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.
Review of The Saint's Girl Friday
