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:

Serial Number | Gangster | Porter | Irish Cop | Police Detective

Cast

George Sanders	...	The Saint aka Simon Templar
Wendy Barrie	...	Valerie 'Val' Travers
Jonathan Hale	...	Inspector 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
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Willie Best	...	Algernon, Simon's Butler (uncredited)
Paul E. Burns	...	Organ Grinder (uncredited)
Tristram Coffin	...	Second Newscaster (uncredited)
Jack Gargan	...	Plane Passenger (uncredited)
Gerald Hamer	...	Val's Butler (uncredited)
Robert Homans	...	Policer Officer Moriarity (uncredited)
Tom McGuire	...	Policeman in Commissioner's Office (uncredited)
Howard M. Mitchell	...	Police Captain Taylor (uncredited)
Frank O'Connor	...	Policeman with Cullis (uncredited)
Ted Oliver	...	Police Forensic Scientist (uncredited)
Ray Turner	...	Porter at Airport (uncredited)

Directed by
John Farrow

Writing credits
Leslie Charteris		(novel "Angels of Doom")
John Twist		(screenplay)

Produced by
Robert Sisk	....	producer

Original Music by
Roy Webb		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Frank Redman		(photographed by)

Film Editing by
Jack Hively

Art Direction by
Van Nest Polglase

Costume Design by
Renié		(gowns)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Edward Donahue	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Albert S. D'Agostino	....	associate art director (as Albert D'Agostino)

Sound Department
Earl A. Wolcott	....	sound recordist

Music Department
Roy Webb	....	musical director

Other crew
Lee S. Marcus	....	production executive (as Lee Marcus)
A.C. Edington	....	treatment (uncredited)

Production Companies

• RKO Radio Pictures

Distributors

• RKO Radio Pictures (1939) (USA) (theatrical)
• C&C Television Corporation (1955) (USA) (TV)
• Turner Classic Movies (TCM) (USA) (VHS)

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's Double Trouble (1940)

Soundtrack:

Comin' Thro' the Rye

A nice entry in the series but already the tough edge of the original is softened

When Simon Templar (aka The Saint) helps self-styled crime boss and daughter of a disgraced cop Val Travers to get away from a nightclub after they were both involved in a shooting. The police connect Templar to the shooting and call in Inspector Fernack from New York to bring him in. Meanwhile Templar gets on the wrong side of Travers and earns her vengeance while also trying to get to the bottom of the mystery surrounding her father's fall from grace at the hands of an internal investigation.

Following on from the hard edge and anti-hero approach of The Saint when he was in New York, this film cannot help but feel like much more of a sedentary affair with a more liberal approach perhaps befitting the San Francisco setting. That said the film still has a nice feel to it that makes it just a shade better than the b-movie series generally achieved from this point onwards. Much of the credit should probably lie with Farrow's direction because he does give it quite a professional and gritty atmosphere. The story is quite good although not anywhere near as engaging as it should have been and I must admit that at times I drifted away as it lacked a consistent hook to keep me watching.

Coming in to replace Hayward, Sanders was never really going to do it for me as I already knew him to be all about the smoothness and the suaveness and it didn't surprised me when his criminal edge was played down to almost nothing and he turned in the sort of performance that made him vastly inferior to the original Saint (in my mind anyway). Support is pretty good from Val Travers – not quite a femme fatale perhaps but certainly a tough woman when required. Hale is OK while people like Elliot, Fitzgerald etc all fill in around the edges.

Overall a well-directed film that is a reasonable stab at continuing the series but, for reasons that are perhaps obvious, scaling down the mean edge the original had. Problem is that I liked this about the original film and found this film lacking teeth for being smooth without the savage. Sanders is a nice lead but he cannot lift the material and the end result is a standard b-movie that will please fans of The Saint and The Falcon.