Movie review - "The Saint's Return" (1953) ** (re-watching)

 Louis Hayward came back to the franchise in this attempt to revive it. It didn't work, but it's nice to see him - even if he's no George Sanders. I watched a copy of this - it was gloomy and dark, which may be the print but I did miss the lightness of Sanders.

The tone of this seems uncertain. Too serious. After a while I got used to tougher Hayward as the Saint but he still had a bumbling assistant.

Diana Dors livens things up with one scene. Why not give her a bigger part? She's got more charisma than the female lead. So frustrating. The lower budget doesn't help.

Movie review - "RKO Radio Pictures: A Titan is Born" (2012) by Richard Jewel

Jewell co-authored the excellent RKO Story years ago but thankfully came back with this entertaining history, which goes from the beginning of the studio until the end of the George Schaefer regime in the 1940s - admittedly frustrating, since I was hoping to go through until the end (which only would have been another decade) but presumably volume two is on its way.

RKO was always an odd kind of studio - one of the eight majors, with big backing (RCA, Joseph Kennedy), impressive resources... but it always seemed in a permanent state of crisis, and its eventual death mustn't have been that surprising in the late 1950s. Many reasons for this are raised here, chief of which seems to be management instability - the people in charge kept changing; they had David O. Selznick for a time and could have kept him (and then gotten him back) but foolishly didn't; ditto Pando Berman. (Later they had Charles Koerner who died.)

George Schaefer has a high reputation because he backed Citizen Kane but here comes across as a bit of a stubborn idiot who didn't suit his job and cost the studio millions. They also displayed a bewildering inability to produce stars, letting talents like Joan Fontaine, Lucille Ball and Joel McCrea through their fingers, and being unable to hold onto Astaire and Rogers or Kate Hepburn, and even Orson Welles (who surely could have been used as an actor more).

Still whenever RKO looked weak they manged to pull a rabbit out of the hat: King Kong, Astaire-Rogers, Little Women, Ginger Rogers vehicles, Garson Kanin, Val Lewton, Gunga Din, The Saint. Jewel covers most of this, with particular looks at Astaire-Rogers, Hepburn, Gunga Din, Kong, Welles' films and some other key movies such as Bachelor Mother.

Well written, superbly researched, although it did take me a while to wrap my head around all the non famous crucial executives who appear in it because there are so many. Studios really do work better when they are benign dictatorships and RKO's problem is that it wasn't - or had crap dictators.

Movie review – Saint #9 – “The Saint’s Girl Friday” (1954) **

The Saint returned to the big screen after a twelve year absence, and to sweeten the deal RKO have Louis Hayward reprise the role – even if he only played it once, he was the first. This is a very British focused story, unlike the George Sanders films – it’s British setting and characters make it closer to the Hugh Sinclair movies, although Hayward’s Saint is, again, American.

The plot has the Saint called back to England by an old girlfriend, who turns out to have been killed in a car crash. He starts investigating, visits gambling dens. Diana Dors has a support role – a fun scene where she seduces Hayward to distract him. Also fun when some old biddies excitedly ask Saint about his violent activities.

The Saint does have a girl Friday, a pretty thing who assists him – but she only is properly introduced after the film is half over. The revelation of the identity of one of the crooks is a genuine surprise, but as a whole the film is a bit flat – more like an episode of a television series, and that wasn’t enough in 1954. It needed colour and a bit of flash, like the Roger Moore series later provided.

There is a cute final brawl where the Saint punches out the baddy while his henchman punches the baddy’s henchman and his girl punches the baddy’s girl. Hayward doesn’t kill as many baddies in this one but he does engineer things so that baddies kill their own men twice.

Move review – Saint #8 - “The Saint Meets the Tiger” (1941) **

Hugh Sinclair’s second and final Saint is actually quite brisk and enjoyable in an unpretentious British way (where this was filmed – it was distributed by Republic). He visits a seaside town and gets involved in smugglers. The cast lacks potency but it’s brisk, Sinclair brings back the little dagger flick that George Sanders used, and he also gets fresh with a girl naturally who falls in love with him. Sinclair is an odd actor – kind of too skinny with a funny shaped head and moustache, but you do get used to him.

Movie review – Saint #7 - “The Saint’s Vacation” (1941) **1/2

George Sanders was the main reason for seeing the Saint movies, but after five entries he quit and was replaced by someone called Hugh Sinclair. He’s very English. Actually all the film’s English – instead of comic wiseguys he’s got a silly ass sidekick

Perhaps to compensate for its unknown star there’s a scene at the beginning with a whole bunch of journalists trying to see him. The plot involves the Saint trying to take a vacation without them harassing him – was this a problem for the Saint?

Most of this plays like a British B picture – once you get used to Sinclair its actually alright, with a pretty female lead and Cecil Parker as the villain (he’s the guy who played the adulterous coward in The Lady Vanishes – and in line with that film the plot if about agents chasing after a top secret Macguffin on a train). There are some massive plot holes – baddies search the Saint for the macguffin but don’t bother looking through his luggage – but it’s focused and fast paced. Surprisingly enjoyable.

Movie review – Saint #6 – “The Saint in Palm Springs” (1941) **1/2

A brighter Saint entry. Despite the high body count at least it takes place in an interesting locale, Palm Springs, meaning there’s horse rides, tennis courts, bars and girls by the swimming pool. It has a lighter touch with works well – Sanders is in good form, hitting on two different women. The macguffin here is some stamps that are important. Wendy Barrie is back again (why?), as a different character, a girl who wants the stamps. Sanders pretty much molests her straight away – then backs off. Aggressive chap this Saint. It repeats the climax of The Saint Takes Over by getting the bad guys to confess all with the cops listening.

