Louis Hayward is many people's preference as the Saint over George Sanders, precisely because he played him as a hard, cold hit-man in 1938's The Saint in New York. While this is, undeniably, a trait in Charteris's creation, it is not the most likeable one and it is intriguing to see too Hayward's performance has mellowed with age. The script here is a little trite, but on the whole this is a more than passable little preamble that predicts nicely the Saint the Roger Moore series would show, with the Saint a vaguely retired disreputable character who finds it hard to stay on the right side of the law. There is much humour, and a little padding, but the film is worth a watch for Saint fanatics. For Hammer Film fans (the film was shot for RKO by the British studio) a nice touch is the shot of a floor plan of a country house that is about to be burgled; the names of all the guests belong to Hammer regular cast and crew members, including cult director Terence Fisher.
12 Reviews
Louis Hayward returns as hard-nosed Simon Templar
csteidler3 May 2013
This final picture in the Saint series is connected to the early 1940s RKO entries only by the presence of Louis Hayward, the original Simon Templar in 1938's The Saint in New York.
This time around, the Saint seeks information about a girlfriend who cabled him for help—and then crashed her car into the river before his arrival on the scene. The police call it an accident, but .
Hayward is a smooth-talking Saint whose smirk is alternately insolent and charming; caught red-handed snooping through an apartment, he merely removes the cigar from his mouth and asks politely, "Pardon me do you have a match?" He can play rough, however, as well—he does not hesitate to slap around a crook who has sneaked into his own room and doesn't want to tell who sent him.
The Saint is assisted by right-hand man Hoppy (Thomas Gallagher), a reformed pickpocket (of course) who doubles as valet and bodyguard. The "girl Friday" of the title is a woman named Carol (Naomi Chance), whose help Templar enlists in tracking the mob that killed his girlfriend and is threatening and manipulating Carol over gambling debts.
The plot is okay but nothing extraordinary, although the identity of the secret mob "chief" did surprise me at the end. The mood is rather darker than that of the fairly breezy comedy-mysteries of a decade earlier; however, Louis Hayward's confident performance, a fair amount of droll humor, and some atmospheric London underworld settings combine for an entertaining and still essentially light-hearted adventure.
This time around, the Saint seeks information about a girlfriend who cabled him for help—and then crashed her car into the river before his arrival on the scene. The police call it an accident, but .
Hayward is a smooth-talking Saint whose smirk is alternately insolent and charming; caught red-handed snooping through an apartment, he merely removes the cigar from his mouth and asks politely, "Pardon me do you have a match?" He can play rough, however, as well—he does not hesitate to slap around a crook who has sneaked into his own room and doesn't want to tell who sent him.
The Saint is assisted by right-hand man Hoppy (Thomas Gallagher), a reformed pickpocket (of course) who doubles as valet and bodyguard. The "girl Friday" of the title is a woman named Carol (Naomi Chance), whose help Templar enlists in tracking the mob that killed his girlfriend and is threatening and manipulating Carol over gambling debts.
The plot is okay but nothing extraordinary, although the identity of the secret mob "chief" did surprise me at the end. The mood is rather darker than that of the fairly breezy comedy-mysteries of a decade earlier; however, Louis Hayward's confident performance, a fair amount of droll humor, and some atmospheric London underworld settings combine for an entertaining and still essentially light-hearted adventure.
The River Gang
bkoganbing5 October 2014
After being the first actor to play The Saint, Louis Hayward returns to the role of Leslie Charteris's debonair modern Robin Hood for Hammer films in Great Britain. The Sain't Girl Friday has Hayward rushing back to the United Kingdom in response to a socialite friend of his. Before he arrives however the woman is killed in a mighty suspicious car crash.
Charles Victor as Chief Inspector Teal of Scotland Yard tells Hayward to stay out of it which is all the incentive Simon Templar needs to get in all the more. His late friend had a nasty gambling habit and she was in debt to a group called The River Gang.
This bunch doesn't always take pound sterling for payment. Any number of people can work off their debt in other ways. Finding this out is eventually how Hayward cracks the case.
Television fans of The Saint remember a young Roger Moore as Simon Templar and the big screen actor best known for the role is George Sanders. But Hayward does his usual good work and he would have been great himself as a small screen Simon Templar before Moore got the part.
The Saint's Girl Friday features British blond bombshell Diana Dors, their answer to Marilyn Monroe. She's as good a reason as any to see this film.
A good note to end the big screen series with.
Charles Victor as Chief Inspector Teal of Scotland Yard tells Hayward to stay out of it which is all the incentive Simon Templar needs to get in all the more. His late friend had a nasty gambling habit and she was in debt to a group called The River Gang.
This bunch doesn't always take pound sterling for payment. Any number of people can work off their debt in other ways. Finding this out is eventually how Hayward cracks the case.
