Sun 9 Sep 2012
Movie Review: THE SAINT’S VACATION (1941).
Posted by Steve under Mystery movies , Reviews[21] Comments
THE SAINT’S VACATION. RKO Radio Pictures, US/UK, 1941. Hugh Sinclair, Sally Gray, Arthur Macrae, Cecil Parker, Leueen Macgrath, John Warwick. Based on the novel Getaway (1932), by Leslie Charteris (also a co-screenwriter). Director: Leslie Fenton.
Whenever a series character such as Simon Templar, known more familiarly as The Saint, decides to go on a vacation trip, say to Europe, you can bet your last bottom dollar that as soon as he and his companions check into their hotel, their paths will cross those of some evil ones.
Nazis, in this case, or so one suspects, as I do not believe they were ever identified as such – as well as an adventure involving several deaths and a mysterious music box that is the key to something – that something never revealed, of course, until way at the end of the movie, which by that time, we may not care any more.
Luckily the movie is just over 60 minutes long, as very little of what happens makes any logical sense, but as they say in France, it’s fun while it lasts. The was the first of two chances that British actor Hugh Sinclair had to impersonate The Saint, and if you’d like to know my impression, I think he was far too stiff and formal to be what I think of as the dashing and debonair hero I remember from the books.
Patricia Holm, Simon’s close companion who was in the book Getaway, does not show up in this filmed version. She’s replaced instead by a reporter named Mary Langdon who is played by husky-voiced Sally Gray, of whose vivacious performance I heartily approved – feminine but just brash enough to be a fitting replacement for Miss Holm, although in the movies it is a strictly separate bedrooms kind of arrangement. In the books you’re never quite sure, but somehow you just know.
September 9th, 2012 at 8:04 pm
Hugh Sinclair is most certainly not The Saint. Sally Gray was very good. And attractive. Louis Hayward in Saint In New York captured something schoolboyish and malevolent. He did not succeed in Saint’s Girl Friday. That was The Saint as a middle class businessman or plain clothes cop. No matter what the other characters say. George Sanders, never. Cary Grant did not play Simon Templar, but in Suspicion he showed you what The Saint could be like. His performance, of course, must be removed from the rest of the film. I think in Charade he got some of that as well. Dangerous, with humor and intimidation.
September 9th, 2012 at 9:46 pm
In spite of many good intentions, I have not yet seen either of the Louis Hayward movies. They’re high on my To Be Watched list, but to date, I have not. Mea culpa.
Barry, perhaps you can tell us sometime why Hayward’s two Saint film were so widely separated, timewise, with NEW YORK released in 1938, but FRIDAY not made until 1953.
George Sanders was OK as far as I’m concerned, but only OK. I still think of The Saint as a much more active kind of fellow, not quite so bulky.
As for Cary Grant, I think you may have something there. In fact, I’m sure you do.
September 9th, 2012 at 10:44 pm
Steve:
You can chart the trajectory of Hayward’s career by the Saint films. Saint In New York on the way up, followed by Duke of West Point, Man In The Iron Mask and other more important films.
Saint’s Girl Friday followed a succession of very well paid co-features for Columbia that did nothing for his career. Add Lady In The Iron Mask, Duffy of San Quentin and Royal African Rifles to the Columbia titles and you have a career in decline.
Right after the second Saint movie Louis went into television with The Lone Wolf, a move he recognized in hindsight as counter-productive. The only film of significance in which he was in the hunt for was Elephant Walk and Peter Finch got that part. On the other hand the film was a problem child for Paramount and did no one any good. There was nothing wrong with any of these things but they were just product and the charm was gone.
September 9th, 2012 at 11:00 pm
More re The Saint
Seymour Friedman, whom I never met or spoke with, was a friend of Hayward’s. He directed Son of Dr. Jekyll, and Saint’s Girl Friday as well as several Lone Wolf episodes. I understand he was a lovely man, well educated and helpful. His films are not so great. Louis and June (Mrs. Hayward) liked him a lot. They got this together via Exclusive and Lippert. Exclusive became Hammer.
September 10th, 2012 at 10:55 am
Hayward is my favourite of the movie Saints. In SAINT IN NEW YORK he is charming and boyish and slightly scary. He is basically well intentioned, but there is a mad gleam in his eye which tells you that one of the reasons he accepted the offer to clean up New York was to get the chance to kill lots of bad guys. None of the other actors had that quality, but it is something that you sometimes sense in the original stories. It’s a shame that Sally Gray never got to play Patricia Holm. She would have been perfect.
September 10th, 2012 at 4:34 pm
I may have missed it in the comments above, but the reason for the mention of Cary Grant as a possible Saint was that he was the choice of Leslie Charteris himself.
September 10th, 2012 at 5:05 pm
It’s quite telling that Chandler thought Marlowe would look something like Grant. Equally, the makers of the Bond movies thought that he would make the perfect 007. Roger Moore rather modelled himself on Grant, and he played both Bond and The Saint. Small world.
