The Saint's Vacation (1941)

Director:

Leslie Fenton

Writers:

Leslie Charteris (novel)
Leslie Charteris (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

9 May 1941 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery

Plot:

While on vacation, the Saint discovers a much-sought-after music box. |

Plot Keywords:

Music Box | Vacation | The Saint | Escape | Beautiful Woman

Cast

Hugh Sinclair	...	Simon Templar, aka The Saint
Sally Gray	...	Mary Langdon
Cecil Parker	...	Rudolph Hauser
Arthur Macrae	...	Monty Hayward
Leueen MacGrath	...	Valerie (as Leueen Macgrath)
Gordon McLeod	...	Inspector Teal
John Warwick	...	Gregory
Manning Whiley	...	Marko
Felix Aylmer	...	Charles Leighton
Ivor Barnard	...	Emil

Runtime:

61 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

Finland:K-11 | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved

Filming Locations:

D&P Studios, Denham, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company:

RKO Radio British Productions

Trivia:

RKO decided to form a British Company to utilize funds frozen by the British government because of the "Films Act," which limited money taken out of the country to 50% of revenues earned from American films distributed in Great Britain. This was the first film made using those frozen funds.

Quotes:

Monty Hayward: I refuse to be involved in this any further!
Mary Langdon: Is he really going?
Simon Templar, aka The Saint: Yes, as far as the bar.

Movie Connections:

Followed by The Saint's Return (1953)

Get back to work, for God's sake!

I hadn't seen this one for nearly 20 years until tonight on cable, and an excellent watch it was at 58 minutes long. Necessarily then a fast paced thriller, the story lifted straight off The Lady Vanishes with Cecil Parker in both but having more immoral fibre in this as the Nazi. At least, I think he was on the Nazis side - nothing is made clear until the very end when this McGuffin is breezily explained by Felix Aylmer. Dressed to Kill provided another variant of this plot 5 years later for Holmes and Watson.

Basically everyone's after a mysterious box and prepared to kill for it. In one scene Parker coldly shoots dead two unarmed train guards for hindering him in his quest, even though we the audience know the whole episode was a deliberate false trail laid by (the apparently uncaring) Templar to throw the baddies off his track.

All it really needed was Charters and Caldicott in one of the foreign hotels arguing about cricket to complete the similarity to TLV. However, the former packed in some rather poor model shots for buildings etc whereas in TSV we're treated to some splendid Gothic Bavarian sets, of hotels, castles and woodland. I wonder what period film they were used for first? With all faults, still a nice little film.