The Saint's Return

Louis Hayward returns to the character he helped launch on the big screen in the first of RKO's The Saint series back in the '30s. He portrayed a gritty and tough Saint in one movie before George Sanders took over and made the role his own, bringing a suaveness and sophistication to the part. It's a nice bookend for the character, I suppose, to have the same actor start and essentially finish the series. Hammer was probably hoping this might revive the series for them. Unfortunately it did not and the reason is this movie is lifeless. Whatever appealed to Hayward about the role of Simon Templar in 1938 that helped his performance there so much seems long gone here. This time around he seems to be just going through the motions and collecting a paycheck. No one else in the cast stands out in any noticeable way and the script is a cure for insomnia, so there really isn't much else to say about this. It's a dull movie that you'll probably forget a minute after the end credits appear.

Having seen this movie with Louis Hayward I wondered why he did stop with making the saint movies for so long, or why he didn't take the part instead of Hugh Sinclair (i don't like the saint with a moustache). Continuing his strong physical performance for The saint of New York, he's less suave but more the adventurer that Simon Templar is in his earlier years. With Hayward the physical action is believable while this was less the case with Sanders. But for me Hayward is slightly more Saintly. Hoppy Uniatz from the books gets changed in an English valet who does solve crosswords, which is a huge change for those who've read the books. This movie also has Diane Dors in it, the poor man's English Marlyn Monroe. She serves her purpose namely as Eyecandy.

Lets hope for a decent release on DVD for this movie and the series, so they can pleasure the series fans for a long time too come.

Simon Templar is shocked to learn that an old girlfriend was killed, the same day that she cabled him, reaching out.

It's a pretty good, if not dynamic movie, I believe it was the last on the big screen, it would of course return with the well remembered series.

It's a solid storyline, there is a sense of mystery, one thing you'll notice, it doesn't really have any lighter moments, it's quite a straight up mystery, it's definitely atmospheric.

Diana Dors appears, what a presence, what an absolutely beautiful woman.

It had been quite a few years since Hayward last played Templar, The Saint in New York, Hayward made some impressive films in the gap years, including one of my favourites, And then there were none.

There is no denying that Hayward was a handsome actor, with presence and charisma, well suited for the part, people will no doubt compare him to Sanders, I liked both.

Solid, 6/10.

Louis Hayward is many people's preference as the Saint over George Sanders, precisely because he played him as a hard, cold hit-man in 1938's The Saint in New York. While this is, undeniably, a trait in Charteris's creation, it is not the most likeable one and it is intriguing to see too Hayward's performance has mellowed with age. The script here is a little trite, but on the whole this is a more than passable little preamble that predicts nicely the Saint the Roger Moore series would show, with the Saint a vaguely retired disreputable character who finds it hard to stay on the right side of the law. There is much humour, and a little padding, but the film is worth a watch for Saint fanatics. For Hammer Film fans (the film was shot for RKO by the British studio) a nice touch is the shot of a floor plan of a country house that is about to be burgled; the names of all the guests belong to Hammer regular cast and crew members, including cult director Terence Fisher.

This final picture in the Saint series is connected to the early 1940s RKO entries only by the presence of Louis Hayward, the original Simon Templar in 1938's The Saint in New York.

This time around, the Saint seeks information about a girlfriend who cabled him for help—and then crashed her car into the river before his arrival on the scene. The police call it an accident, but….

Hayward is a smooth-talking Saint whose smirk is alternately insolent and charming; caught red-handed snooping through an apartment, he merely removes the cigar from his mouth and asks politely, "Pardon me…do you have a match?" He can play rough, however, as well—he does not hesitate to slap around a crook who has sneaked into his own room and doesn't want to tell who sent him.

The Saint is assisted by right-hand man Hoppy (Thomas Gallagher), a reformed pickpocket (of course) who doubles as valet and bodyguard. The "girl Friday" of the title is a woman named Carol (Naomi Chance), whose help Templar enlists in tracking the mob that killed his girlfriend and is threatening and manipulating Carol over gambling debts.

The plot is okay but nothing extraordinary, although the identity of the secret mob "chief" did surprise me at the end. The mood is rather darker than that of the fairly breezy comedy-mysteries of a decade earlier; however, Louis Hayward's confident performance, a fair amount of droll humor, and some atmospheric London underworld settings combine for an entertaining and still essentially light-hearted adventure.