September 10th, 2012 at 5:06 pm
Randy,
That wasn’t my point but it is true. Grant could be all the things Charteris imagined in the early stories and novels, in looks and temperament. You can see it in Sylvia Scarlett, as well as Suspicion and Notorious. An intelligent and dangerous nastiness tempered by humor and charm. Not to mention incredible athletic ability.
September 10th, 2012 at 5:10 pm
Bradstreet,
I think The Saint comes first and Chandler and Fleming followed Charteris. Not in talent, but in conception. And besides, you start looking at films of the forties and fities and a disproportionate number of producers-directors sought Grant. First choice for Sabrina, Love In The Afternoon, Bridge On The River Kwai, Dr. No…
September 10th, 2012 at 6:34 pm
It’s not hard to see Grant as the smooth, cosmopolitan Templar of the post-WWII books, but the early Saint is quite different. He’s much more of a eccentric or zany. Grant’s career didn’t really get into gear until the mid 30s, by which time there had already been several Saint stories. I wonder if Charteris had anyone else as a model for Templar in the original stories.
September 10th, 2012 at 6:38 pm
If you see enough early Grant the eccentric will shine through. Sylvia Scarlett and even His Girl Friday. Of course when Charteris conceived the character there was no Cary Grant.
September 11th, 2012 at 8:48 am
Add Mr. Lucky to Grant’s dangerous and eccentric performances.
September 12th, 2012 at 9:56 am
Somehow I’ve missed this one, Steve though I think I’ve seen all the George Sanders versions of The Saint. And it sounds like just the sort of movie I love! Thanks for inlcuding the link. 🙂
September 12th, 2012 at 10:14 am
Yvette, and others
It might be useful for Saint fans to have a complete list of the films made of his exploits through the early 50s. In reverse chronological order, a la IMDB:
The Saint’s Girl Friday (1953) Played by Louis Hayward
… aka “The Saint’s Return” – UK (original title)
The Saint Meets the Tiger (1943) Played by Hugh Sinclair
The Saint’s Vacation (1941) Played by Hugh Sinclair
The Saint in Palm Springs (1941) Played by George Sanders / George Sanders (as The Saint)
The Saint Takes Over (1940) Played by George Sanders / George Sanders (as The Saint)
The Saint’s Double Trouble (1940) Played by George Sanders (as Simon Templar aka The Saint)
The Saint in London (1939) Played by George Sanders / George Sanders (as The Saint)
The Saint Strikes Back (1939) Played by George Sanders (as The Saint)
The Saint in New York (1938) Played by Louis Hayward
There were a couple of French movies in the 1960s, plus of course Roger Moore’s version, including a couple of theatrical films made from the TV series.
September 12th, 2012 at 2:24 pm
Two episodes of the Ian Ogilvy series were edited together as a film, but I’ve no idea if it was ever given theatrical release. The Simon Dutton consisted of a series of 6 TV films. There was also a US TV movie of THE SAINT IN MANHATTAN in 1987, with Andrew Clarke as Templar. This was a pilot, but failed to sell and is thus one of the rarer pieces of Saint history.
September 24th, 2012 at 9:33 pm
Steve,
When the sight, site, was down I did some thinking about believe some of the points posted here were also coverd in a The Saint In New York book review. And a good one, review and book, I think.
September 24th, 2012 at 10:07 pm
Is this the review you mean, Barry?
https://mysteryfile.com/blog/?p=10106
There are some comments about the Saint films following this post:
https://mysteryfile.com/blog/?p=1314
And quite a lot of discussion about The Saint following this one:
https://mysteryfile.com/blog/?p=10116
September 24th, 2012 at 10:26 pm
Steve,
I’ll try and do a search tomorrow and see what comes up. If I find what I think is there I will call it to your attention.
September 25th, 2012 at 12:16 am
It seems clear to me that Ron Goulart’s extraordinary piece coupled with Art Scott’s review of The Saint In New York triggered my thought.
September 25th, 2012 at 12:27 am
About the Ron Goulart piece, I think the comments moved too soon from its main thrust, Ron’s early connection with Leslie Charteris. What developed was a more general discussion about The Saint as a character: lots of opinions about the stories and who played him on the screen, and I was a little disappointed about that. The conversation was still very interesting, don’t get me wrong, but I thought the personal connection between the two authors at such different ages was even more so.
https://mysteryfile.com/blog/?p=10116
January 19th, 2024 at 1:06 am
I’ve seen two Hugh Sinclair Saint films and think you are being too hard on him. He does capture something of the character’s charm and danger. In The Saint Meets The Tiger, I found it very well paced with a couple of great twists along the way.
And there are some really great action sequences in The Saint’s Vacation. I assume that these are lower budget films and they make the most of what they have to work with. The shoot out on the train is very well done, and the protagonist is seen as being quite ruthless.
I definitely prefer Sinclair to Sanders whose droll approach is not characteristic of the Saint.
In any case, I have enjoyed catching up on these Saint films as TCM recently aired s number of them back to back. I will watch the Hayward ones next.