Television fans of The Saint remember a young Roger Moore as Simon Templar and the big screen actor best known for the role is George Sanders. But Hayward does his usual good work and he would have been great himself as a small screen Simon Templar before Moore got the part.
The Saint's Girl Friday features British blond bombshell Diana Dors, their answer to Marilyn Monroe. She's as good a reason as any to see this film.
A good note to end the big screen series with.
Another Go-Around For Louis Hayward
boblipton3 April 2019
The movie series based on Leslie Chateris' long-running collection of novels about "the Robin Hood of Crime" ends where it began, with Louis Hayward taking on the role of Simon Templar. When a girl friend dies after sending him a telegram asking him for help, the police thinks it was an accident. Hayward soon discovers a ring of crooks running a crooked gambling joint. The problem lies in finding out who the mysterious boss is and wrapping them up in a neat bow before Chief Inspector Charles Victor can arrest him for the corpse that came tumbling out of Hayward's refrigerator.
It's a handsome mix of light-hearted bravado, lucky turns and murderous incidents, far removed from the RKO series of the early 1940s. It's a solid light-hearted mystery from Hammer Films, despite the fact that Hayward is not the young man he had been a decade and a half earlier. Naomi Chance is the busty young woman whom he reforms, although Diana Dors has a small role in which, after complaining that she has no gun to use on Hayward, is told to "Use what she's got" and she most certainly does.
Still, there wasn't enough interest to keep the series going. It would be another decade before it was successfully revived on the small screen, with a perfectly cast Roger Moore.
It's a handsome mix of light-hearted bravado, lucky turns and murderous incidents, far removed from the RKO series of the early 1940s. It's a solid light-hearted mystery from Hammer Films, despite the fact that Hayward is not the young man he had been a decade and a half earlier. Naomi Chance is the busty young woman whom he reforms, although Diana Dors has a small role in which, after complaining that she has no gun to use on Hayward, is told to "Use what she's got" and she most certainly does.
Still, there wasn't enough interest to keep the series going. It would be another decade before it was successfully revived on the small screen, with a perfectly cast Roger Moore.
Hayward returns after a long gap, decent movie.
Sleepin_Dragon23 January 2023
Simon Templar is shocked to learn that an old girlfriend was killed, the same day that she cabled him, reaching out.
It's a pretty good, if not dynamic movie, I believe it was the last on the big screen, it would of course return with the well remembered series.
It's a solid storyline, there is a sense of mystery, one thing you'll notice, it doesn't really have any lighter moments, it's quite a straight up mystery, it's definitely atmospheric.
Diana Dors appears, what a presence, what an absolutely beautiful woman.
It had been quite a few years since Hayward last played Templar, The Saint in New York, Hayward made some impressive films in the gap years, including one of my favourites, And then there were none.
There is no denying that Hayward was a handsome actor, with presence and charisma, well suited for the part, people will no doubt compare him to Sanders, I liked both.
Solid, 6/10.
It's a pretty good, if not dynamic movie, I believe it was the last on the big screen, it would of course return with the well remembered series.
It's a solid storyline, there is a sense of mystery, one thing you'll notice, it doesn't really have any lighter moments, it's quite a straight up mystery, it's definitely atmospheric.
Diana Dors appears, what a presence, what an absolutely beautiful woman.
It had been quite a few years since Hayward last played Templar, The Saint in New York, Hayward made some impressive films in the gap years, including one of my favourites, And then there were none.
There is no denying that Hayward was a handsome actor, with presence and charisma, well suited for the part, people will no doubt compare him to Sanders, I liked both.
Solid, 6/10.
Incredibly boring
utgard1418 September 2017
Louis Hayward returns to the character he helped launch on the big screen in the first of RKO's The Saint series back in the '30s. He portrayed a gritty and tough Saint in one movie before George Sanders took over and made the role his own, bringing a suaveness and sophistication to the part. It's a nice bookend for the character, I suppose, to have the same actor start and essentially finish the series. Hammer was probably hoping this might revive the series for them. Unfortunately it did not and the reason is this movie is lifeless. Whatever appealed to Hayward about the role of Simon Templar in 1938 that helped his performance there so much seems long gone here. This time around he seems to be just going through the motions and collecting a paycheck. No one else in the cast stands out in any noticeable way and the script is a cure for insomnia, so there really isn't much else to say about this. It's a dull movie that you'll probably forget a minute after the end credits appear.
"He's a regular churchgoer now"
hwg1957-102-2657045 October 2023
Warning: Spoilers
The Saint responds to the urgent summons from a friend but before he can see her she drives her car into a river and drowns. Was it suicide or murder? And if the latter who was responsible. With his trusty assistant Hoppy and avoiding the hindrance of blustering Inspector Teal the Saint solves the case and ropes in a criminal gang too. Louis Hayward plays the Saint in a jaunty but determined manner which is ideal. Also in the cast are welcome thespians like Sydney Tafler, Charles Victor, Harold Lang, Diana Dors, Sam Kydd, Russell Napier, Jane Carr and Ian (not the writer) Fleming all of whom are familiar faces on the B-movie scene but add distinction to any production they are in. A fast moving, entertaining film.
