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THE SAINT’S DOUBLE TROUBLE   (1940)
The Confused Doppleganger Affair   (5 of 10)

Simon ships a mummy to his old college professor in Philadelphia; however, jewel thieves use it to smuggle diamonds into the country. To make matters worse (if not downright non-sensical), "The Boss" (alias Duke Bates) is a DEAD RINGER for Simon, impersonates him and leaves The Saint's calling cards at the scenes of various uncalled-for murders.

Like a lot of LOST IN SPACE episodes, this one might actually make more sense if one thinks about it more than the writers clearly did, and filled in the blanks. While Simon seems to be finding out about his evil twin as the story goes, Bates was clearly aware of Templar. Did he realize his likeness and decide to use it to his advantage, or did he get plastic surgery for this purpose? I'd lean toward the former, but at a mere hour and 7 minutes, there's no time to ever find out.

More coincidence is piled up when Inspector Fernack is on vacation, decides to visit his old police friends in Philly, but before they can go to a reunion dinner, he's called to the scene of a murder and finds Templar's calling card. And then Simon shows up in his hotel room, presumably eager to enlist Fernack in proving that he's not the killer.

I've long considered this one of George Sanders' "middle" SAINT films. Two are much better than this, one other is about this level of quality, and thankfully, only ONE is far, far WORSE than this (the ABYSMALLY-awful "...STRIKES BACK"). Sometimes, "okay" is fun enough.

Between the 9 feature films, the 120 Roger Moore episodes, the 24 Ian Ogilvys, the 1 Andrew Clarke and the 6 Simon Duttons, this is, in fact, the ONLY Saint film that ever delved into Simon's background and past. (Please note: whatever it's called, the Val Kilmer film is NOT about "The Saint"-- it's actually a loose, UNCREDITED adaptation of Louis Joseph Vance's 1914 Michael Lanyard novel "THE LONE WOLF". I'm NOT KIDDING.) After all these years, I still haven't read most of the earliest stories written by Leslie Charteris, but as Simon is supposed to be "a modern Robin Hood", one thing I knew was that he came from a wealthy family and attended the best schools before embarking on a crazy life of adventure fighting injustice. Here we meet a beloved old college professor and his daughter who once looked up to Simon before he took up what she believes was a "life of crime" (rather than crime-fighting). Among the humor in the story are some very sad, disturbing sequences where the father is needlessly murdered, and the daughter is almost driven into the river in a speeding car. THOSE BASTARDS! Rest assured, BOTH criminals involved GET what's coming to them before it's all over. Simon makes SURE of that.

Apart from Jonathan Hale, who lights up any scene he's in, my other favorite bits in the film involve the 2 stupid henchmen, Limpy & Monk (John F. Hamilton & Elliot Sullivan). They're so delightfully dim-witted, you can't really hate them... well, except for the scene where Limpy tries to MURDER the professor's daughter. I loved the bit where Templar, pretending to be the bad guy, walks up to Limpy, who, after a moment, says, "Hey, wait-- you-- you ain't the boss! You wuz wearin' different clothes!" (It's too bad on the awful WOR Channel 9 print I have it's IMPOSSIBLE to tell the difference.) And then Simon tries to make Limpy open a door, KNOWING his buddies are planning to shoot whoever opens it first (a bit later used in the Howard Hawks mangling of "THE BIG SLEEP").

A novelty bit for me is that this is probably the only film I've ever seen in my life where my home town of Camden, New Jersey is mentioned. I've written so many stories myself that take place IN Camden, watching this film is like seeing one of those from the other side of the river.

Bela Lugosi has a small part as "The Partner"-- a character they never even bothered to give a real name to! This is a shame, as every moment he's onscreen, he impressed me with what a wonderful, subtle actor he was. Whoever said he "never learned English" was full of it! The shame is that he wasn't given a MUCH-bigger role in this picture.

Sanders was NEVER right as Templar; see "SON OF MONTE CRISTO" where he's opposite Louis Hayward for proof of that. But Sanders was SO good, that with the right script, he could make it SEEM he was right. This film wasn't quite that, but it was wedged between 2 others that were.

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I want to once again thank the person who did a review of the 1914 novel THE LONE WOLF.  After 24 YEARS, it finally "explained" to me EXACTLY what the HELL went on with that 1998 Val Kilmer movie.

Somebody should have been SUED over that.

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Today: REBECCA (1940)

I first turned this on halfway in on TCM, and within 5 minutes, quickly realized it was the main source for the "1970 Parallel Time" story on DARK SHADOWS... except, WITHOUT any supernatural elements. I soon found it again and watched it from the beginning. I've been watching it every few years ever since.

This is like 3 stories in 1... and that's not the only time this happened in an Alfred Hitchcock film. In 3 acts, it goes from being a love story, to a psychological thriller, to suddenly, a MURDER mystery!

This quickly became my FAVORITE of all his movies, and the last time I watched it (a few years back), it was part of a small Hitchcock marathon, consisting of all his films I had copies of... which, pathetically, is only about 6. (Crazy enough, the generally excellent NORTH BY NORTHWEST is actually my LEAST-favorite of those 6... as I just can't stand all the S*** that keep happening and keeps happening to Cary Grant, and, the way that no-good B****** US intelligence boss played by Leo G. Carroll keeps LETTING it happen. You know, "Alexander Waverly" on UNCLE is almost the identical character, and in more than one episode, one of the main characters said to the other, "Do you ever sometimes wonder WHICH SIDE he's really working for?")

What a fabulous story... what a fabulous CAST... and great locations & sets. Something I NEVER noticed until TODAY, oddly enough-- perhaps because this is the 1st time I watched it on a larger wide screen (than my previous square 20-incher) is HOW MUCH use they made of REAR-PROJECTION for the location shots. When you see people at a distance, or you don't see their faces, it's location shots; but when there's close-ups, or medium close-ups of people walking, REAR-projection. Mostly it's very well-done, but there's at least one shot of Laurence Olivier & Joan Fontaine walking among the trees where it's BLATENTLY obvious. Hmm.

One thing that always baffles me about this story, is how "Maxim" remains so PAINFULLY oblivious to just how EVIL and MANIPULATIVE the house-keeper "Mrs. Danvers" (Judith Anderson) is. It seems to me, if I were in that situation, I'd have given her an ultimatum: lighten up, clean up your act, improve your attitude, or I'll be ALL TOO HAPPY to "make other arrangements". You can't have ONE employee going around acting like SHE'S the one in charge, instead of the employers. Especially when she winds up trying to convince the man's wife to commit SUICIDE.

This movie reminds me quite a lot of many classic Hammer Films... except, it actually HAS A BUDGET. If there's a Blu-Ray of this out there (particularly if there's some nice extras), I'm sure I'll be putting it on my wanted list one of these days.

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PHANTOM RAIDERS   (1940)
Insurance Fraud & Mass-Murder!     (5 of 10)

A gangster conspires with the owners of a shipping freight line to collect insurance money by blowing up their own ships. But when they get too greedy and destroy 3 ships in 2 weeks (murdering their entire crews in the process), Scotland Yard tracks down private eye Nick Carter to get to the bottom of it. Insanely, his sometimes-annoying sidekick Batholomew ("the bee man") takes the case for him and then tracks him down in Panama... in fact, Nick's hanging out with a girl named Dolores (who doesn't speak a sensible word of English), in the VERY bar where the villains are operating from! I mean, really... WHAT ARE THE ODDS?

As portrayed by Walter, ehh, Pidgeon, Carter is more interested in chasing women than in stopping criminals or saving lives. What kind of "hero" is this? Until he sets his eyes on a pretty secretary, who almost violently brushes him off while failing to tell him she's engaged. (What is WRONG with some women?) The story is a mix of cleverness, suspense, humor and utter madness, as it seems half the cast is in on the crime, and those who aren't come across as unusually dim. From the start, Carter is suspicious of the bar-owner, who he knew running a racket back in San Francisco, but on getting beat up by Dolores' boyfriend, he wants only to resign the case and leave town... until Bartholomew forges a threatening "Get out of Panama" letter, wraps it around a rock and throws it thru a window at him. Batholomew repeatedly proves FAR more clever and helpful than he was in the previous picture, several times getting Carter out of dangerous or even deadly situations.

The literary character of Nick Carter actually predates Sherlock Holmes, and there were no less than 24 silent NICK CARTER films made from 1908-21. Following an 18-year break, MGM (of all studios) decided to revive the character, but only managed 3 installments, and frankly, I think I can understand why. On the other hand, the radio show with Lon Clark lasted 12 years (1943-55).

Joseph Schildkraut plays Al Taurez, gangster, bar owner, knife-thrower, and one of the most ruthless, cold-blooded murderous villains I've ever seen in any movie. I've also seen him in THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK, MR. MOTO TAKES A VACATION and THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER.

