Matcollis This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

Titreenp SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?

Connianatu How wonderful it is to see this fine actress carry a film and carry it so beautifully.

Walter Sloane Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

DKosty123 Louis Haywards only entry as the Saint, this movie has some interesting legends. The biggest one is that Alfred Hitchcock was supposed to come to the United States and direct it. Hitch did not come to the US until 2 years after this was made, so that did not happen.If Hitchcock had come over, I doubt that he would have directed it at RKO Pictures. I mean this movie is good but it is an obvious "B" Picture made to fill out double features on Saturday afternoons. I think the picture would have had a different cast and star and been made by Selznick on a much bigger budget if it were introducing Hitchock.The changes of how this movie was made are not obvious on camera. What is obvious is that Hayward was not going to be the man down the road. He is okay, but George Sanders would be better. Sig Ruman, a talented supporting actor is among a pretty good supporting cast in this one.It did sell a lot of tickets, though I wonder what the main feature was in theaters in 1938? One interesting feature that year was Room Service starring the Marx Brothers and featuring an unknown Lucille Ball. This might have been the under card for that one.

Jimmy L. The print I saw wasn't great and the movie starts off a little slow, but once the plot kicks in this is a great little pulp adventure. It's a quickie B-movie, but it's a lot of fun.Simon Templar, a.k.a. The Saint, is a sophisticated thrill-seeker who hands out vigilante justice to those who deserve it. He's a great character. In this film he works alongside the police (to a degree), while employing his own peculiar (and brutal) methods. He's like Batman, but wearing a normal suit and tie. The guy's quick-witted and resourceful, and he leaves dead bodies in his wake. The man plays by his own rules, but he sure gets results.THE SAINT IN NEW YORK (1938) is the first of many film outings for the Simon Templar character. Played by Louis Hayward, Templar is a scrappy sort of globetrotter with the charm of an Orson Welles (think Harry Lime). He's a man of the world and something of an intellectual. One of the henchmen he meets (Paul Guilfoyle in a great performance) is awed by Templar's way with words. ("It's like poetry.")This Saint adventure is action-packed, with Templar taking down a city- wide crime syndicate over the course of a few nights. Often he is taken into custody by his enemies, only to be the only man left alive. There are some pretty exciting fights. The kind of stuff you might see in a pulp magazine or hear on an old-time radio broadcast: The lights go out, a shot is fired, there's a shriek, furniture tumbles over, two more shots, a door opens, a window breaks, another shriek, etc., etc. It's good stuff and The Saint is a force to be reckoned with. Like I said, he's Batman in a suit.

MartinHafer While the movie lacks the charm and sophistication of George Sanders (who most associate with the leading role), it makes up for it in a big way by being so very different. Instead of a crime fighter who always wraps everything together neatly for the police by the end of the film, this version of the Saint just kills the bad guys or gets them to kill each other!! I really liked this, as the typical role played by Boston Blackie, the Falcon or Charlie Chan is way too predictable--they NEVER would plug a bad guy who isn't even resisting arrest or making an attempt on the hero's life! Here, we find a supremely practical crime fighter who doesn't bother with courts and evidence! In many ways, it's like taking a movie such as THE STAR CHAMBER or MAGNUM FORCE and fusing it with a traditional 1930s and 40s B-detective film. Simon Templer's methods are sure a lot more practical and fun to watch than other crime fighters! Apart from the way he dispatches criminals, the film is a rather standard film about bad guys and a mystery--in this case WHO is responsible for leading a crime syndicate in New York City. Generally good pacing (though it DOES sag a bit in the middle), decent but not so sophisticated acting and a good script all work together to make one of the best examples of the genre. This is an excellent film for all--particularly lovers of old B-movies.

didi-5 The first film in RKO's series (continued, successfully, with George Sanders, and unsuccessfully, with Hugh Sinclair), this features tiny, white-suited Louis Hayward, as the dangerous psychotic Simon Templar, law-enforcer of a kind (mainly by shooting people), on a mission to find the 'big fellow', head of a crime gang. Hayward is excellent in this, having just the right amount of repartee and daring (without making the role comedic as Sanders did or boring as Sinclair did), as is his love interest, Kay Sutton, who seemed to do very little in films despite her good looks and strong voice. One gripe about the film would be that the print currently available on video is poor as regards picture and sound - I understand this entry in the series was lost for a while and it really does cry out for restoration. Still, this aside it has many compensations. Hayward went on to be the man in the iron mask, the son of Monte Cristo, and the snipey son Oliver in My Son My Son. Jonathan Hale, introduced here as the Saint's cop foil, went on to other Saint entries and eventually committed suicide.