Actuakers
One of my all time favorites.
Stellead
Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful
Console
best movie i've ever seen.
bkoganbing
This film or possibly the Leslie Charteris book from which the Saint is derived might very well have been the inspiration over 20 years later for the film Charade. If you remember the Hitchcockian McGuffin in that film were rare postage stamps.In what would turn out to be George Sanders last appearance as Simon Templar, the Saint is asked by his good friend Inspector Fernack played in the series by Jonathan Hale to guard an old friend on his way west with a fortune that was smuggled out of occupied Europe. And like the fortune in Charade it is contained in three priceless postage stamps.Sanders proves too late to save Hale's friend, but the stamps are saved and he couriers them to Palm Springs to give to Wendy Barrie who is the daughter of the late friend. Of course news of this kind of loot gets out and all kinds of people are trying for them.It must have been deja vu all over again for Sanders. In addition to Hale, two members of the cast of the previous Saint film, The Saint Takes Over return. Wendy Barrie died in the last film, but apparently the movie-going public liked her and Sanders together. So she came back as the damsel in distress whom the Saint must aid.And Paul Guilfoyle repeats his same role as the luckless crook who is determined to go straight in this film. As in the last he's on Simon Templar's side, but his help is somewhat dubious.The Saint In Palm Springs is a nice entry in the Saint series and a good one for Sanders to go out on.
blanche-2
The Saint is in charge of $200,000 worth of stamps in "The Saint in Palm Springs," a 1941 entry into the series starring George Sanders, Wendy Barrie, Paul Guilfoyle and Jonathan Hale. Simon needs to deliver the stamps, a young woman's inheritance, safely to Palm Springs and into her hands. The formula in this one is similar to the one used in "The Saint Takes Over," though it's not quite as effective: valuables in a safe, the hand holding a gun coming through the window and murder - in this case, three of them.Sanders is wonderful as usual and in this film, he wears some casual clothes and looks terrific, so tall and broad-shouldered. Paul Guilfoyle is funny as Pearly Gates, trying to keep his nose clean while on probation. Wendy Barrie again is the female interest and again playing a woman with an aura of sadness around her."The Saint in Palm Springs" is perhaps most notable for some of the worst-looking process shots on record - the obvious filmed background while the actors are in front of it riding bikes or horses. If you think the walking scene in "All About Eve" is obvious, catch these.Mildly entertaining.
MartinHafer
This film is very typical of the Saint films starring George Sanders--offering few major surprises but also providing sold B-movie entertainment. As usual, the Saint is his dapper and entertaining self and he's assisted by Paul Guilfoyle as "Pearly Gates", his sidekick.The film concerns trying to get some super-valuable stamps which to their rightful owner in Palm Springs. It seems that the person with the stamps in New York was killed by someone wanting the stamps for themselves. Why the stamps were smuggled out of Europe in the first place is quite interesting, though it's sad that RKO didn't want to offend the Nazis by ever mentioning that the country in question must have either been Germany or one of the nations conquered by Germany. This is because Hitler refused to allow anyone to take anything of value out of the country. Jews and other "undesireables" were forced to choose to leave with nothing or remain behind with their possessions and hope for the best. The film ALLUDED to this but never mentioned Germany or the Nazis. And, when agents of this unnamed country come to America to try to recover these stamps at any cost, once again Germany is never mentioned--even when this included murder. You must remember that this film came out just before the US entered WWII and a few film makers were still hedging their bets--not wanting to offend the Nazis. Sad, indeed, but this should help explain why this aspect of the plot is so vague. After all, it wasn't like the British or Portuguese or Swiss would send agents to another country to kill in order to recover property! The only other objection I have to the script is that with $200,000 in stamps, you'd THINK they'd come up with a better way to get them to their rightful owner than just having Simon Templer carry them all the way from New York to Palm Springs! Maybe arrange to have a police escort, or leave them in a safe in New York and then wire the heir about them--something other than to rely on one person to make it safely to California AND prevent the heir from also being murdered.Now if you ignore all this, the film is entertaining. The dialog is the usual great dialog, the plot interesting and the conclusion very good indeed. While far from perfect, it's about what you'd expect from a B-movie of the era--watchable and exciting.
ADAM-53
George Sanders has often been quoted as calling the Saint and Falcon films the "nadir" of his career. Looking at "The Saint's Double Trouble" it is easy to see why he felt that way (badly scripted, poor supporting cast, etc, etc) but his four other Saint entries, at least, are well up to scratch. If this one is a little slack in the chase and gun play departments, never mind. It is an old-fashioned "whodunnit" and Sanders and Paul Guilfoyle (as Pearly Gates, a series regular) seem to enjoy themselves in this tale of missing stamps (worth a fortune) and suspicious characters at a luxury Palm Springs hotel. The plot may bear absolutely no resemblance to Leslie Charteris's short story, but never mind; it is a pleasant little cocktail with which to waste an hour or so. By the way, you're guaranteed not to guess whodunnit, although the chief suspects are shown quite often. No one except Sanders would think of this amiable film as a career low-point; it's a pity he didn't make a few more like this as his career went on.