Nat Pendleton is "Gunboat Jacklin", Suarez' bodyguard, who's kept in the dark about his boss's illegal activities, and incessantly annoyed whenever anyone looks at "his" girl (but, does Dolores KNOW she's "his" girl?). I enjoyed him as the ambulance driver in the DR. KILDARE series, but in here, he takes thick-headed to a whole new level. (Pendleton was artist Don Heck's original model for "Happy Hogan" in the IRON MAN comic-book series in late 1963. Every time I see him in one of his films, I always wind up saying, "It's Happy Hogan!")

Cecil Kellaway is "Franklin Morris", the manager of the shipping company, who's horrified at what his business partners have talked him into, and eventually winds up with a knife in his back for it. (I'll always remember him for THE MUMMY'S HAND.)

Matthew Boulton is "John Ramsell, Sr.", the owner of the line, who tries to keep his son from taking command of a ship he knows will be blown up. A regular in the BULLDOG DRUMMOND series, I've also seen him in THE INVISIBLE MAN RETURNS, TARZAN'S NEW YORK ADVENTURE, COUNTER-ESPIONAGE, RANDOM HARVEST and THE WOMAN IN GREEN (as Inspector Gregson).

Alec Craig is "Randy MacMillan", an employee of the line who (as far as I can remember) knows nothing about the monstrous scheme. I've also seen him in THE LONE WOLF SPY HUNT, A DATE WITH THE FALCON, TO BE OR NOT TO BE, THE LOVES OF EDGAR ALLAN POE, RANDOM HARVEST, THE SPIDER WOMAN, and THE HOUSE OF FEAR (1945).

A real surprise was Dwight Frye as "Eddie Anders", who's paid to murder Carter in his bed, but is caught, interrogated and nearly knifed in the back by his employer. He's SO cool, takes SO much effort to talk, and emotes SO much tension with almost no words at all, it really shows what a fantastic actor he was, far more than just a "raving madman" that he was often typecast as. It's really a shame he didn't have a bigger career, and that he passed away far too soon.

The climax of this film is BY FAR the best part. Nick & Bartholomew manage to corral the main villain on board the latest ship scheduled for destruction-- with only a half-hour to go before it happens. The suspense builds and builds, as Taurez REFUSES to admit his guilt. The resolution was brilliant. I only wish Carter had been more on the ball for the rest of the picture.

My Philly Channel 3 copy of this is so fuzzy, no doubt at some point I'll happily get all 3 of Pidgeon's NICK CARTER films on DVD at some point. If nothing else, it'll be nice to be able to hear the dialogue a lot clearer than it was on this 80s broadcast. (I can but hope. You never know what you're gonna find on DVD when it comes to old "B" movies. Or, ehh, any other kind, for that matter.)

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THE NOTORIOUS LONE WOLF (1946)
The Not-So-Comical Lone Wolf (4 of 10)

Back from 4 years of fighting in WW2 for a few hours, and Michael Lanyard is immediately suspected of stealing a rare & valuable gem. Next thing, he winds up accused of murder, and has to find the real culprits to clear himself. So what else is new?

Meeting Jamison at the airport, Lanyard says, "Jamison, you haven't changed a bit!" That's clearly to comment on the fact that while Eric Blore returned as Jamison, Warren William has been replaced by Gerald Mohr-- younger, rougher & more romantic. But also more comical-- or, he would be if the writing in this one wasn't so AWFUL. There's a running gag about Lanyard & his (apparently) serious girlfriend (since when?) Carla Winter being continuously interrupted when they're trying to get romantic, Lanyard & Jamison at one point doing a bad impression of an Abbott & Costello routine, and overall, the entire film somehow looking and feeling like a 3 STOOGES short, except without the Stooges, and with most of it just NOT being funny. Three writers worked on this thing, and it seems it was the only “Lone Wolf” film for any of them. In my book, that was one film too many.

William B. Davidson replaces Thurston Hall as Inspector Crane, and manages to be far less stupid, despite the dodgy material he's given to work with. His career goes back to 1915, but the only things I've seen him in were bit parts in SCARFACE, THE DRAGON MURDER CASE, MAN-MADE MONSTER, MY DARLING CLEMENTINE, DICK TRACY'S DILEMMA.

Meanwhile, Eddie Acuff plays cop sidekick "Inspector Jones", a HUGE upgrade from the terminally brain-dead Sgt. Dickens (Fred Kelsey). I’ve seen him in a pile of movies, including THE CASE OF THE VELVET CLAWS (he was a terrible “Spudsy”), THE PHANTOM CREEPS, CHARLIE CHAN IN PANAMA, BUCK BENNY RIDES AGAIN, THE BOYS FROM SYRACUSE, THE GREEN HORNET STRIKES AGAIN, HIGH SIERRA, LADY IN THE LAKE, and he was in a regular in the DR. KILDARE / DR. GILLESPIE film series. Oddly, he has virtually no lines in the film at all, and, Crane & Jones did NOT return in the follow-ups!

Don Beddoe makes his 6th appearance in the series, this time as shady nightclub owner Stonley, having previously been in …SPY HUNT, …STRIKES, …MEETS A LADY, …KEEPS A DATE, …TAKES A CHANCE, making that 3 different cops and 3 different baddies he’s played.

Peter Whitney is Harvey Beaumont, Beddoe’s sidekick. Despite a long career, crazy enough, the only 2 things I remember him for was a deputy in IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT (1967) and a Mexican bandito in an episode of THE MONKEES!

Janis Carter is Carla Winter, an apparently serious girlfriend of Lanyard’s who waited 4 years for him to come back from the war, yet oddly is never seen in the series again. This entire film gives me the impression that somebody at Columbia wanted to revive the series, but didn’t actually put much thought into how to go about doing it.

John Abbott has a fun but brief role as the aide of a foreign dignitary. He always stands out, whether he in a SAINT film, or an episode of STAR TREK or LOST IN SPACE.

Ian Wolfe is Adam Wheelright, a legitimate jeweler who acts more suspiciously than he should. In a long career including multiple Basil Rathbone SHERLOCK HOLMES films and 2 episodes of STAR TREK, I’ll always most remember him as Lillian Carlson’s delightfully-difficult butler, “Hirsch” on WKRP IN CINCINNATI.

And that brings me to Gerald Mohr, who played a number of baddies in the 40s, including CHARLIE CHAN AT TREASURE ISLAND, ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN MARVEL, JUNGLE GIRL (I really wanted him DEAD in that one!), and ONE DANGEROUS NIGHT (an earlier installment in this series). But he’s probably better-remembered for THE ANGRY RED PLANET, episodes of VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA and LOST IN SPACE, and as the voices of Green Lantern & Reed Richards in THE SUPERMAN-AQUAMAN HOUR OF ADVENTURE and FANTASTIC FOUR cartoons. In recent years, he also became my favorite actor to play PHILIP MARLOWE, on the radio series. Ever since, I’ve felt it was a real crime that he never played Marlowe in a movie or on TV. He blew Humphrey Bogart out of the water! If memory serves, his LONE WOLF films got better as they went. It’s just a shame he started with one this bad. At a mere hour and 4 minutes, it felt a lot longer.

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THE LONE WOLF IN MEXICO   (1947)
The Mexican Casino Mystery     (6 of 10)

Michael Lanyard takes a vacation to Mexico, where his valet Jamison insists it's time for HIS vacation as well, and he wishes to be treated an as equal. However, the usual pattern emerges when a former flame from Monte Carlo shows up trying to involve him in some shady deal, a croupier at a crooked casino is murdered just when he's trying to hand Lanyard an illegal proposition, a woman in debt plants a jewel in Jamison's pocket as a way of then trying to blackmail Lanyard into helping her, another murder follows, and of course, before long, Lanyard decides to NAIL the real criminals, clear himself, and have loads of FUN doing so!

Let me get this out of the way right here: ...MEXICO is a HUGE improvement over the previous film, THE NOTORIOUS... Gerald Mohr's been one of my favorite actors since first seeing him on TV in the late 60s, and it was infuriating to see him in a film as badly-written as that one was. With this, he comes closer to what I expect from him, and the plot is almost a throwback to the late 30s installments... before Columbia's writers turned Inspector Crane into such a complete IDIOT. The best part of this film, in fact, may be the total absence of Crane, apart from a teletype message FROM him in New York, warning the Mexican Police that Laynard is arriving in Mexico on vacation... he HOPES.

Generally, Eric Blore as Jamison is entertaining, though at times he can be annoying. This time around, he only very briefly got on my nerves, when he was considering stealing a jewel from a woman he was giving a car ride to. Of course, his pride in his own restraint was sabotaged when SHE wound up planting the jewel on HIM, something Lanyard flat-out refused to believe!

Unlike many of these films, for much of the story, I genuinely found myself wondering... "WHAT is really going on?" I liked the fact that it wasn't completely obvious, and actually kept me guessing. The owners of the "somewhat illegal" casino (HOW can something be considered "somewhat" illegal?) seemed mostly legit at first... before it turned out they were up to several different shady things at the same time. It was therefore hilarious, when Lanyard, forced to steal jewels from their safe, then proceded to steal them back from their actual owner, and replace them back in the casino safe, just as the news of the latter theft made newspaper headlines.

