Le Saint à Londres

"In London" had a British cast and had as its British director in John Paddy Carstairs someone who would carry the Golden Age adventure tradition on into the '60's with a couple of eps of the TV Saint. George Sanders gave a riveting performance, with what passed for short hair painted on his head, spunky girl Sally Gray falling hoh for him and his reformed ex-San Quentin American valet Dave Burns wise-cracking along the way.

Refined gang of baddies try to steal £1 million of foreign currency (in 2 attaché cases), commit a murder in passing but worse still cause ST a few moments perturbation. The Boss kept disdainfully calling his employees fools, but when the tough got going he was the biggest fool around. ST and friends can hardly keep still for a minute - they're always driving off somewhere to see someone about something.

There's a few shots inside a tobacconists - like in "Blackmail", "Dick Barton" and other films from the period I experience a serious case of Repetitive Video Pause, trying to scan the shelves for magazines and papers I collect now. There was a Rover, Radio Fun and Hotspur in here! A nice entry in the series, one of Sanders best in the role.

This film is more of an adventure than a mystery, since The Saint is tipped off at the start that Henry Oscar is up to no good, and he quickly learns he's involved in a plot to print £1,000,000 in counterfeit banknotes. The baddies are pointed out early and there are no twists that would have made it more interesting. Even when a murder is committed, you know one of the baddies did it, so it doesn't matter much who it was. George Sanders is excellent in the title role and has a good rapport with his leading lady, Sally Gray, a socialite who helps him for the thrill of it. He also gets considerable help from a pickpocket, David Burns, who is hired by Sanders when he promises to go straight, and of all people, his nemesis from Scotland Yard, Gordon McLeod. I guess I prefer a true mystery, one where clues are given and you can deduce "who done it" if you're clever enough. But even a crime drama such as this, where you simply watch it unfold, could be enjoyable if it were scripted better.

The third in RKO's series about Simon Templar, aka The Saint, wonderfully played by the charming George Sanders. This one has The Saint battling counterfeiters while dealing with a rich girl who wants in on the action. David Burns plays an American pickpocket who acts as the Saint's sidekick. Presumably someone thought the contrast between Burns' "dem mugs" Dugan and Sanders' eloquent and sophisticated Simon Templar would be funny. It is amusing for a minute then Burns wears out his welcome. Ralph Truman and Henry Oscar are formidable foes for our hero. Presumably because of the London setting, Jonathan Hale's Inspector Fernack is absent in this one. He's missed. Inspector Teal is the English equivalent, played by Gordon McLeod. He would return in the later Saint films starring Hugh Sinclair. Anything with Sanders is worth watching but this is one of my least favorite Saint films. It's slow-going and not terribly compelling.

Or my favorite, at least. I like the other Sanders entries, Hugh Sinclair's two shots at the role, and Louis Hayward's SAINT IN NEW YORK, but this one just seems to completely capture the lighthearted and eccentric but adventurous feel of the classic British "thriller" to a tee. The slightly giddy but very beautiful Sally Gray is a wonderful leading lady, and David Burns (a versatile and talented Broadway performer) is easily the Saint's best sidekick; he's tough and smart and not a buffoon in the least. Henry Oscar is also a classic villainous "Mr. Big." The dialog is sharp and witty throughout. Highly recommended.

George Sanders is "The Saint in London," having just returned from New York. This time he's involved in stopping a gang's attempt to steal one million pounds in foreign currency and take it out of the country. Along the way, the consulate from that country is forced to authorize the currency production. He gets away from his captors and is picked up by the Saint, but eventually dies.

The Saint has an entanglement with Inspector Claud Teal, who nevertheless works with him. And there's a lovely woman in the picture, played by Sally Gray, who insists on being part of the caper.

George Sanders was a wonderful actor and gives The Saint a lightness and smoothness, so the movie flows beautifully. It's not much of a story, but the characterizations and Sanders' performance carry it. Recommended for a fun, breezy watch.