''The Saint's Vacation'' is a 1941 adventure film produced by the British arm of RKO Pictures. The film stars

Hugh Sinclair Admiral Sir Hugh Francis Paget Sinclair, (18 August 1873 – 4 November 1939), known as Quex Sinclair, was a British intelligence officer. He was Director of British Naval Intelligence between 1919 and 1921, and he subsequently helped to set ...

Simon Templar ''The Saint'' is the nickname of the fictional character Simon Templar, featured in a series of novels and short stories by Leslie Charteris published between 1928 and 1963. After that date, other authors collaborated with Charteris on books un ...

, also known as "The Saint", a world-roving crimefighter who walks the fine edge of the law. This was the seventh of eight films in RKO's

film series A film series or movie series (also referred to as a film franchise or movie franchise) is a collection of related films in succession that share the same fictional universe, or are marketed as a series. This article explains what film series are ...

about the character created by

Leslie Charteris Leslie Charteris (born Leslie Charles Bowyer-Yin, 12 May 1907 – 15 April 1993), was a British-Chinese author of adventure fiction, as well as a screenwriter.George Sanders George Henry Sanders (3 July 1906 – 25 April 1972) was a British actor and singer whose career spanned over 40 years. His heavy, upper-class English accent and smooth, bass voice often led him to be cast as sophisticated but villainous chara ...

, who then stepped into RKO's "

Falcon Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Falcons are widely distributed on all continents of the world except Antarctica, though closely related raptors did occur there in the Eocene. Adult falcons ...

" series. The film is the seventh of nine features produced by RKO Pictures featuring suave detective Simon Templar and it marks a major change in the series, shifting production to England. The film was based upon Charteris' 1932 novel, '' Getaway'' (also known as ''The Saint's Getaway'') and, like all the other films in the RKO Saint series, considerable liberties were taken with the original story. Most notably, the time frame of the story has been moved up to the Second World War, with the villains of the piece being

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

s. The film also disregards the fact that ''Getaway'' was in fact the third chapter of a trilogy which included the earlier works ''

The Last Hero ''The Last Hero'' is a short fantasy novel by British writer Terry Pratchett, the twenty-seventh book in his ''Discworld'' series. It was published in 2001 in a larger format than the other ''Discworld'' novels and illustrated on every page by ...

'' and ''

Knight Templar , colors = White mantle with a red cross , colors_label = Attire , march = , mascot = Two knights riding a single horse , equipment ...

''. Unlike other films in the Saint series, Charteris himself co-wrote the screenplay. Also, unlike the previous Saint films, which were produced in Hollywood, ''The Saint's Vacation'' was produced and filmed in the United Kingdom.

Plot

Most of the story takes place in Switzerland, where Templar interrupts his holiday to retrieve a missing secret code. The key to the mystery is a Swiss music box with a most unusual tune, diligently sought after by enemy agent Rudolph and British secret service operative Valerie . Templar is aided in his investigation by reporter Mary Langdon and Monty Hayward, with Inspector Teal of Scotland Yard.

Cast

, aka The Saint * Sally Gray as Mary Langdon *

Arthur Macrae William Arthur Schröpfer (17 March 1908 – 25 February 1962) known by the pen name and stage name Arthur Macrae was an English playwright and comic actor. He graduated from RADA in 1928; with acting work including the original West End producti ...

as Monty Hayward * Cecil Parker as Rudolph Hauser *

Leueen MacGrath Leueen MacGrath (3 July 1914 – 27 March 1992) was an English actress and playwright and the second wife of George S. Kaufman, from 1949 until their divorce in 1957. Early years Born in London, England, MacGrath was a graduate of the Royal ...

as Valerie (as Leueen Macgrath) * John Warwick as Gregory * Manning Whiley as Marko *

Felix Aylmer Sir Felix Edward Aylmer Jones, OBE (21 February 1889 – 2 September 1979) was an English stage actor who also appeared in the cinema and on television. Aylmer made appearances in films with comedians such as Will Hay and George Formby. Earl ...

as Charles Leighton *

Ivor Barnard Ivor Barnard (13 June 1887 – 30 June 1953) was an English stage, radio and film actor. He was an original member of the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, where he was a notable Shylock and Caliban. He was the original Water Rat in the first L ...

as Emil * Gordon McLeod as Inspector Teal * Eric Clavering as Reporter (uncredited) *

Roddy Hughes Rhodri Henry Hughes (19 June 1891 – 22 February 1970) was a Welsh theatre, film and television actor, who appeared in over 80 films between 1932 and 1961. Selected filmography * ''Mr. Bill the Conqueror'' (1932) * '' Reunion'' (1932) * '' Say ...

as Valet (uncredited)

Notes

In June 1939

John Farrow John Villiers Farrow, KGCHS (10 February 190427 January 1963) was an Australian film director, producer, and screenwriter. Spending a considerable amount of his career in the United States, in 1942 he was nominated for the Academy Award for B ...

was announced to direct the film before being replaced by Leslie Felton. Several characters from ''Getaway'' do appear in the film adaptation, most notably Templar's friend Monty Hayward (the only time this recurring character from the early novels appeared on film). The villain of the film, Rudolf Hauser (played by Cecil Parker) is an adjustment of the book's villain, Prince Rudolf, who had also been the villain in the early Saint novels ''

'' and ''

Knight Templar , colors = White mantle with a red cross , colors_label = Attire , march = , mascot = Two knights riding a single horse , equipment ...

''. One notable omission from the character list is Templar's literary girlfriend, Patricia Holm, who is replaced by another character, Mary Langdon, played by Sally Gray. This was the first of two appearances by Sinclair as The Saint; he would later return in the film adaptation of '' Meet – The Tiger!'', also known as ''The Saint Meets the Tiger.''

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint's Vacation, The 1941 films The Saint (Simon Templar) American black-and-white films Films directed by Leslie Fenton RKO Pictures films American World War II propaganda films 1941 adventure films Films set in Switzerland American adventure films British adventure films British black-and-white films