I think the most entertaining part of the film, however, had to be Nestor Paiva as Police Captain Carlos Rodriguez. Warned by Crane, he goes to the hotel, whose manager fully expects him to arrest Lanyard, but who he instead welcomes as an old friend he hasn't seen in years. When things start happening, naturally, he questions Lanyard, repeatedly declaring, "I HATE mysteries!", but, even when he's forced to arrest Lanyard at one point, he never really wants to do it, and near the end happily accepts Lanyard's help in catching the real criminals. (By then, they've managed to rack up fraud, theft, kidnapping and at least 2 murders!) I've seen Paiva in so many things, including THE SPIDER'S WEB (1938), PHANTOM RAIDERS, THE GREEN HORNET STRIKES AGAIN, MEET BOSTON BLACKIE, TARZAN'S DESERT MYSTERY, THE FALCON IN MEXICO, MIGHTY JOE YOUNG, I THE JURY (1953), CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON, REVENGE OF THE CREATURE, and episodes of JONNY QUEST (1964).

Even the finale is fun, as Rodriguez sends a similar telegram to Lanyward's next destination, only one written a lot more positive than the one Crane sent at the beginning.

When TCM ran most of the series back in the mid-2000s, this was not among them. No wonder, even they can't find a decent copy. It is, of course, included in OnesMedia's THE LONE WOLF FILMS COLLECTION (15 films from 1935-1949), but comes with a "warning" about the picture quality. While the opening credits didn't look too promising, most of the film is VERY watchable, and better than some others I've seen thanks to them. I plan on getting a lot more of their box sets before I'm through!

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ENTER THE DRAGON  (1973)

GEEZ. I just did some research on this. Seems there's this 2013 Warner Bros. Blu-Ray that is described as VASTLY superior, for both picture and sound, to an earlier 2007 Blu-Ray. I was THAT close to ordering it... when I happened to look over the Blu-Ray_com review of the 2007 disc, and suddenly noticed it said it contained the "rarely-seen original theatrical version". WHAAAAT???

This was a major red flag for me, as for some years now, I've been concerned about which version of the film would be available on disc.

Somewhere (back in the 2000s?) somebody put out a "extended special edition" with 3 EXTRA MINUTES not seen in theatres. Remember when the big networks tried to fight the inroads of cable movie channels, but including OUT-TAKES in their broadcasts of movies? Well, those scenes were CUT for a reason!!!

Back around 2008, I saw the "extended" ETD on TV, and the "added" scenes turned out to be COMPLETELY REDUNDANT. They were either Bruce Lee spouting philosophy (the exact same words as he'd done in various TV interviews), or character exposition that was ALSO included LATER in the film as the story slowly unfolded. Meaning, TOTALLY REDUNDANT. And frankly, I'd seen the film so many times, these additions ruined the film for me, and the thought of them being there has bugged me ever since.

So, it seemed I had a choice of buying a slightly-inferior print of what I wanted... or a slightly-better print of what I DIDN'T want.

Luckily, there's a 3rd alternative. Criterion put out a BOX SET in 2020 (just 2-1/2 years ago!) including BOTH cuts of the film... plus all of Lee's other films. It's called "BRUCE LEE: HIS GREATEST HITS". And for the price, it's like getting each film for about $12 apiece. I can't do it this month... but next month, almost for sure.

I'm not crazy about the box design... but, oh well, it's the contents I'm most interested in.

THIS is why I love doing RESEARCH before doing mail-orders.

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THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E.:   The Suburbia Affair
Granny Goodness in the Suburbs     (5 of 10)

A scientist has gone into hiding for 10 years, fearng his discovery will be put to terrible use by the wrong people. Both UNCLE and Thrush are after him, and have infiltrated a recently-built suburban tract to figure out which of its residents is living there under an assumed name. The foul-tempered and intimidating "Miss Witherspoon" is using a method involving altering light frequency to drive the locals slightly mad, hoping it will flush their quarry, who suffers from a very rare medical condition, when he tries to get a very rare drug to deal with it. Unfortunately, the local pharmacist is one of the bad guys.

Robert Vaughn is his usual charming, unflappable self throughout this rather dodgy story, one that could have been a lot better if played just a wee bit more serious. More than ever, one thing that's clear watching this is that Napoleon Solo & Ilya Kuryakin are NOT friends, and really don't like each other. Even John Steed & Cathy Gale got along better than these two.

Writer Sheridan Gibney, who once won two separate Academy Awards for one movie about Louis Pasteur, had to have been the one who came up with this story about a scientist concerned for humanity. Sadly, Stanford Sherman, one of the worst writers on both UNCLE and BATMAN, worked on the screenplay. Maybe he'd have been more at home as a milkman or a breadman (seriously, WHO has JUST bread delivered to their house?).

Victor Borge plays the scientist-in-hiding, and his performance is very much on the same keen level as Vaughn's. The rest of the cast, however, seem to have stepped right off a 60s sitcom, including Herbert Anderson (Dennis The Menace's father), Ray Kellogg (forever typecast as policemen), King Moody (Siegfried's idiot sidekick "Shtarker" on GET SMART), Richard Erdman as "P. T. Barkley"-- some name (I can imagine if this had been made 15 years later, Frank Bonner playing the salesman). Beth Brickell is very sweet as "Betsy Wilson", the "innocent" caught up in all this. (She switched over to producing & directing later on.)

And then there's Reta Shaw, who did this in between MARY POPPINS and THE GHOST AND MRS. MUIR. With a face like a brick wall and a personality to match, she always seems to be playing these very aggressive, bossy women, but here she turns it up to "11". A few years later, comics legend Jack Kirby modelled his character "Granny Goodness" on her, and I can't think of anything I've ever seen her in where she was more like "Granny" than in this episode!

You know, in the book on this show, it was mentioned how censors inspired the producers to replace regular guns with "stun guns"... but apart from one or two instances in the 1st season, I haven't been seeing those at all. Both UNCLE and Thrush agents are shooting (and sometimes killing) people in this story like crazy, and they're definitely using REAL bullets. At one point, 2 cops are called about a break-in, but you'd think they'd have showed up a lot sooner with all the gunfire going on!

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MEET BOSTON BLACKIE   (1941)
The Safe-Cracker and the Foreign Spies     (6 of 10)

Returning from Europe too early following a pearl theft, notorious-yet-charming Boston Blackie is acosted by his "friendly" nemesis Inspector Farraday, who wants to take his downtown for questioning. However, a murder gets in the way, and Blackie has to flee to clear his name of a crime he's never been known for. Before things are over, he runs into a whole ring of foreign spies, unintentionally kidnaps a woman to escape certain death, locks a pair of cops in a high-rise elevator, winds up wanted for two murders, slowly figures out a complex series of codes and just barely manages to hand the spies over to the police before he's arrested by a cop so single-minded and thick-headed all he can think of is sending Blackie to the electric chair. Fun stuff, EHH?

Following a 14-YEAR break, Columbia decided to revive the BOSTON BLACKIE series, with what modern audiences would probably call a "reboot". Unlike too many such series, this one features a pretty stable main cast, with Chester Morris & Richard Lane playing Blackie & Farrady 14 films in a row, while George E. Stone played his sidekick "The Runt" in 12 films (starting with the 2nd installment). Sadly, that kind of consistency was also to a degree a downside to the films, as in each and every movie, Blackie would be accused of some crime, and have to spent the stories trying to clear his name by nailing the real culprits-- and then being accused AGAIN in the following film. I know a lot of police departments these days go out of their way NOT to hire intelligent applicants who can think for themselves, but Richard Lane's Farraday almost manages to make Thurston Hall's Inspector Crane in the LONE WOLF series seem brilliant by comparison. THE SAINT's Inspector Fernack or Inspector Teal were NEVER this stupid! (Well, except sometimes on the Roger Moore tv series.)

I understand that, for some unspecified reason, the Morris BLACKIE films were completely out of circulation for decades, which explains why I grew up and never saw a single one of them, until TCM brought them out of obscurity in January 2007. I taped every one of them I could back then, and am re-watching them now, as part of a much-bigger 1930s-1940s marathon I'm doing with my collection. MEET BOSTON BLACKIE was my 1st exposure to the character, and while there were some good follow-ups, this one may still be my favorite. Among other things, its "formula" hadn't run itself into the ground thru repitition yet, the plot was rather different from most that followed and at times was difficult to guess, and around half the film was NON-STOP high-speed action of the likes one usually didn't see in "B"-movie series.

One very odd thing I might as well point out ahead of time here... a running plot thread in this one is the idea that Farraday has never gotten Blackie's fingerprints, and therefore, presumably, he's never been in prison. Yet a few films later, Blackie is referred to as an EX-CON, totally contradicting this! I'd like to see someone "explain" that.

