type comedy relief hanging on to him through all the action.

Why the Saint should take up this formula is up to question. Did the British think the Drummond treatment was an improvement over the Saint's usual, more self-reliant performances? Obviously, something must have been imperfect about the Sanders entries; why else would RKO kick a series over to their UK studio if it was a big success in Hollywood?

This strategy apparently did nothing for the Saint, and the Brits made one further entry with Sinclair, ditching the goofy sidekick, and making more of a regular set-up in "The Saint Meets the Tiger", but it's handled in a dull way, and RKO didn't even want to take a chance with releasing it in America, so two years later, it was sold to Republic, who did, and, nobody much cared. An inglorious, but only temporary, end of the Saint.

Entertaining little low-budget entry from Great Britain, it has HUGH SINCLAIR as "The Saint" involved immediately in getting hold of a music box that holds some sort of war secret--although the war itself is never actually named and kept strictly out of sight. SALLY GRAY makes a pleasant female lead, a newspaper reporter who is a lot braver than The Saint's sidekick, played by ARTHUR MACRAE in a most annoying manner. He makes Dr. Watson's Nigel Bruce look like a brain surgeon.

With some obvious studio backgrounds subbing for Switzerland locales, this caper moves along at a fast pace, filling every one of its one hour running time with story development that never lets up.

CECIL PARKER is a smooth villain, but the story has all the familiar ingredients we've come to expect in any Saint outing. The McGuffin is clearly the music box and the plot is kept simple with everyone's concentration on getting hold of it.

Summing up: Passes the time quickly and pleasantly, but Hugh Sinclair is no replacement for George Sanders, no matter how British he is.

The seventh in RKO's The Saint series and the first not starring the inimitable George Sanders. Hugh Sinclair takes over the reins here. This one has the Saint trying to find music boxes that have codes Axis spies want, which is similar to a plot from a much better Sherlock Holmes movie. Right away we notice this has a different look and feel to it than the Sanders Saint films. That's because it was filmed in England with a British cast. Hugh Sinclair is also a big change from Sanders. Lacking in charisma and screen presence, he's a pretty dull replacement. The Saint's put-upon sidekick is very annoying in a stereotypically English "chip chip cheerio and all that" way. The requisite "pretty girl with spunk" is also annoying.

At times, this was a tough slog to get through. If the only British films you're familiar with from this period were directed by Alfred Hitchcock or Michael Powell, you're likely in for a disappointment. This suffers from the same problems as many of the older Brit films I've seen, namely that it's mannered, stiff, and dull. It also, frankly, looks cheap. The only time I was impressed was when we see the bad guys' secret lair. The sets and matte paintings were nice there. The screenplay was co-written by Saint creator Leslie Charteris, which probably explains why the story is stronger than most of the previous Saint films. However the dialogue is nothing special. It does get better as it goes along. The action scenes help, despite some jarring editing in the first one.

One of the two Saint films that RKO made in Britain, THE SAINT'S VACATION is a brisk little tale in which the eponymous hero (Hugh Sinclair) successfully smuggles a box out of an unnamed Central European country, containing a vital device essential to Britain's future position in the World, aided and abetted by journalist Mary Langdon (Sally Gray) and amiable duffer Monty Hayward (Arthur Macrae). Looked at today, one cannot help but admire the way in which director Leslie Fenton makes use of very limited resources, in which stock footage is spliced together with studıo-bound sequences shot against very obvious backdrops. His main technique for sustaining our attention is through fast cuts between close-ups and two-shots, while encouraging his actors to play their roles to the hilt. Sinclair turns in a characteristically suave performance that contrasts with Macrae's cowardly Monty who perpetually desires a quiet life away from everything. Needless to say no one ever listens to him; and he is unwittingly drawn into the action when the Saint hides the box in Monty's traveling-bag. The husky-voiced Gray turns in a competent performance, even though she doesn't have much to do in the fight-sequences other than to put her hands up to her face in terror. Cast against type, Cecil Parker makes a good hissable villain with a penchant for turning his top lip up in distaste. He tries his best to remain detached from the action, leaving most of the dirty work to his sidekick Gregory (John Warwick). While the story might be unmemorable, THE SAINT'S VACATION offers several incidental pleasures for anyone looking to while away an entertaining hour.

