This is the eighth Saint film and the second and last with Hugh Sinclair as the Saint. It is based on a novel of the same title by Leslie Charteris (which was apparently the first Saint book to be published, according to another reviewer). It was not released this time by RKO but by Republic Pictures, all the previous Saint films having been RKO pictures; apparently this was really made by RKO and then handed to Republic for a much delayed release. In other words, it was apparently made before THE SAINT'S VACATION, but released after it. I still call it the eighth Saint film however, because it was the eighth to be released. It was the last of what is generally referred to as 'the original Saint series'. The lead gal in the film is played by Pat Gillie, who appeared in 22 films during her brief career of only 12 years, and died of pneumonia at the age of 33 in 1949. Gillie is not as cheerful and engaging as Sally Gray (who appears in THE SAINT'S VACATION, see my review, and appeared also in an earlier Saint film), and does not reach Gray's level of girlish charm. That does not mean that Gillie was bad in any way, merely that Gray was very special. This film is set in England and is very English indeed, with Gordon McLeod once again as Inspector Claude Teal. The film has a very gripping beginning: a man phones the Saint from a call box and asks to meet with him urgently. He is nearby and the Saint says yes come round immediately. However, the man is being followed and just as he rings the Saint's doorbell he is stabbed in the back. He manages to gasp a few incoherent words to the Saint and then dies. One of the words he spoke was 'Baycombe', the name of a fictitious Cornish fishing village. That is enough to send the Saint rushing down to Baycombe in search of another of the dying man's words: 'gold'. Much is made of the history of Baycombe as an old smuggler's port, with mysterious smugglers' caves said to be in the vicinity, though no one is sure where. It becomes clear that Baycombe contains numerous villains, but who are they? The Saint is accompanied by a humourous and formal butler named Horace whom he has brought with him from London. Horace is very amusingly played by the character actor Wylie Watson, who is famous for playing Mister Memory in the original 1935 film of THE 39 STEPS. (A greater contrast between the Saint's butler and Mister Memory cannot be imagined, so Watson was amazingly versatile. He last appeared as Herb Johnson in Fred Zinnemann's Australian epic, THE SUNDOWNERS in 1960.) The dying man had also mentioned 'the Tiger', who turns out to be the code name for the leader of a criminal gang. There is no actual tiger in the film. Discovering who 'the Tiger' is makes for good watching. We get some nice filming in a genuine Cornish fishing village. I recognised one of the streets, but cannot remember which of the towns it is in. The film is very amusing, being a semi-comedic mystery film. So it is fun to watch.
Review of The Saint Meets the Tiger