MEET BOSTON BLACKIE was actually the 12th BLACKIE film made, but the first during the sound era. At the moment, it seems only ONE of the silents is currently in circulation-- the 11th, THE RETURN OF BOSTON BLACKIE (1927), with Raymond Anthony Glenn (alias "Bob Custer") in the lead role. That film seems to have suffered over the years, as at some point it was cut from 77 to 57 minutes. I've seen the shorter version, from Grapevine Video, which has a lot of damage to the print, but a VERY nice organ score. The story, in which Blackie is released from prison and then finds some former associates trying to coerce him back into crime (and failing that, frame him for their crimes) is actually a lot of fun, and, funny enough, like "MEET...", also takes place partly on an amusement pier. The film is also more or less "stolen" by his canine friend, "Strongheart The Dog", who apparently predated Rin Tin Tin as a movie dog hero. I highly reccomend people search this out, and I only wish the other 10 films would turn up one of these days.

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THE SAINT TAKES OVER   (1940)
The Saint TO THE RESCUE!     (8 of 10)

A gang of criminals involved in fixing horse races have murdered a police officer, and framed his superior, Inspector Fernack, by planting $50,000 in his safe. Suspended, he's determined to do whatever it takes to clear himself. Lucky for him, Simon Templar has decided to help out, with humorous results. Bodies start piling up, and Fernack naturally assumes Templar is the killer, but it gets hilarious when Simon keeps finding Fernack standing over the latest corpse, and although he obviously doesn't believe Fernack is the killer, he has too much fun at his friend's expense, saying, "Oh, HENRY!" Little do either realize that the sister of the murdered officer is the one killing the gangsters and stealing their ill-gotten gains, donating it to her brother's widow, very much in the style that Simon himself did in THE SAINT IN NEW YORK. One could say "The Saint Meets His Match", but this wasn't something the Hayes Office was going to let slide.

My favorite SAINT novel is "Angels Of Doom", in which Simon helps a woman whose police detective father was framed and wound up committing suicide. In that story, there were 3 gangsters involved, and Simon had to convince his new aqcuaintaince that they had to get a confession from one of the crooks before all of them wound up dead. The story was HORRIBLY adapted in THE SAINT STRIKES BACK, a film so AWFUL it gets my vote as the single worst SAINT movie ever made. Well, whatta ya know... just 3 movies later, they decided to take another whack at it, just as there'd been 3 different adaptations of "The Maltese Falcon" in 9 years and 2 adaptations of "Farewell My Lovely" in less time than that. Incredibly, both ...STRIKES BACK and ...TAKES OVER feature the same 3 actors in the lead roles-- George Sanders, Jonathan Hale & Wendy Barrie, but the results are so far superior I rate this as Sanders' 2ND-best SAINT film.

Even the climax, where Simon uses radio equipment to allow the police to overhear the crook's confession, is the same, though done SO much better this time.

Another returning actor in this one is Paul Guilfoyle, this time as "Pearly Gates", a nervous henchman. Suspected of a double-cross by his boss, and suspected by Fernack of being a killer, he's coerced by Templar into going straight. One of his best moments is when Simon & Pearly find Fernack standing over a corpse with a smoking gun in his hand , and Pearly says, "This guy's a mad-dog killer!", a mistaken impression Simon takes great amusement with at Fernack's expense.

The girl in "Angels" got off at the end; Hollywood censorship would not allow such a thing in ...IN NEW YORK or in ...TAKES OVER. I sometimes think it's a shame that the SAINT series wasn't being made in England, instead of America. It's kinda ridiculous when you have a character who spends most of his time in England, yet in 4 out of his 5 SAINT films, Sanders was in The States.

[profh0011]

THE SAINT IN PALM SPRINGS   (1941)
The Sinister Stamp Collectors     (5 of 10)

Inspector Fernack asks Simon's help transporting a trio of extremely-rare stamps valued around $200,000 from New York City to Palm Springs, California. It seems they were smuggled out of an unnamed country in Europe (no doubt NAZI Germany, Hollywood was very antsy about getting political before WW2 actually broke out), and turning cash into easily-smuggled stamps was the only way the family involved could avoid losing everything they had. But Simon winds up being a lousy bodyguard, as the man he meets is almost immediately murdered, his train compartment is searched en route, and a series of assaults, robberies & murders rack up once he reaches his destination. He gets some help from his old acquaintance "Pearly" Gates, now on probation and working as a hotel detective, who's desperate not to go to prison if and when things start going wrong.

Jonathan Hale's Fernack is only in the story at the start, while Wendy Barrie appears as her 3rd character in the series. I cannot bring myself to believe Fernack would have acted the way he did at the beginning-- putting out a BOGUS arrest order for Templar concerning a NON-existent murder! That's just not his style at all, and gets the movie off on a bad foot. Simon doesn't quite seem himself this time, as he's far too clueless to what's going on around him, who's doing what, and even when cooperating directly with the local police chief, is still blamed for how badly things are going. Plus, his wardrobe is far too average. The only one of the crooks involved with any personality at all is murdered halfway thru by one of the others, and at the end, it's not so much who was the main villain, as how many, as it appears half the guests at the hotel were all part of the gang!

RKO had a really dodgy track record with their SAINT series, pretty much alternating every other film between very good and... NOT. It's come to my attention that, as has been happening too many times for my liking, I've run across two DRASTICALLY-different behind-the-scenes stories about what went on between RKO and SAINT author Leslie Charteris. The current, widely-popular story, is that RKO got tired of paying Charteris so much for the rights to The Saint, and so stopped doing the films and began doing a somewhat-similar (not really) series about the Falcon-- ALSO with George Sanders & Wendy Barrie-- and Charteris sued them for plagiarism. However, this is NOT what I read many years ago!

The story I read started when writer Michael Arlen created a character named "Gay Stanhope Falcon", who appeared in a single novel, "The Gay Falcon" in 1940. Aside from there being an earlier character called "Michael Waring", also known as "The Falcon", created by Charles H. Huff, who appeared in 3 novels from 1936-38, Arlen was SUED by Charteris for plagiarism, which would seem to explain why "Gay" only ever appeared in a single novel. Meanwhile, Charteris was VERY unhappy with how RKO was handling their SAINT series (I don't blame him, only 2 out of Sanders' 5 Saint films are really worth watching), and TOOK BACK the rights. At which point, RKO decided to thumb their nose at Charteris, and began their FALCON series, almost certainly knowing that it was based on a character whose author Charteris had already sued! Charteris, meanwhile, worked out a deal with another studio IN ENGLAND, who produced 2 more SAINT films, both set IN ENGLAND, and which were distributed by RKO (so RKO wound up making money off them anyway).

I'm sure people will argue over this... but the story I just described makes MUCH MORE sense, to me!

Anyway, the biggest problem with ...IN PALM SPRINGS is that's it's DULL. When you have an actor as terrific as George Sanders and somehow manage to make a movie this boring, there's obviously a problem. The next installment would be a HUGE improvement... in my view!

[profh0011]

THE SAINT’S VACATION   (1941)
The SAINT vs. Rudolph Hauser!     (9 of 10)

Simon Templar promises his old college chum Monty Hayward a relaxing vacation in Europe, but the press are sure he's onto something big. So much so that reporter Mary Langdon follows him over half of France & Switzerland before catching up with him at a hotel. Well, Simon may have meant what he said, but no sooner does Mary arrive than Simon crosses paths with his ARCH-NEMESIS, Rudolph Hauser, and when he sees a man being attacked in the woods, he can't help but stick his nose in. Next thing, he finds himself between 2 different groups trying to get their hands on a mysterious box containing who knows what, which leads to a murder in his hotel, a confrontation at Rudolph's castle home, a chase on board a speeding train, an escape from a small local jail, a kidnapping, a rescue, and finally being arrested by the British police on returning to England. Just another typical adventure for "THE SAINT"!

My GOD, what a serious, MAJOR upgrade this film was to its predecessor! Made by the newly-formed RKO Radio British Productions and filmed entirely in England, it returns Simon Templar to his natural environment, recasts the part with someone who actually looks right for the role, and give us, instead of another dreary crime story, an actual ADVENTURE, which is the sort of thing RKO in Hollywood should have been doing from the start but NEVER did!

Contrary to several comments, this film was not a swipe of THE LADY VANISHES (1938) or its source novel "The Wheel Spins" (1936) but was in fact adapted from Leslie Charteris' novel "Getaway" from 1932! Any complaints about the lack of Nazis or World War Two can be put down to this being adapted from a story written 9 YEARS earlier. (Not every film adaptation is or should be "updated" to the year it was filmed. I really wish more "classic" characters would be presented in their authentic time as "period pieces".)

Hugh Sinclair takes over as Simon, and is insanely-relaxed regardless of the situation, but also good in a fight. He's a bit skinny for the part, but the only thing that actually bothers me is his moustache-- The Saint should ALWAYS be clean-shaven! I've seen a photo of him from some other film, where he looked more right than he does here.

