The Saint's Vacation (1941)

The Saint's Vacation is the title of a 1941 adventure film produced by the British arm of RKO Pictures. The film starred Hugh Sinclair as Simon Templar, a.k.a. "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 about the character created by Leslie Charteris. It was Sinclair's first appearance as Templar, having taken over the role from George Sanders. 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 Nazis. 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 and Knight Templar. 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.

Synopsis

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 (Cecil Parker) and British secret service operative Valerie (Leueen MacGrath). Templar is aided in his investigation by reporter Mary Langdon (Sally Gray) and Monty Hayward (Arthur Macrae), with Inspector Teal (Gordon McLeod) of Scotland Yard.

Actors