THE SAINT IN LONDON

UK, 1939, 72 minutes, Black and white.
George Sanders, Sally Gray, Henry Oscar, Ralph Truman, Athene Seyler, David Burns.
Directed by John Paddy Carstairs.

The Saint in London is the second Saint film with George Sanders. He is a very suave presence, a very British gentleman, able to pursue criminal investigations, this time in an alliance with the police and Scotland Yard.

The film was small budget, supporting feature, but entertaining nonetheless. Leslie Charteris had created the Saint and the Saint was to appear in many films with Sanders as well as Hugh Sinclair with television series, and star Roger Moore, in later decades.

Simon Templar has returned from the United States, and at a social meets Penny Parker (Sally Gray) as well as an odd character Bruno Lang (Henry Oscar). It emerges that he is the head of a gang which includes an international spy, the secretary at an embassy, and a man who owns a tobacco shop as well as some thugs. When they murder a Count, Templar is under suspicion but begins to work with Penny Parker as well as Detective Teal from Scotland Yard. At the beginning of the film he encounters a pickpocket and picks his pocket back! He is interested in his talent, his years in San Quentin, and hires him as an assistant. He participates in all the action.

With a London background, the film offers the character of Simon Templar, the interactions with Penny, the dependence on his assistant, secret collaboration with the police, all kinds of tactics including passing himself off as Detective Teal at the embassy.

There are guns, shootings, car chases… All in the style of the 1930s.