Arthur Macrae is Simon's pal "Monty Hayward". Unlike a number of Simon's sidekicks, this guy is NOT an ex-con who's decided to go straight, but clearly someone Simon probably went to college with. He's such a "Nervous Nellie" I'm sure he's bound to get on the nerves of most modern audiences, but you have to take into account when these characters were created. I've also seen Macrae in SILVER BLAZE (1937) opposite Arthur Wontner's Sherlock Holmes.

Sally Gray, my FAVORITE "Saint girl", plays relentless girl reporter Mary Langdon, who proves handy in some tough situations. It's very odd that both SAINT films she appeared in were based on stories that originally featured Simon's sometimes-girlfriend Patricia Holm, and would have been PERFECT in the role, but both times was playing other people!

Gordon McLeod makes his 2nd appearance as Inspector Teal, but only in a brief cameo at the end, seeming rather disappointed that Templar wasn't being charged with anything. As it turns out, this was the 2nd story he was in where Templar wound up doing a favor for the British government-- although this time, he didn't tell them that until the whole case was over with!

Amazingly, the person who completely STEALS the movie is Cecil Parker. As "Rudolph Hauser", he's my FAVORITE Saint villain, a guy so smooth, so suave, so cool, so calculating (yet not shy when it comes to murdering people himself when the situation calls for it), he is this series' equivalent of a BOND villain, decades early! This story is also the ONLY time in the RKO series where we see a baddie with a genuine "villain hideout", in the form of Rudolph's castle. Something I didn't realize for many years was, the character of "Prince Rudolph" was the main villain in 3 different novels-- "The Last Hero", "The Avenging Saint" (alias "Knight Templar"), and "Getaway"-- and I've READ the first 2, but never the 3rd! I really need to make up for that. Realizing this now, and re-watching the film, I feel it's downright CRIMINAL that RKO spent so much time doing tedious crime stories when they should have been adapting Charteris' ADVENTURE novels. My estimation of some of these has altered a bit over the decades, and right now, I'd rank this as the 2nd-best in the series (right after ...IN LONDON).

There's some great dialogue in this, including... "What am I under arrest for?" "Murder!" "Oh, is that all?" ...and... "I'm not as stupid as you think I am!" "That practically impossible."

It's a shame they only did 2 SAINT films in England with Sinclair, and judging by the release date of the 2nd one, I'd guess the abrupt end of the series may have had something to do with WW2 being officially declared at that point. I'd have loved to have seen a DOZEN of them as good as this one was.

[profh0011]

THE GAY FALCON     (1941)
The gay-and-witty FALCON     (7 of 10)

Gaylord Laurence, a famous globe-hopping adventurer, has apparently fallen in love and promised his VERY bossy fiancee that he'll give up crime investigations-- and other women-- and settle down with a real job, as a Wall Street Broker. Well, bored out of his mind, that doesn't last long, as he's invited to a society party given by a female socialite whose parties tend to have jewelry being stolen at them. Next thing, he & his ex-convict sidekick Jonathan "Goldie" Locke are mixed up in theft, murder, and the usual stuff one finds in 1940s "B" mystery movies.

Depending on who you ask, Leslie Charteris was getting fed up with how badly RKO was treating his character THE SAINT, took back the film rights, and then made a deal with the brand-new RKO British Productions to do SAINT films more in line with his stories. RKO looked around for a replacement series, and settled on THE FALCON. But this is a bit odd. Charles H. Huff (under the name "Drexel Drake") created the character of "Michael Waring"-- alias "The Falcon"-- who appeared in 3 novels from 1936-1938. But then, Michael Arlen created another character, "Gaylord Falcon", also known as "The Falcon", who appeared in a single novel in 1940. And RKO decided to adapt THAT novel... despite (from what I've read many years ago) Charteris having already SUED Arlen for plagiarism! I can't be sure what the truth is under these circumstances. Did Charteris sue Arlen-- or RKO-- or BOTH? In any case, many have insisted (with some justification) that RKO's FALCON series was "very similar" to RKO's SAINT series, so it would seem RKO was giving Charteris the middle finger. As it happens, the movie THE GAY FALCON came out (you'll pardon the expression-- HEEHEE) 5 months after RKO British's THE SAINT'S VACATION with Hugh Sinclair. In my view, BOTH films in very different ways were major steps UP from the earlier THE SAINT IN PALM SPRINGS, which, along with THE SAINT STRIKES BACK and THE SAINT'S DOUBLE TROUBLE, were all dire enough for me to well believe Charteris was unhappy with RKO.

George Sanders returns (well, SORT of) as "Gaylord Laurence", who, while he may be imitating Simon Templar to a degree, strikes me as a rather "low rent" imitation. He's just not as stylish or classy or, dare I say it, "crazy" as Templar should be-- but then, Sanders' Templar almost never was. Here, he's got a fiancee, yet flirts with every woman in sight right in front of her, and she vacillates between angry-as-hell and utterly-forgiving. Between that and her general bossiness, I'd have never gotten involved with someone like her to begin with.

Allen Jenkins STEALS the picture as "Goldie Locke", the patented comedy sidekick, wanting to stay out of trouble, never being able to, getting found at the scene of a murder not once but TWICE, and harrassed mercilessly by the cops, even after they figure out he's too dumb to be guilty. Jenkins was a highlight of several of the PERRY MASON films, and if anything, he's even funnier here. He remained a highlight in the first 3 films, but strangely was not in the 4th one at all-- and, the character was repeatedly recast in all the subsequent sequels!

Willie Fung, perpetually typecast as Chinese butlers, waiters, ship stewards, and the like, is "Jerry", Gay's butler. After reading some 25 SAINT books, it struck me that Simon Templar often had a regular butler, but, you ALMOST never saw one in any of the films or TV series! This might be a case of the FALCON being more true to the SAINT books than the SAINT movies, which would lend credence to the idea of Charteris suing the studio. Like Goldie, Jerry was apparently played by a different actor EVERY time the character appeared. Was it too much to ask for consistency?

Speaking of which... Arthur Shields (younger brother of Barry Fitzgerald) is fabulous as Gay's cop friend "Inspector Mike Waldeck", who has no trouble wanting to arrest Gay or Goldie whenever trouble erupts, but is smart enough to know that they're PROBABLY not the ones he's really after, and also smart enough to let Gay point him at the real culprits. That puts him more on a level with Inspectors Fernack & Teal from the SAINT series, and miles ahead and above Inspectors Crane or Farraday from the LONE WOLF and BOSTON BLACKIE series (both of whom were outright MORONS). I've seen Shields in THE SIGN OF THE CROSS, THE LOVES OF EDGAR ALLAN POE, RANDOM HARVEST, LASSIE COME HOME, THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY, TARZAN AND THE SLAVE GIRL, and as the host of YOUR SHOW TIME. Shields was so good in this, it totally baffles me that he was replaced in the follow-up by the equally-fabulous James Gleason, playing apparently the identical character, who was oddly renamed "Mike O'Hara".

Ed Brophy is "Detective Bates". I've seen him in many things, including THE THIN MAN, THE SOLDIER AND THE LADY, CALLING PHILO VANCE, THE INVISIBLE WOMAN, and sometime after this, he would play Goldy Locke in 2 later FALCON films. But, like "Mike", "Bates" would be recast with Edward Gargan in the 2nd film.

Eddie Dunn is "Detective Grimes". Funny enough, he WOULD return in the sequel!

Hans Conreid plays the police sketch artist, and in a very brief scene, ALSO nearly steals the picture. This is a film over-flowing with fun and funny writing. Conreid returned in the next 2 films, but each time playing a different character. Of course, I'll always remember him as Disney's "Captain Hook" and as Jay Ward's "Snidely Whiplash".

Nina Vale (alias Anne Hunter) plays Gay's loud, bossy, over-the-top, and possibly BI-POLAR fiancee. Oddly, she only has 4 credits to her name at the IMDB.

And then there's Wendy Barrie, making her 4th appearance with George Sanders-- RKO must have loved teaming them up. While at times she seems hooked on speed or some other form of uppers, her character here, "Helen Reed", is actually the NICEST of the 4 she played opposite Sanders, and wound up coming very much in handy as a self-appointed sidekick. A one-time real-life girlfriend of Bugsy Siegel (NO KIDDING!) she was also the real-life inspiration for the character of "Wendy Darling" in the PETER PAN story. (NO KIDDING!!!)

In addition, there's also Turhan Bey, who I'll always remember as George Zucco's protoge in THE MUMMY'S TOMB, and Gladys Cooper, who I'll always remember as Henry Higgins' mother in MY FAIR LADY.

This was one REALLY fun movie, and, as others have pointed out, the mystery plot even made sense. There's a moment near the end where Gay ties up a dangling plot point mystery from halfway in the movie, and when he mentioned it, I wound up yelling at my TV! It's always nice when you can see that the writers are actually paying attention to the story they're doing.

I find it ironic that, when I was taping these off local Philly commercial channels decades back, this was actually the LAST of the Sanders / Conway films I wound up seeing. I just got it again as part of the Onesmedia FALCON box set (ALL 16 films in one compact place!), and the picture quality is pretty good (apart from recurring sparkles and streaks) while the sound is VERY clear. I'm looking forward to working my way through the whole box, and comparing the quality against my decades-old videotapes.

