The Saint's Double Trouble (1940)An enigmatic gang leader known as "The Boss," who is a dead-ringer for Simon, puts "The Saint" under suspicion of murder. Director:Jack Hively |
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The Saint's Double Trouble (1940)An enigmatic gang leader known as "The Boss," who is a dead-ringer for Simon, puts "The Saint" under suspicion of murder. Director:Jack Hively |
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| Complete credited cast: | |||
| George Sanders | ... |
Simon Templar aka The Saint /
'Boss' Duke Bates
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Helene Whitney | ... |
Anne Bitts
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Jonathan Hale | ... | |
| Bela Lugosi | ... |
Partner
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Donald MacBride | ... |
Inspector John H. Bohlen
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John F. Hamilton | ... | |
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Thomas W. Ross | ... |
Professor Horatio T. Bitts
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Elliott Sullivan | ... |
Monk 'Warren'
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Simon has arranged to send a rare mummy of a pharaoh from Cairo to Phildelphia to his good friend, Keystone University archeology professor Horatio Bitts, whose beautiful daughter does not escape The Saint's attention. Ruthless gang leader Duke Bates, known as "The Boss," is a dead ringer for Simon and a notorious jewel smuggler who uses the mummy to disguise a cache of illegal diamonds. After Bates murders a shady jewel cutter and the professor, Simon finds himself under suspicion... even by his old friend, Inspector Fernack. Written by duke1029@aol.com
I generally enjoy watching these old films with George Sanders because he was such a super-smoothie that one never tires of seeing him glide through a film with the effortless ease of a champion ice skater, carrying the very concept of urbanity to undreamt-of extremes. But sometimes the stories are just too silly! Of all the 'Saint' series where he plays Simon Templar the detective (the character invented by Leslie Charteris), this must be the weakest and most pathetic. (It is the fourth in a series of nine.) No efforts whatsoever were made to make the film even remotely believable, and the age level of the viewer must have been calculated to be about six, since after that even a child would refuse to believe this ludicrous story. Essentially, we are meant to believe that George Sanders has a lookalike (hence the 'double trouble' of the title, i.e., he has a double and that is trouble). The only difference between them is that they wear different suits. Otherwise they look and talk exactly alike. And there is not even the pretext that they are related. One is good and one is bad. Well, it's as simple as that really. It is sad to see Bela Lugosi here relegated to the status of a bit player. The pretty girl in the film is 23 year-old Helene Whitney, in one of only two credited roles which she played in films; she retired the same year, married, or died, one doesn't know which. What happens to people who disappear from the screen? Do they go to some celluloid paradise? If so, they will leave this silly film behind, that's for sure.