Movie review – Saint #5 – “The Saint Takes Over” (1940) **

Sanders, Wendy Barrie and Jonathan Hale are back for another adventure. It starts well with Sanders saving a pretty lady from card sharks – who he then goes the grope on deck. But it’s ok since he sends her a corsage afterwards, and besides she’s looking for the Saint. Both Barrie and Sanders are interested in wiping out some gangsters – then it gets bogged down and the result is a flat entry. The one decent thing is the ending - Barrie actually kills some, which means she’s going to have to die herself – actually quite a moving moment. That still doesn’t change the fact that they should have cast a better actor than Barrie. Badly needed to be set in an interesting location or something. No names in the support cast, either.

Movie review – Saint #4 – “The Saint’s Double Trouble” (1940) **

The third George Sanders Saint film would seem to offers two great delights – Sanders in a double role and Bela Lugosi in the support cast. But Lugosi’s role is tiny (he plays a gangster mate of the baddy Sanders), and the fun is mild. There’s not that much difference in personality between the two characters played by Sanders, and so where’s the fun in that? Also the plot isn’t very interesting, despite the addition of a mummy from Egypt, a decent sequence where the Saint escapes from a motor boat, and a fun bit where Sanders dresses up as a widow – if I get this right the good Sanders is going around killing people who deserve it, then the bad Sanders kills a nice guy who doesn’t deserve it and the Saint gets blamed.

There are too many scenes of Sanders breaking into a room, it gets monotonous after a while. And it was awfully risky of the Saint to allow himself to be knocked out by the baddy at the end – what if the baddy killed him? (NB The baddie dies with six minutes still to go – this drags). The female lead isn’t bad; she and Sanders have a pleasing wistful romantic relationship (she’s an old flame).

Movie review – Saint#3 – “The Saint in London” (1939) **1/2

Another good director, John Paddy Carstairs, ensures a superior Saint entry – indeed, some believe this is the best of the lot. The Saint is fighting crims in London where he has two main friends – a very pretty engaging girl (Sally Grey) and a wacky hoodlum sidekick (a character type that appeared in almost every B film detective series in the 30s). He is helped by one copper and hindered by another.

Sanders isn’t as funny as he was in The Saint Strikes Back, but he’s still highly enjoyable. He and Grey have lovely chemistry (although in one scene he accidentally punches her out!) There are some excellent villains – humourous, smart, ruthless. The Saint only gets away with it via some sneaky business with a switchblade (he flicks it backwards – it’s quite clever).

Movie review – Saint #2 - “The Saint Strikes Back” (1938) ***

From the opening sequence – a murder at a dance on New Years Eve – it’s apparent this is going to be a superior Saint entry: a moving camera, rapid cuts, a number of characters, a room plunged into darkness, a shot rings out. It’s not Hitchcock at its peak but for a B picture it’s pretty good - so it’s no surprise when John Farrow’s name appears on the credits as director.

It also helps that the lead role is now played by George Sanders. Sanders normally specialised in silky villainy and is so ideal as the operating-just-outside-the-law Simon Templar. (One of the nicest things about B movie series was that actors who usually played villains got to be heroes eg Peter Lorre).

Sanders is enormous fun in the role, bringing great humour and style to the part. (He tells a girl that he loves her, “but don’t worry – I’m shallow”). There’s no doubt that he’s dangerous though, and is a dab hand with his fists, knives and a gun; he also turns a neat card trick.

This one takes place in Sain Francisco, a city not mentioned in the title unlike London or New York (maybe RKO figured it wasn’t box office). Vigilante Saint comes up against another vigilante, Wendy Barrie, who is trying to avenge her dead father against corrupt cops. (NB Hays Code or not, corrupt cops were always popping up in Saint movies).

The support cast includes Barry Fitzgerald (who is a lot of fun) and Neil Hamilton (later Police Commissioner Gordon in the Batman TV series) as a middle aged man touchingly in love with a younger woman. Plenty of plot; the main debit is Wendy Barrie, who is very bland and not a worthy love interest for Sanders.

Movie review – Saint #1 - “The Saint in New York” (1938) **1/2

New York is in the grip of a crime spree – apparently the problem isn’t so much catching the crooks as getting them convicted. That darn legal system! So politicians decide to ask for the assistance of a vigilante – a man outside the law, feared by crooks, loved by the innocent. It’s not the Dark Knight, or Charles Bronson – it’s the gentleman adventurer Simon Templar, the Saint.

He’s played by Louis Hayward, a slightly cherubic faced actor who although South African performs with an American accent. They ask the Saint to kill six gangsters, promising to keep it all secret and the support of the police. The Saint agrees – secret police of dictatorships would have loved him. He shoots one while dressed as a nun and gradually starts working his way through the criminal world.

This is not really comfortable stuff, especially with Hayward being so smug and cocky, so it’s not particularly exciting. But about half way through it starts to improve, when Hayward recsues a child from a kidnapping and strikes up a relationship with a beautiful enigmatic girl. It gets a bit darker and more film noir-esque and there’s a scene where the Saint is actually going to be killed by two hoodlums and is saved by the girl… who is on his list.

It’s quite brooding stuff and you can’t help wishing a darker, more complex actor that Hayward was playing the Saint. (Turner Classic Movies called Hayward a poor man’s Orson Welles – and you know Welles would have been perfect). The idea that the Saint is used by the head baddy to knock of the latter’s rivals is a terrific one (and a great way to take the sting out of the vigilante stuff), but the potential of this is not really exploited.

Interesting names often pop up in B movie series and this one has a young Jack Carson (as one of the two hoodlums mentioned above), plus Sig Rumann (who surely appeared in every B picture series of the time).