Granted this is a B picture from RKO so there will be less care taken, but I could hardly wrap my mind around the concept that British people in 1941 were going on holiday to Switzerland. The continent was a bit hostile at the time.

Hugh Sinclair becomes Simon Templar the Saint in this entry in the series which was made in Great Britain by an RKO subsidized division. This film was a slapdash affair, it looks like the writers took their inspiration from Alfred Hitchcock's The Lady Vanishes and The 39 Steps with a bit of Sherlock Holmes thrown in.

Two women are involved in the plot, eager beaver reporter Sally Gray a British Lois Lane and government agent Leueen McGrath. The villain is mysterious count Cecil Parker and everybody wants a musical box that is some kind of code.

I watched all 61 minutes of this and I swear I still don't know what it was all about.

The Saint courts media interest wherever he goes and today is no interest – even though Monty just wants a nice quiet holiday with him, with no mystery or adventure. Slipping onto the ship in disguise throws most of the journalists off Templar's trail but not the plucky and determined Mary Langdon, who follows him on his trip. But as Summer follows Spring, so adventure follows the Saint and it is not long before he finds himself involved in shady goings-on over the possession of what appears to be a perfectly ordinary music box.

As a fan of the Falcon series I decided to give other franchises a try and where better to start than the series that the original Falcon jumped out of – The Saint. In this entry the Saint gets into his usual scraps in the pursuit of a mystery box and the end result is a quite enjoyable little b-movie. The plot is straightforward but just about has enough action to make it worth seeing if you are into this sort of light entertainment (which I am). However those seeking a bit more substance will find this film lacking it but as long as you know what you are getting then it'll do the job.

With Saunders jumping ship to join another RKO franchise (The Falcon) the role falls to Sinclair and he takes to it with no great distinction. True his performance is fitting for a b-movie serial but I didn't find him very memorable at all. Macrae is better and made some of his scenes better – never a good thing for a sidekick from a lead's point of view. Parker makes a good villain and he is by far the most interesting person in the film – his chemistry with Sinclair is effective and the former helps the latter be better than in solo scenes. Gray is just too obvious a blonde starlet to really stand out from the crowd but she does well enough. The film makes reasonable use of the location despite some heavy foreign accents that are distracting – the train scenes are quite enjoyable and the film manages to avoid feeling like it is stuck on a soundstage (even if it mostly is).

Overall this is an OK film that will be enjoyed by viewers who like this sort of b-movie serial a la the Falcon etc. The plot is interesting enough even if it never really grabbed me; the acting helps and, although I didn't think Sinclair really managed to make the role his own, he is helped out by a great Parker and nice support from Macrae. Not anything special but a typical b-movie serial that can be enjoyed on that level.

This is the seventh Saint film and this time Hugh Sinclair plays the Saint. It is based on a story by Leslie Charteris, who also jointly wrote the screenplay. As the Saint, the tall and thin Hugh Sinclair with his very reserved English manner and lack of wise-cracking is a complete contrast with the witty George Sanders. Frankly, Hugh Sinclair was too remote or aloof in his manner for the part. He does not ooze any charm at all. That does not mean that he does a bad job of acting, for he is very good. But he is miscast. There is compensation for this, however, for the delightful Sally Gray is the lead gal in the film, and she has enough charm for both of them. Frankly, it is worth seeing the film just for her. She plays a girl reporter who successfully outwits her male reporter competitors through sheer determination. Although she left films in 1952, she lived to be 91 and only died in London in 2006. I wish I had run into her, as she must have been 'super jolly'. The sidekick of the Saint in this film is played by Arthur Macrae. The story of this film concerns a stolen box which cannot be opened, so not only is the box missing, but even when it is found its contents cannot be determined. Cecil Parker plays the villain Rudolph Hauser who is a spy (his name suggests for whom), who is desperate to get the box. The film is very enjoyable.

Hugh Sinclair does a workmanlike job here as the enigmatic "Simon Templar" who just wants to take a peaceful holiday. There's not much chance, though, when he becomes embroiled with a mysterious plot to obtain a rather plain looking musical box. When he discovers that it's none other than his arch-foe "Hauser" (Cecil Parker) who wants the thing, his interest is piqued. What's so special about it? With the help of his stalwart "Monty" (Arthur Macrae) they are soon on it's trail - despite the frequently irritating interventions of pushy journalist "Mary" (Sally Gray). It's that latter effort that spoiled this for me. Her character is so annoying that I'd cheerfully have thrown her over-board. If you are eagle-eyed you might spot Felix Aylmer here, and there's a decent enough dynamic between Parker and Sinclair when the drama is left to them on screen going through the predicable but watchable motions. Sadly though, there's just too much of Gray as it develops, and I lost interest.