[profh0011]

THE SAINT MEETS THE TIGER   (1941)
The Million Pound Gold Heist     (7 of 10)

A dead man on his doorstep leads Simon Templar-- AND Inspector Teal-- to Cornwall, in search of a gang who made off with a MILLION pounds in gold. Simon takes a cottage while he's there, and at a social gathering, acts like he knows far more than he does to make the baddies nervous and draw them out. Teal, meanwhile, goes undercover posing as a geological professor, and while he's ever suspicious of Templar, he's stymied by not wanting to blow his cover. Simon winds up spending half his time flirting with a local girl, Patricia Holm, who winds up joining his crusade to nab the bad guys and uncover the stolen gold. Eventually, it all leads to an amusing run-around on a huge yacht, a couple of red herrings, Simon learning the identity of the gang's leader, and finally revealing to Teal that he IS going to "get away" with the gold. "But you CAN'T DO THAT!" (Oh YES he can-- the same way Thomas Banacek did in every one of HIS stories-- heh.)

If I get this right, RKO British Production made this film, but due to a dispute between RKO in America and author Leslie Charteris, while it was released in England in December 1941, it wasn't until July 1943 that Republic Pictures finally released it in America. I suppose this explains why they didn't make any more after this. What a shame! Based on Leslie Charteris' 1st SAINT novel, "Enter The Tiger" (1928!), this film simply looks and feels more like a "real" SAINT story than almost anything else in the RKO series, and actually feels like a Roger Moore SAINT episode, 20 years EARLY! It has a VERY "English" look and feel to it-- viewers will enjoy it or not based on their liking or lack thereof for such things. I've seen this film multiple times since the 1980s, and I must admit, I NEVER quite enjoyed it as much as I did tonight. Perhaps my tastes have been continuing to evolve over the years.

Hugh Sinclair is TERRIFIC in this film-- so relaxed, so witty, so CONFIDENT, even in the most insane or dangerous situations. In fact, I only have 3 criticisms of him in this film: his hair doesn't look right, his CLOTHES look too casual, and... that moustache. OH dear!

Gordon McLeod makes his 3rd and biggest appearance as "Teal", and he just about steals the picture. Simon dances a fine line with him in this story, telling him if Teal "lets him have his fun", he'll deliver the bad guys to him, but also never quite telling him how. The funniest moment in the story has to be when Teal has Templar arrested for murder, then, an hour later, laughs himself silly revealing that he never did think Simon was guilty. These two have a very strange "friendship", if that's what you'd call it.

Wylie Watson is "Horace", Simon's butler, who wonders if he made the right decision turning down a job with a Chicago gangster. The only other thing I've ever seen him in was the offbeat comedy WHISKEY GALORE (1949).

Jean Gillie is "Patricia Holm", who turns out to be far more help than most girls in these things. In the books, she was Simon's on-again-off-again sometimes-steady girlfriend, and it's sad that this is the only time she ever appeared onscreen. Ironically, the character of Pat was in both "The Million Pound Day" and "Getaway", adapted as THE SAINT IN LONDON and THE SAINT'S VACATION-- but both films had Sally Gray, playing 2 different characters, instead of Pat-- and she'd have been PERFECT in the role! Well, Gillie is no Sally Gray... but, she's nice enough, and the presence of both Pat and Horace makes me really wish they'd done a whole long series of these things in England after this one.

The only other actor I really know in this one is Clifford Evans, who plays Pat's friend "Tidemarsh", the local newspaper reporter... who also turns out to be the film's MAIN villain. The audience is clued in on this quite early, while apparently, his identity was not revealed in the book until the very end. This reminds me of how the "007" film DR. NO totally gave away the main plot while Bond was still in M's office, instead of keeping it a mystery until 3/4ths of the way in. Long before I saw this film, I saw Evans on THE PRISONER as the "Number Two" who oversaw the mind-transfer story in "Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling".

Someone mentioned a body on the hero's doorstep coming from "The Maltese Falcon", but that book came out in 1930, 2 years after "Enter The Tiger". Meanwhile, I noticed a line where Simon says "I keep collecting guns", a line very similar to one Humphrey Bogart said as Philip Marlowe in THE BIG SLEEP (1944 / 1946)-- but that book came out in 1939! The bookcase hiding the entrance to an underground tunnel also turned up in the film A STUDY IN SCARLET (1933), but, the book that movie was based on, "Six Dead Men", came out in 1931! Seems to me other writers made a habit of swiping from Leslie Charteris (and NOT just Michael Arlen-- heh).

At the end, Simon tells Pat, "Halfway around the world there's a crook with a lot of money, and I'm going to have a lot of fun with him!" What a shame we had to wait so long to see The Saint onscreen again after this!

[profh0011]

CONFESSIONS OF BOSTON BLACKIE   (1941)
The Counterfeit Statue Caper     (5 of 10)

Crooks copy a statue worth $50,000 to sell at auction and defraud the owner. When she realizes something's wrong, an attempted murder goes astray, and Boston Blackie, who just happened to be in the auction room, is wrongfully accused by Inspector Farraday, who never once figured out or admitted that Blackie had actually gone straight.

Many have rightly compared the BOSTON BLACKIE and the LONE WOLF series from Columbia, as both feature reformed thieves forever accused of whatever crime happens by the same IDIOT policemen in film after film. The main difference is in tone, as BLACKIE tends more toward ridiculous comedy and non-stop high-speed action. I'd compare the difference to that between, say, THE 3 STOOGES and THE MARX BROTHERS, with BLACKIE being the former!

Chester Morris, with his square jaw, intense eyes and ever-smiling grin, was the 10th actor to play Boston Blackie on film, but he did 14 movies in a row, plus episodes of the radio show! That's pretty consistent for a "B"-movie series from this era. As others have said, he's always the smartest person in any room... but sometimes, I wish the screen-writers didn't go to such extreme lengths to make nearly everyone so jaw-droppingly STUPID!

Richard Lane has the thankless job of playing "Inspector Farraday", who may well get my vote for the DUMBEST lead cop in any of these series. It just goes beyond any level of reason that anyone could watch someone like Blackie help the police solve crimes, over and over and over, yet still continue to accuse him of all sorts of things, never on actual evidence but just on the basis of a terminally-misguided grudge. Like Morris, Lane was in all 14 of Columbia's BLACKIE films.

George E. Stone, who was one of the henchman in Howard Hawks' SCARFACE, debuts as Blackie's pal "The Runt". Replacing Charles Wagenheim from the previous film, Stone would do no less than 12 BLACKIE films in a row.

Lloyd Corrigan is "Arthur Manleader", a rich, middle-aged playboy who somehow became good friends with Blackie. At times it's a toss-up as to who's the bigger "comic relief" character, him or The Runt. He returned in several later installments.

Walter Sande is "Detective Matthews", Farraday's sidekick, and the best thing I can say is, he's NOWHERE NEAR as dumb as "Detective Dickens" in the LONE WOLF series is. Sande played a random cop in the previous films, then (presumably) debuted as Matthews here, and managed 5 films in a row before moving on. His resume shows he was perpetually typecast playing cops and the like.

Harriet Hilliard is "Diane Parish", the owner of the statue who's the target of the thieves, in more ways than one. She spends part of the film believing Blackie is pretty rotten, but then comes to realize the truth. I suspect Hilliard was basically playing herself in this film, as she just comes across as very sweet and considerate; I can see why Ozzie Nelson fell in love with her!

Joan Woodbury is "Mona", an old flame of Blackie's who intrudes in the story claiming to be his wife (she isn't) and demanding blackmail money ("or else"). When things don't go her way, she proceeds to completely trash Blackie's apartment single-handedly, as The Runt stands by watching helplessly. What on Earth would Blackie have ever seen in this CREATURE (heh)? I've seen Woodbury in a whole lot of films, and every time I see her, I can't get over how much she resembles Mary Woronov, who also had a way of making such strong impressions, decades later.

The climax of the story, in which the heroes, the baddies AND the cops all suddenly find themselves trapped in a seemingly-inescapable underground death trap (yeah, how did a place like this ever get past building code inspectors?) seems as if it was tacked on just to extend the running time of the film, as without it, it would certainly have been under an hour. The funny thing that crossed my mind was, the large wooden scaffold in the underground room looks EXACTLY like the one in Roger Corman's THE HAUNTED PALACE. Could it possibly have been a leftover prop Corman reused more than 20 years later? In Hollywood, you never know.

The only thing about this film that really got on my nerves, to be honest... was THE COPS. And in this instance, I don't just mean Farraday. I mean, EVERY single cop in this film is portrayed as intrusive, abusive, and in many scenes, just total A**H***s. The tragic thing is how much this genuinely reflects police in REAL LIFE-- then, AND NOW. Maybe the screenwriters had a grudge and this was a way of getting it out there? I note this film was released the day after Pearl Harbor. In one scene, a character says to a policeman, "You have a lot of GESTAPO in you." No kidding.

