The Saint in London

"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.

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.

Society girl Penny Parker (Sally Gray) describes what she has heard about the Saint: "He's supposed to be tall and handsome, and he's supposed to have a cross-shaped scar...." She pauses as Simon Templar, with whom she has been dancing, reaches over to light her cigarette, baring his right wrist. She takes a glance and coolly resumes: "A cross-shaped scar on his right wrist."

George Sanders is back as Simon Templar in this easygoing mystery. Sally Gray and David Burns are his two loyal sidekicks: the three leads together make up a fun trio—as different as can be, and yet enjoying each other's company immensely.

Gray is the girl who begins tagging along after Templar pretty much as soon as she realizes his identity, offering assistance, getting in the way, and saving his life once or twice. Burns is fun as Dugan, the American ex-convict (from Leavenworth, not Sing Sing!) who hires on as Templar's valet and performs various duties. Part comic relief, part right hand man, Dugan has a clear philosophy: "Me? I figure to do just like I'm told, and then maybe muscle in on the fireworks later on."

The mystery plot itself is nothing spectacular; it follows a high class gang's scheme to print off a large stack of foreign money, and the Saint's efforts to ferret out and capture their leader, Bruno Lang (played with suave nastiness by Henry Oscar).

My favorite line: Penny Parker explaining to Dugan that the Saint isn't really a criminal…. "He's more like a sort of Robin Hood." "Yeah?" Dugan snaps suspiciously. "Who's this guy Hood?"

Overall, it's simple but lots of fun, with Sanders excellent as always as the irresistible Simon Templar.

Of all the B-movie detective series made in the 30s and 40s, The Saint ranks around the middle for quality. While not nearly as fun as the Charlie Chan or Sherlock Holmes films of the time, they still are well-polished and fun--mostly thanks to the excellent screen presence of George Sanders as the title character. He's just so witty, debonair and cool that it's a pleasure to watch him gracefully walk though this pedestrian film. The actual plot involving an attempt on the life of a foreign national in order to facilitate a counterfeiting scheme is only okay--not bad, but not all that interesting. And the supporting characters aren't all that compelling, either. However, considering the modest pretensions of this RKO serial, I think overall it did a good job of delivering the goods.

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.