The Saint's Vacation

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.

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.

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.