[crashryan]

In fact, I only have 3 criticisms of him in this film: his hair doesn't look right, his CLOTHES look too casual, and... that moustache. OH dear!

If you think that's bad, how about the Van Dyke beard they gave Simon in the Saint newspaper strip? Egad!

[profh0011]

In fact, I only have 3 criticisms of him in this film: his hair doesn't look right, his CLOTHES look too casual, and... that moustache. OH dear!

If you think that's bad, how about the Van Dyke beard they gave Simon in the Saint newspaper strip? Egad!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!

Yes, I've never read any of those, but, I have SEEN some art samples.


Most of the reviewers at the IMDB seem obsessed with George Sanders. Now, over decades, yes, he's become one of my favorite actors.  He's one of the few people I can think of who is FUN to watch, whether he's playing a good guy, or a REALLY ROTTEN baddie, or, someone in between (see REBECCA or ALL ABOUT EVE). 

But while I do think ...IN LONDON and ...TAKES OVER are 2 fantastic films (I'd even rate ...IN LONDON as the best Saint film EVER made!), HE is just not "right" for the part, and it's a tribute to his talent and charisma that with a decent script, he can make you wanna forget that... the same way Tom Baker & his co-stars did in the 1982 HOUND.  (Holmes, Watson AND Sir Henry, ALL totally mis-cast... yet, all 3 do AMAZING jobs in their roles!  That's really something.)

My main criticism of Hugh Sinclair since I first saw him in the 80s was that he was TOO SKINNY.  Plus, the moustache.  (And I've seen a photo of him from some other movie, clean-shaven-- MUCH better!)  But he is SO DAMNED GOOD in ...VACATION, I currently rate that as the 2nd-best in the series. Both his hair and his wardrobe are better in there. That's what bugs me-- they got those right in his debut film, how did they screw them up in the follow-up?   

Simon should always be wearing the sharpest clothes, but his suit looks too casual in ...TIGER, and it his jacket seems a couple sizes too big for him. (Don't tell me he lost weight between installments?  heehee)

I've long been saying, good writing gets better over time, bad writing gets worse.  So it was PAINFUL to sit through ...STRIKES BACK this time... but ...TIGER was a real surprise, I enjoyed it more than I ever did before.  And I really was not expecting that.

It's probably part of the reason that night, before falling asleep, I went ahead and read a whole Saint novella.  And the whole time, I kept hearing a Scottish accent for Teal.   

[crashryan]

For the record, here's Doug Wildey's bearded Saint in full regalia:

[profh0011]

You know, that kinda looks like George Sanders!   


OH MAN!  Doug Wildey!!

[profh0011]

Another film on my wanted list:  SON OF MONTE CRISTO.

The hero is played by Louis Hayward!

The villain is played by George Sanders!!

Perfect casting.

And when I was re-reading my TINTIN comics the other year... it hit me that the villain in both "King Ottokar's Sceptre" and "Explorers On The Moon"... looked EXACTLY like Sanders, from that movie!

[profh0011]

THE MAN FROM UNCLE:  The Yo-ho-ho And A Bottle Of Rum Affair
The Tidal Wave Machine Affair     (7 of 10)

A broken-down freight ship is transporting a machine that can cause tidal waves all over the world. Ilya is caught as a stowaway, and winds up, to a degree, gaining the confidence of the drunken Captain, while Solo tries to get the location the device will be used at from a Thrush woman whose other job is a lounge singer. The funniest moment has to be when Solo finds out that she's figured out his identity long before SHE started to seduce HIM.

Based on the title alone, I was expecting another really idiotic episode... but that's not WHAT what I saw here! Somehow, this episode feels like it could have been one of the better ones from season 2-- or even, left over from season 1. It was funny in spots without being stupid, and Ilya's behavior toward the Captain in mid-story reminded me of my own job as a home health aide trying to be sympatheric and helpful to someone who's problematic, but still could use sympathy. Sometimes, it pays off-- and it certainly did here.

Dan O'Herlihy as "Captain Morton", the afforementioned drunk, really did a heck of an acting job here. If I didn't know who he was, I might never have recognized him as the same guy who was the main villain in HALLOWEEN III: SEASON OF THE WITCH.

Kevin Hagen was his usual despicable self as the never-named head Thrush agent. I wonder if this guy ever got tired of almost always playing these kind of bad guys, as he did for 2 seasons on LAND OF THE GIANTS?

Eddie Quillan was "Scotty MacPhearson", the over-the-hill ship's engineer who seems more in love with his engines than he does common sense. He had an amazingly long career playing mostly bit parts, but I recognized his name from THE MANDARIN MYSTERY (1936), where he was the 2nd actor to ever play Ellery Queen!

A very familiar face for me was Robert DoQui, who played "Hank", Scotty's assistant in the engine room. I've seen him in several episodes of DAKTARI and TARZAN, as well as many other shows.

Peggy Taylor was Thrush agent "Jenny Janus", who seemed to have as much or more fun with Solo as he did with her. Aside from acting and being a TV announcer, she was also a singer on Stan Freberg's radio show. I guess that means she was doing her own singing in the night club scenes!

When I see some of the things that Mr. Waverly puts Solo & Kuryakin through in these stories, I wonder if UNCLE wasn't under-funded and under-manned. He often comes across as far more sympathetic toward normal people than he does his employees, as seen in the finale where he reveals he's had Captain Morton's earlier court-martial case reviewed and overturned-- and then offers him a job! There's usually a fine line between "funny" and "stupid", and I wish UNCLE had leaned toward "funny" more often. I'd rate this as one of the best episodes of season 3, and that was quite a surprise!

[profh0011]

THE SAINT   (1997)
The LONE WOLF     (7 of 10)

An orphan grows up to become a professional thief. He runs afoul of a criminal organization who coerces him to steal something for them.  He winds up falling in love with his victim, and decides to reform, taking down the baddies in the process.

First things first:  I loved this movie.  I saw it in theatres twice, and bought the videotape when it came out. 

Second:  I fell in love with the character played by Elisabeth Shue in this film.  It was very personal for me, because the personality of the character she played reminded me more than anyone I’d ever seen of a girl I was actually in love with when the film came out, who tragic circumstances prevented me from being with.

Third:  I thought the character played by Rade Serbedzija, "Ivan Tretiak", totally out-ranked every single Bond villain ever seen onscreen.  It’s only recently I came to realize that he may may well have been modelled on real-life Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.

That said, this movie has always had some MAJOR things wrong about it.  MAJOR.

THE SAINT was one of a number of Hollywood films in the 80s & 90s featuring classic characters that, for reasons that make absolutely ZERO sense to me, decided to concoct brand-new "origin" stories for their characters, that had absolutely NOTHING whatsoever to do with the characters the films were allegedly about!  The others were CONAN THE BARBARIAN (which I found dull, slow, depressing, and boring as hell) and THE SHADOW (whose new origin completely ruined what for me had been an otherwise very well-made and highly-entertaining movie).

In the case of THE SAINT, Simon Templar had become, in the 1980s, my #1 favorite fictional character.  In the books, he is, essentially, "a modern Robin Hood".  He comes from a well-to-to family, went to all the best schools, surrounded himself with a circle of like-minded friends, and dedicated his life to the the pursuit of justice, almost always at the expense of "law and order".

Basically, the character in this film IS NOT "Simon Templar".  AT ALL!

Even the way that the name "Simon Templar" in the film is an alias the character came up with, whereas in the books, "Simon Templar" is his REAL name.

For many years, this bothered me.  When I look online, it continues to bother me that so many people will complain about how they made "so many changes"—usually while being unaware that what’s onscreen is so completely "wrong".

It was only this past year I finally found out EXACTLY what they did when they did this film.  It’s not that they made "so many changes". It really isn’t.  It’s that they FAITHFULLY ADAPTED THE WRONG SOURCE MATERIAL!

This film is actually a rather-faithful adaptation of Louis Joseph Vance’s 1914 novel "The Lone Wolf", the 1st of 8 novels to feature "Michael Lanyard" between then and 1934.  There were 24 films between 1917-1949, as well as a radio series in 1948 and a tv series in 1955.  Like the character in this 1997 movie, "Michael Lanyard" was an assumed name.  The film also shares in common with the 2006 Daniel Craig film CASINO ROYALE that it faithfully adapts a classic novel while adding many new elements, and UPDATING the action to the present day!

Now, if you can imagine that 2006 film being presented as a movie about "Matt Helm"… while in fact adapting Ian Fleming’s 1953 novel… you see the problem.

I’ll say it again:  the character played by Val Kilmer IS NOT "Simon Templar".  AT ALL.

Considering that, legend has it, SAINT author Leslie Charteris once sued RKO Pictures for plagiarism, because their FALCON series was so similar to their own SAINT films… somebody should have been SUED over this.