Lesser outing for the Charteris character
Leofwine_draca25 April 2018
Warning: Spoilers
THE SAINT'S GIRL FRIDAY is a low budget Hammer working of the famous Simon Templar character created by Leslie Charteris. It features, in the lead role, none other than an ageing Louis Hayward, who first essayed the role on screen back in 1953. Sadly, this murky potboiler is a lesser affair, lacking the wit and energy of, say, the Roger Moore TV series of the 1960s. What's interesting about it is the cast and the emphasis on making Templar a darker character, forever on the outskirts of the law and often in conflict with the police force. It's nice to see his American valet popping up. Fans of 1950s cinema will enjoy a substantial role for the great Sydney Tafler as well as bit parts for Diana Dors and Sam Kydd.
Not terrific but more than ok
marccherry-158663 January 2023
Like Louis Hayward as the Saint. Sydney Tafler as usual an excellent bad guy. Some of fight scenes are a bit tame. My expectations of this film weren't high sure it has it's flaws but found it entertaining enough & there's more good than bad in this film. The England of the early 50's portrayed here seems a different world today. A film should be entertaining & hold your interest in spite of some of it's flaws it largely achieves this & that is more than Citizen Kane did ( mind numbingly boring) It's a film that somehow makes you want to go back in time to early 50's & see the UK as it was then.
Not very exciting
malcolmgsw15 October 2018
Little surprise that this entry in the Saint series did not lead to a revival of the series.It really is rather dull with little to excite.Interesting to see Diana Dors.Mind in a small role.I, I wonder if it led to the contract she was handed a couple of years later by RKO.The title is a bit baffling since there isn't a girl friday.The reference to Merton Lodge may be a reference to Merton Studios.
A great but late return of Hayward.
vollenhoven17 April 2005
Having seen this movie with Louis Hayward I wondered why he did stop with making the saint movies for so long, or why he didn't take the part instead of Hugh Sinclair (i don't like the saint with a moustache). Continuing his strong physical performance for The saint of New York, he's less suave but more the adventurer that Simon Templar is in his earlier years. With Hayward the physical action is believable while this was less the case with Sanders. But for me Hayward is slightly more Saintly. Hoppy Uniatz from the books gets changed in an English valet who does solve crosswords, which is a huge change for those who've read the books. This movie also has Diane Dors in it, the poor man's English Marlyn Monroe. She serves her purpose namely as Eyecandy.
Lets hope for a decent release on DVD for this movie and the series, so they can pleasure the series fans for a long time too come.
Lets hope for a decent release on DVD for this movie and the series, so they can pleasure the series fans for a long time too come.
Not bad but not good
robert-temple-117 April 2023
This is the ninth Saint film and the last released by RKO, but it is not generally considered to be part of which has become called 'the original Saint series', as it was an afterthought so many years later, and it was actually produced by Hammer Films in England. It has two titles, THE SAINT'S RETURN and also THE SAINT'S GIRL FRIDAY. The producers resurrected Louis Hayward to play the Saint. He had played the Saint only once before, in the very first Saint film in 1938 (THE SAINT IN NEW YORK, see my review), 15 years previously. Once again, Hayward is very good in the role, and he has worn well and this was therefore a perfectly good idea. Hayward was most certainly a superior choice to retaining Hugh Sinclair in the role. After this film, 13 more years would elapse before another Saint feature film was made, and that would be a French film (THE SAINT LIES IN WAIT, original title LE SAINT PREND L'AFFÛT, 1966), with Jean Marais playing the Saint and Christian-Jacque as the director. That French film is readily available on DVD from French Amazon, though without English subtitles. As for English language Saint feature films, however, it would be 15 years before anything happened. Two English Saint films would be produced in 1968 and 1969 with Roger Moore playing the Saint (THE FICTION-MAKERS, 1968, and VENDETTA FOR THE SAINT, 1969). But from 1963 to 1969, Roger Moore played the Saint in a British TV series which ran for 118 episodes. Further Saint TV and film productions have occurred since then, the most recent being in 2017, but I shall not bother with enumerating them, as they are all listed on IMDb. In this film, apart from Louis Hayward, none of the old cast members reappeared. This film is notable for a bizarre and unexpected appearance of Diana Dors as a temptress who tries to seduce the Saint, but he is too holy to surrender to her charms. The film is a pretty straightforward mystery film, and lacks the witty and comedic aspects of early Saint films. It is not bad and it is not good, it is just what it is. If you like Saint films then this will do nicely. There is sufficient mystery to keep you guessing.
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