George Sanders is the suave, sophisticated but also slightly dubious The Saint. Sanders jumped ship to become The Falcon and film series moved to be shot on location in Britain. Its fast paced, low budget B picture with cheap production values.

Hugh Sinclair takes over as The Saint but he has none of the charisma or screen presence of Sanders and at some parts of the film he gets lost amongst other similar looking actors in the film. There is a propaganda element in this film with dastardly Nazis types and the plot is very much borrowed from The Lady Vanishes, although its based on an original Charteris story.

Its a race across Europe on a train where everyone is looking for a strange music box. British film stalwart Cecil Parker is the villain as Prince Rudolph. There are some nice action sequences with fist fights and shooting scenes, elements of comedy and nice attractive leading ladies. Sinclair is bland and a little dull. We have no idea what is so important about the box though.

In a state of exhaustion from sauntering through the previous five episodes of RKO's The Saint as George Sanders, it's Hugh Sinclair's chance to play Simon Templar. He goes on vacation to the Continent in the company of dim-witted Arthur Macrae, and Sally Gray as a newspaperwoman. She figures where the goes, there's a story. At first there doesn't seem to be much, but they wind up with a music box, which evil mastermind Cecil Parker wants, and isn't in the least fussy how.

Sinclair is a bit more active than Sanders was, jumping o the hoods of speeding autos, and firing the odd gun. Mostly, though, he seems content to play his little I-know-more-than-you-know game until the purpose of the maguffin is randomly revealed by Felix Aylmer.

Sinclair is amusing, but not a patch on Sanders' supercilious fellow. This was the second episode of the series shot in England, and the reasons usually given are blocked funds.

Saint's Vacation, The (1941)

** (out of 4)

Seventh film in RKO's series has George Sanders being replaced by Hugh Sinclair. This time out The Saint is battling a man over a mysterious box, which contains some sort of secret code. This is a rather strange entry in the series as I found it to have one of the best stories but the production is so poor that this really kills anything positive in the film. What really kept getting under my skin was the incredibly bad editing, which really stands out to be among the worst I've ever seen. There's one scene where The Saint must fight two guys while his sidekick and a female reporter (Sally Gray) are watching. The way this thing is edited is so poorly done and the bad music selections really made me laugh when the scene was of course going for suspense. As for Sinclair, he really doesn't make a very good leading man. I wasn't too impressed with Sanders in the role but he was certainly more fitting than his replacement. I'm not sure if he should get all the blame for being so stiff because the entire film pretty much plays out that way. There's never any real energy built by the director and in the end the movie just comes off pretty bland.

The Saint, trying to get away from it all, stumbles across a gaggle of spies, cut-throats and policemen fighting for the possession of a music box which contains a valuable secret....

Simon Templar takes on his nemesis, Rudolph Hauser, and is aided by an amiable sidekick Monty Hayward, who wants a quiet vacation and sees the Saint as a trouble magnet and a spunky girl reporter Mary Langdon (Sally Gray) who follows the Saint to his "vacation" in the hope of a big scoop.

Hugh Sinclair takes over from George Sanders as the Saint, and though he lacks Sander's distinct personality and style, he does a competent job - he excels in the physical stuff. He is aided by a couple of sidekicks which helps greatly, and not to forget a fast moving and engaging plot filled with action, twists and turns. Really grand fun with a good villain. The dialogue is really snappy and witty. Monty is a great sidekick, found him hilarious.

The simplicity of story, this is , for me, the virtue of film. Like the elegance of Hugh Sinclair and the nice portrait of Rudolph proposed by Cecil Parker.

All flavors of presumed naif time, in which the coherence of story is easy ignored and the tension is only matters in skin of some humor are basic good points in this case, the corrupted police having its role not so reduced for social message.

Around a mysterious box, entire plot is crafted. A message who, in final, represents more, a beautiful journalist and her status of piece of dangerous game, poor Simon Templar for who the vacantion becomes imposible and the noble end . So, just nice and pretty seductive.