[profh0011]

It was someone at the Comic Book Plus message board last year who did a review of the 1914 novel "The Lone Wolf". As soon as I read the plot description, I recognized it as the source of this 1997 movie. Unfortunately, the 1917 film is considered "lost". But I do have the 1919 sequel on DVD.

This also reminds me of the what went on with the 1933 film "A STUDY IN SCARLET". Many people at the IMDB complain it has nothing to do with the Arthur Conan Doyle novel, and they're right. But only ONE person at that site made note of what it actually WAS... an adaptation of the 1931 Stanislas-André Steeman novel "Six Hommes Morts". (He mentioned it in the "trivia" section, but not in a review. I put it in my review. But then the IMDB refused to let me add it to the "connections" section.) The cheap studio had paid for the name of Doyle's novel, but not the story-- then told their screenwriter to "come up with something else". But what he did, was RIP OFF a different novel-- uncredited, and, I'm sure, UNPAID. I have 3 different film adaptations of that one novel now, one each from the US, UK and France (1933, 1935, 1941), and all 3 are fun films.


I think it's crazy that right now, I feel like I'm the ONLY person online who realizes what the actual source of this movie is. And even the guy who clued me in, didn't make the connection!


I think the comment I made in my review about CASINO ROYALE was particularly on-target. Many have complained about how Daniel Craig's "James Bond" doesn't feel like the character at all. And 99% of them, I bet, are basing that entirely on the film series.

Well, I say he doesn't remind me of the BOOK version of the character, either-- and I've read all of Fleming's stories (and, the newspaper strip as well).

It struck me that I once read that the book version of "Matt Helm" was a hard-nosed, cold-blooded, emotionaless killing machine. That certainly ISN'T what audiences got in those idiotic Dean Martin movies in the 60s. (Or the Tony Franciosa TV series in the 70s.) But it seems to me, that description does seem to fit Daniel Craig's Bond. I think it may be safe to say that with VERY few exceptions (notably, George Lazenby and Timothy Dalton), the Bond films NEVER gave us an "authentic" Bond-- and it's mainly because, the producers NEVER wanted to.

[profh0011]

A DATE WITH THE FALCON   (1942)
The Diamond Formula Caper     (5 of 10)

A scientist who's developed a method for creating artificial diamonds for industrial use that are indistinguishable from real ones is kidnapped. While Gay Falcon plans to elope with his fiancee Helen Reed, his old pal Detective Mike O'Hara wants his help solving the case. When the crooks, led by unscrupulous femme fatale Rita Mara (who Gay knew years before in Europe) see him chatting with O'Hara, they mistakenly believe he knows more about what they're up to than he does (or wants to). Next thing, he's repeatedly dragged against his will (often at gunpoint) into the case, the cops believe he's involved in a murder (or at least, pretend to), and his fiancee repeatedly goes ballistic and full-on bipolar, not being able to decide if she wants to leave him, kill him or kiss him. And while this is going on, sidekick Goldy just tries to keep up, while Detective Bates actually does better figuring things out than his boss!

What a crazy film. Part detective mystery, part slapstick romantic comedy. Lots of fun, provided you're not too particular and don't try to think too much.

The 2nd of RKO's "FALCON" series based on Michael Arlen's one-and-only "Gaylord Falcon" novel sees 4 of the regulars from the 1st film returning, while a 5th actor (Hans Conreid) returns to play his 2nd of 3 different characters in 3 films.

George Sanders is "Gay Lawrence", now out of the brokerage business and engaged, determined to put his adventuring and crime-investigating (and womanizing) behind him, but being thwarted at every turn. Any hint at the sort of "class" he brought to the role in the previous film (left over from his 5 films playing "Simon Templar") has vanished here, as he seems alternately relaxed, bored, or outright silly.

Allen Jenkins is sidekick "Goldy", still trying to stay away from trouble but stuck between his boss, his boss's fiancee, the crooks and the cops.

Wendy Barrie is "Helen Reed", who seems to have lost her brains and her mind since the previous film, and is so manic I can't imagine anyone ever wanting to be involved with her, let alone engaged!

Eddie Dunn returns as "Detective Grimes", who's so dim in this he's interrogating Goldy at one point and seems to have no idea that the two have ever met before. (Was anybody involved in these pictures paying any attention to continuity at all?)

James Gleason is head cop "Inspector Mike O'Hara", clearly a good friend of Gay's, who's known him long enough to respect his talents and ask for help, but also eager to have fun at Gay's expense by accusing him of murder, having him arrested, slapped in handcuffs, and so on. Gleason replaces Arthur Shields from the previous movie, and it's a toss-up for me who did the better job. There's just one thing. It's VERY obvious both actors played the same character-- so WHY did his name change from "Mike Waldeck" to "Mike O'Hara" between pictures? Gleason is so good, he's usually one of the best things in any film he's in, and I've seen him in a few, including HERE COMES MR. JORDAN, ARSENIC AND OLD LACE, and THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER. He'd return in THE FALCON TAKES OVER, a major step up from this one.

Edward Gargan is "Detective Bates", who on the surface looks like the typical "dumb sidekick cop", but in this case, ISN'T. Like Gleason, he replaced Edward Brophy from the previous film, and, again, is so good, you'd almost think he was here all along. Perpetually typecast as cops, I've also seen him in CRIME SCHOOL, THE SAINT STRIKES BACK, THE SAINT'S DOUBLE TROUBLE, CHARLIE CHAN IN PANAMA, BUCK BENNY RIDES AGAIN, THE LONE WOLF KEEPS A DATE, ELLERY QUEEN AND THE MURDER RING, and MIGHTY JOE YOUNG. After this, he would return as "Bates" for 6 more FALCON films!

Mona Maris is "Rita Mara", the femme fatale who first offers Gay a piece of the crime she's involved in, then decides he knows too much and needs to be bumped off. Which is a shame, as, if she'd left him alone, she "might have gotten away with it". I've also seen her in THE DEATH KISS, WHITE HEAT, and THE FALCON IN MEXICO (one of my favorite of the Tom Conway installments).

I'd say this was a step down after the previous film, but would rank it somewhere between the best and worst of Sanders' 5 "SAINT" films. So it goes.

The Onesmedia box set copy of this film has mostly crystal-clear picture & sound, though it seems to fade out a bit too quickly right at the end. Oh well. For the price I think it beats out the Warner Archive box, especially as it's got ALL 16 films in one set. HOW can you beat THAT?

[profh0011]

ALIAS BOSTON BLACKIE     (1942)
The Escaped Christmas Convict Caper     (7 of 10)

A man, framed as an accomplice by two crooks, escapes prison during a Christmas show put on by ex-convict Boston Blackie-- and NATURALLY, Inspector Farraday (who was there when it happened!) accuses Blackie of being behind it all. But rather than simply inform the cops as to what went on, Blackie decides to help the escapee avoid increasing his prison term, tries to prevent a murder, and then determines to nail the real criminal. Along the way, Blackie, The Runt and the convict's sister are involved in one cat-and-mouse game with the cops after another.

My favorite bit in the whole film was when Blackie escapes from Police HQ. When it happened, I said to myself, "I saw that coming." THEN I found out what he was REALLY doing-- which I hadn't seen coming! I couldn't stop laughing for a whole minute. This installment really managed to mix mystery, high-speed action, intense crime drama and flat-out COMEDY in equal doses, and was a major step up from the previous film.

I think one of the things I appreciated the most about this one was that Farraday (and even Matthews) did NOT come across as complete idiots (nor did any other police in the film), which, to me, makes Blackie's antics stand out even more. It's easy to look smart when you're surrounded by morons-- when you're not, you wind up looking EVEN smarter!

In addition to returning regulars Chester Morris, George E Stone, Richard Lane, Walter Sande and Lloyd Corrigan, this one also saw the debut of Cy Kendall as "Jumbo Madigan", a fence who has his ears to everything going on in the underworld. I usually see Kendall playing some form of criminal or corrupt official, and have seen him in CRIME SCHOOL, YOUNG DR. KILDARE, THE ANGELS WASH THEIR FACES, THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME (1939), THE GREEN HORNET, THE SAINT TAKES OVER, TARZAN'S NEW YORK ADVENTURE, THE CHINESE CAT, SECRET AGENT X-9, and LADY IN THE LAKE. Oddly enough, he'd return as Jumbo in 2 more films, but appear in another playing someone else, while other actors would replace him as Jumbo. (That's Hollywood film series for you.)

I also recognized Lester Dorr as the hotel manager (I mostly remember him from THE SAINT IN NEW YORK); Lloyd Bridges as a bus driver; and Paul Fix as a cab driver who winds up more involved than he pretends. With a long resume, I'll probably always remember him as "Dr. Piper" in the 2nd STAR TREK pilot, "Where No Man Has Gone Before" (he was the ship's doctor in between John Hoyt & DeForest Kelley).

I really need to get the Onesmedia BOSTON BLACKIE FILMS box-set; my copy recorded off TCM back in January 2007 was nearly-perfect, until the last 60 seconds when the tape somehow got MANGLED. Oh well, one series at a time!