The Saint Takes Over

Saint Takes Over, The (1940)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Fifth film in RKO's series has George Sanders once again returning as The Saint. This time out his buddy is accused of a crime he didn't commit and disgraced so The Saint comes back to America to clear his name. While all of this is going on, we have a female going around seeking vengeance for the death of her brother but that's not all because mobsters are tied into a robbery. I must admit upfront that I haven't been overly impressed with any of the films from the series that Sanders has appeared in. I think the original film in the series was good but the three sequels were all fair at best. I'd call this one of the best of the Sanders films but it really starts off quite boring as the film spends way too much time trying to set up its story instead of delivering the goods. The second half of the film really picks up and leads to a nice ending and I really wish the first half had moved as well as the second. The highlight of the film is a scene where The Saint and a couple other men are trying to scare a confession out of a man but of course things don't go as planned. Sanders also delivers the best performance I've seen from him in the series and it's backed by a good music score.

"The Saint Takes Over" stars George Sanders as Simon Templar, aka "The Saint" in this 1940 entry into the series. It also stars Wendy Barrie, Jonathan Hale and Paul Guilfoyle. On board ship en route to the U.S., The Saint meets and tries to make time with a woman (Wendy Barrie) who gives him the brushoff. Simon is coming to New York to help Inspector Fernack, now thoroughly discredited due to a gangster frame-up; $50,000 was found in his home. The gangster, Rocky (Roland Drew), of course, was found not guilty at trial, and he and his fellow mobsters pay the bill for the frame and attorney representation - $90,000 in total. Today you need that to defend yourself against a parking ticket. This was a murder rap.

Rocky sends his bodyguard, Pearly Gates (Guilfoyle) to the lawyer's house to steal the $90,000 from the safe. The attorney catches him red-handed and sends him back to his boss with a message. Seconds later, he's dead. Rocky meets a similar fate. And on and on - who's killing this group of gangsters? The Saint has to get one of them to talk so that Fernack can be cleared - can he get to anyone before they're murdered? The woman he met on board ship reappears and figures prominently in the case.

Few actors have a way with a line like George Sanders, and his dry wit, good looks, smooth voice and depth as an actor suit Simon Templar perfectly. Paul Guilfoyle provides some humor as the nervous, milk drinking Pearly Gates, and Jonathan Hale is great as the sometimes exasperated but worried sick Inspector Fernack. Wendy Barrie, who appeared in many Saint episodes, is very good as the woman who captures Simon's heart.

Very enjoyable.

Simon Templar (aka The Saint) decides to go and help when he reads that acquaintance Inspector Henry Fernack has been dropped from the police force for not being able to explain the thousands and thousands of dollars that had been found in his safe. He starts to investigate the suspicion that Fernack was actually set-up by a group of mobsters, eager to get him off their backs in regards a race fixing ring they have going. The more Templar pushes to help his friend though, the more the bodies start to pile up – ironically mostly pointing to Fernack as the murderer.

After getting a couple of episodes out under Sanders' control, the Saint series started to make me forget that I had enjoyed the original portrayal by Hayward a lot more than the later films. As a result I enjoyed this Saint film more than I had the last couple I'd watched. It may have also helped that the plot was an original tale (as opposed to an adaptation from Charteris' novels) and that it involved a lot more murders and mystery than other films. This isn't to say that it is brilliant because it is still very much fitting with the b-movie serial feel that the series generally had although it had enough movement to it to keep me watching.

Sanders is quite enjoyable and the tone of the series seems to have mellowed to better suit his cool, smooth delivery and style – which is a shame in my opinion but I'll try not to bang on about it. He leads the film nicely although he does tend to suck the urgency and tension out of the story by being so laid back all the time. Support from regulars Hale and Barrie is good along with some nice touches from Guilfoyle and a few others.

Overall this is an enjoyable and quite lively entry in the series that will please fans of The Saint and The Falcon. Nothing special and it never aspires to be more than the next episode in a b-movie serial but it is still OK if you meet it at that level.

George Sanders is my favorite saint. But some of the movies are a bit weak, usually the plot.

In this movie, the plot is about as good as you can expect from the RKO saint movies. It mostly makes sense, unlike some of them.

Paul Guifoyle (sp?) is back in this one, and that's a good thing. I really enjoy his comedic style at times. It's hard not to smile at his funny expressions and mispronunciations (does anyone else wonder where the gangster henchman habit of butchering pronunciations came from?)

Wendy Barrie is not too bad. I wish she had better lines or something, but it's not bad.

The usual Fernack(sp?) is present, and again, that's a good thing. I feel he should be a bit brighter given that he's a police detective, but I guess the dumb cop/detective is an old stereotype. Anyway, the saint is a bit like Bugs Bunny where his superiority is contrasted to idiots - so again, a tried and true stereotype.

As I say, this is one of my favorites. It's light, it moves right along, has the comic elements and the entertaining Sanders as saint.

This is a better-than-average entry in the Saint series - It holds your interest and, as mysteries should, keeps you guessing until the end and has several suspects to choose from.

Many films from the Golden Age are not for all tastes, especially younger viewers. They date themselves by clothing, cars, settings, etc. Who nowadays asks for a highball? Or wears a suit and tie everywhere? And the legal process was so much simpler - must have been a dearth of lawyers back then. Frankly, much of value is missing from those days.

In any case, go with it and enjoy. It's good - in an old-fashioned sense.