The Saint's Vacation
The Saint's Vacation
NR | 09 May 1941 (USA)
The Saint's Vacation Trailers

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

Reviews
Incannerax What a waste of my time!!!
Comwayon A Disappointing Continuation
ChicRawIdol A brilliant film that helped define a genre
Hulkeasexo it is the rare 'crazy' movie that actually has something to say.
l_rawjalaurence One of the two Saint films that RKO made in Britain, THE SAINT'S VACATION is a brisk little tale in which the eponymous hero (Hugh Sinclair) successfully smuggles a box out of an unnamed Central European country, containing a vital device essential to Britain's future position in the World, aided and abetted by journalist Mary Langdon (Sally Gray) and amiable duffer Monty Hayward (Arthur Macrae). Looked at today, one cannot help but admire the way in which director Leslie Fenton makes use of very limited resources, in which stock footage is spliced together with studıo-bound sequences shot against very obvious backdrops. His main technique for sustaining our attention is through fast cuts between close-ups and two-shots, while encouraging his actors to play their roles to the hilt. Sinclair turns in a characteristically suave performance that contrasts with Macrae's cowardly Monty who perpetually desires a quiet life away from everything. Needless to say no one ever listens to him; and he is unwittingly drawn into the action when the Saint hides the box in Monty's traveling-bag. The husky-voiced Gray turns in a competent performance, even though she doesn't have much to do in the fight-sequences other than to put her hands up to her face in terror. Cast against type, Cecil Parker makes a good hissable villain with a penchant for turning his top lip up in distaste. He tries his best to remain detached from the action, leaving most of the dirty work to his sidekick Gregory (John Warwick). While the story might be unmemorable, THE SAINT'S VACATION offers several incidental pleasures for anyone looking to while away an entertaining hour.
Prismark10 George Sanders is the suave, sophisticated but also slightly dubious The Saint. Sanders jumped ship to become The Falcon and film series moved to be shot on location in Britain. Its fast paced, low budget B picture with cheap production values.Hugh Sinclair takes over as The Saint but he has none of the charisma or screen presence of Sanders and at some parts of the film he gets lost amongst other similar looking actors in the film. There is a propaganda element in this film with dastardly Nazis types and the plot is very much borrowed from The Lady Vanishes, although its based on an original Charteris story.Its a race across Europe on a train where everyone is looking for a strange music box. British film stalwart Cecil Parker is the villain as Prince Rudolph. There are some nice action sequences with fist fights and shooting scenes, elements of comedy and nice attractive leading ladies. Sinclair is bland and a little dull. We have no idea what is so important about the box though.
bkoganbing Granted this is a B picture from RKO so there will be less care taken, but I could hardly wrap my mind around the concept that British people in 1941 were going on holiday to Switzerland. The continent was a bit hostile at the time.Hugh Sinclair becomes Simon Templar the Saint in this entry in the series which was made in Great Britain by an RKO subsidized division. This film was a slapdash affair, it looks like the writers took their inspiration from Alfred Hitchcock's The Lady Vanishes and The 39 Steps with a bit of Sherlock Holmes thrown in. Two women are involved in the plot, eager beaver reporter Sally Gray a British Lois Lane and government agent Leueen McGrath. The villain is mysterious count Cecil Parker and everybody wants a musical box that is some kind of code.I watched all 61 minutes of this and I swear I still don't know what it was all about.
blanche-2 Hugh Sinclair is The Saint, Simon Templar, in "The Saint's Vacation," a 1941 film also starring Sally Gray, Cecil Parker and Arthur Macrae. Besides Roger Moore and Ian Ogilvy on television, the Saint has been played by Sinclair, Louis Hayward and George Sanders (that I've seen). I liked Hayward's smoothness, Sanders' turn of a phrase, and I like Sinclair's cool, casual, take it as it comes attitude. He doesn't have the dry wit of Sanders' Simon, but like Saints before him, nothing fazes him either. He also doesn't whistle the familiar "Saint" tune, which I kind of missed.Now the Saint is veddy veddy British as the productions were moved over to the UK, and Simon is working with a friend (Arthur Macrae) who's afraid of his shadow. This time the plot concerns a highly sought after music box - where have we heard that before? And, as usual, people will kill to get their hands on it.Sally Gray is pretty and energetic as a reporter who accompanies Simon as she tries to get a good story. Evidently she doesn't realize that if you like Sherlock Holmes and The Lady Vanishes, this variation on a theme is old stuff. Very pleasant film.