One reviewer said this film is strictly for fans of the series and I tend to agree, though non-fans could still watch it and enjoy it if they aren't overly critical of the film's silly plot. Now as for me, I love old B-detective series films and don't mind the silliness too much--after all, if you think too much, films about Charlie Chan, Boston Blackie and the like are pretty tough to believe. Suspending disbelief and just enjoying them for the fun of it is definitely how you need to approach most of these films. In a way, they were like the modern detective TV show (such as "Murder She Wrote" or "Columbo")--predictable, sure, but still engaging.
This film starts off pretty well, as we see that one of the supporting characters is Bela Lugosi--that's a definite plus. However, a bit later, the silliness of the plot becomes very apparent when viewers are expected to believe that there is an exact double of Simon Templer AND this double is evil and wanted by the police. Additionally, Lugosi isn't really given much to do and is wasted. Also, considering how famous Templer is supposed to be, don't you think the cops would have realized the crook was an exact double for Templer a long time before? While "The Patty Duke Show" and other TV shows and movies have given us the concept of identical doubles, this is just silly and impossible to believe. Now had this double deliberately gotten plastic surgery to make himself look like Templer, this COULD have been a decent plot idea (like was done in a classic episode of "Hawaii 5-0"), but we are to assume that they are exact in every way (including accent)--all by chance!!
Additionally, late in the film, the conclusion becomes WAY TOO COMPLICATED. Templer COULD have easily exposed the double and wrapped everything up well--but then he dresses like a lady and gets himself to switch places with the phony! This just made no sense at all and seemed like padding. Also, leads like the mummy, the knife blade and the ring are never really developed--like the script was still in need of a re-write.
While I always like the Saint movies, I do have to admit that this is one of the worst due to the writing. No matter how hard George Sanders tries to carry the film, it sinks beneath plot holes and I could see non-fans of the genre disliking the film if they can't ignore all the problems with the plot. Fun but flawed.
This film starts off pretty well, as we see that one of the supporting characters is Bela Lugosi--that's a definite plus. However, a bit later, the silliness of the plot becomes very apparent when viewers are expected to believe that there is an exact double of Simon Templer AND this double is evil and wanted by the police. Additionally, Lugosi isn't really given much to do and is wasted. Also, considering how famous Templer is supposed to be, don't you think the cops would have realized the crook was an exact double for Templer a long time before? While "The Patty Duke Show" and other TV shows and movies have given us the concept of identical doubles, this is just silly and impossible to believe. Now had this double deliberately gotten plastic surgery to make himself look like Templer, this COULD have been a decent plot idea (like was done in a classic episode of "Hawaii 5-0"), but we are to assume that they are exact in every way (including accent)--all by chance!!
Additionally, late in the film, the conclusion becomes WAY TOO COMPLICATED. Templer COULD have easily exposed the double and wrapped everything up well--but then he dresses like a lady and gets himself to switch places with the phony! This just made no sense at all and seemed like padding. Also, leads like the mummy, the knife blade and the ring are never really developed--like the script was still in need of a re-write.
While I always like the Saint movies, I do have to admit that this is one of the worst due to the writing. No matter how hard George Sanders tries to carry the film, it sinks beneath plot holes and I could see non-fans of the genre disliking the film if they can't ignore all the problems with the plot. Fun but flawed.