The Saint Strikes Back (1939)

Director:

John Farrow

Writers:

Leslie Charteris (novel)
John Twist (screenplay)

Release Date:

10 March 1939 (USA)

Genre:

Mystery | Drama

Plot:

Simon Templar, the Saint, travels to San Fransisco to solve crime mysteries within the police department.

Plot Keywords:

The Saint | Police | Night Club | False Accusation | B Movie

Cast

George Sanders	...	The Saint / Simon Templar
Wendy Barrie	...	Valerie 'Val' Travers
Jonathan Hale	...	Inspector Henry Fernack
Jerome Cowan	...	Cullis
Barry Fitzgerald	...	Zipper Dyson
Neil Hamilton	...	Allan Breck
Robert Elliott	...	Chief Inspector Webster
Russell Hopton	...	Harry Donnell
Edward Gargan	...	Pinky Budd
Robert Strange	...	Police Commisioner
Gilbert Emery	...	Martin Eastman
James Burke	...	Headquarters Police Officer
Nella Walker	...	Mrs. Betty Fernack

Also Known As:

The Saint Strikes Twice (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

64 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Victor System)

Certification:

Finland:K-11 | USA:Approved (PCA #4964)

Company:

RKO Radio Pictures

Trivia:

The novel upon which this film is loosely based was also published under the titles "The Saint Meets His Match" and "She Was a Lady", the latter being its original publication title. Many changes were made, including changing the local from Europe to San Francisco, replacing Scotland Yard inspector Teal with NYPD Inspector Fernack, and changing the female lead's name from Jill Trelawney to Valerie Travers. Jill/Valerie was also British in the original book.

Quotes:

Val Travers: Why are you telling *me* all this?
Simon Templar, aka 'The Saint': Because... well... because I love you. But don't let's get sticky about it - I'm really a very shallow person. I also love fireflies, mocking-birds and pink sunsets.

Movie Connections:

Followed by The Saint Takes Over (1940)

Soundtrack:

Auld Lang Syne

Compared to other Saint series films, this one is mighty dull and uninspiring

I love B-detective series films like Charlie Chan, Sherlock Holmes and The Falcon. Sure, they are mighty predictable, but there is also a certain charm and sense of fun about them that is hard to beat. While the Saint series is not my favorite, I have always enjoyed them because I love seeing George Sanders so gracefully navigate himself through the mystery--he was the epitome of cool and sophisticated. Because of this, I often find myself watching the film for his performance but caring little for the actual mystery (so many of them seem similar). However, in this dull effort, I just couldn't get past the lifeless plot and lack of decent supporting characters. Compared to most of the other films in this series, this might just be the worst, though I did appreciate how the film made reference to the prior film (starring Louis Hayward)--giving the film a sense of continuity and context. Now this isn't to say it's bad--but unfortunately, it is only a time-passer and not a whole lot more.