''The Saint Meets the Tiger'' is the title of a crime thriller produced by the British unit of

RKO Pictures RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orphe ...

, produced in 1941, but not released until 1943. This was to be the last of the eight films in RKO's

film series A film series or movie series (also referred to as a film franchise or movie franchise) is a collection of related films in succession that share the same fictional universe, or are marketed as a series. This article explains what film series are ...

about the crimefighter

the Saint The Saint may refer to: Fiction * Simon Templar, also known as "The Saint", the protagonist of a book series by Leslie Charteris and subsequent adaptations: ** ''The Saint'' (film series) (1938–43), starring Louis Hayward, George Sanders an ...

. After ''

The Saint's Vacation ''The Saint's Vacation'' is a 1941 adventure film produced by the British arm of RKO Pictures. The film stars Hugh Sinclair as Simon Templar, also known as "The Saint", a world-roving crimefighter who walks the fine edge of the law. This was th ...

'' (1941),

Hugh Sinclair Admiral Sir Hugh Francis Paget Sinclair, (18 August 1873 – 4 November 1939), known as Quex Sinclair, was a British intelligence officer. He was Director of British Naval Intelligence between 1919 and 1921, and he subsequently helped to set ...

makes his second (and final) appearance as Templar in this adventure, which sees Templar investigating a dead body left on his doorstep. This leads him to a quiet seaside village in

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

where he pursues a mysterious villain known as The Tiger. Co-starring in the film is

Jean Gillie A ''femme fatale'' ( or ; ), sometimes called a maneater or vamp, is a stock character of a mysterious, beautiful, and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers, often leading them into compromising, deadly traps. She is an archetype of ...

as Templar's love interest,

Patricia Holm Patricia Holm is the name of a fictional character who appeared in the novels and short stories of Leslie Charteris between 1928 and 1948. She was the on-again, off-again girlfriend and partner of Simon Templar, alias "The Saint", and shared a nu ...

. Although this character made many appearances in the book series, this is to date the only film in which she appears. The character next appears on screen portrayed by

Eliza Dushku Eliza Patricia Dushku (; born December 30, 1980) is an American actress. She is best known for starring as Faith in the supernatural drama series ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' (1998–2003) and its spin-off series ''Angel'' (2000–2003). She als ...

in an unaired pilot for a ''Saint'' TV series produced in the 2010s. Because of a dispute between RKO and the Saint's creator,

Leslie Charteris Leslie Charteris (born Leslie Charles Bowyer-Yin, 12 May 1907 – 15 April 1993), was a British-Chinese author of adventure fiction, as well as a screenwriter.The Gay Falcon ''The Gay Falcon'' is a 1941 B film, the first in a series of 16 films about a suave detective nicknamed The Falcon. Intended to replace the earlier The Saint detective series, the first film took its title from the lead character, Gay Laurenc ...

'' in October 1941, the first film in their new ''

Falcon Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Falcons are widely distributed on all continents of the world except Antarctica, though closely related raptors did occur there in the Eocene. Adult falcons ...

'' series, and Leslie Charteris felt that the Falcon was nothing but a copy of his character, enhanced by the fact that

George Sanders George Henry Sanders (3 July 1906 – 25 April 1972) was a British actor and singer whose career spanned over 40 years. His heavy, upper-class English accent and smooth, bass voice often led him to be cast as sophisticated but villainous chara ...

played the Falcon. He was the most established face of the Saint, after having played the character in five of the previous films, the last being released earlier the same year. RKO eventually sold the US distribution rights to

Republic Pictures Republic Pictures Corporation (currently held under Melange Pictures, LLC) was an American motion picture production-distribution corporation in operation from 1935 to 1967, that was based in Los Angeles. It had studio facilities in Studio City an ...

, while its British arm handled the UK distribution as planned, and the film was released in both countries in 1943.Barer, Burl, ''The Saint: A Complete History in Print, Radio, Film and Television of Leslie Charteris' Robin Hood of Modern Crime, Simon Templar 1928-1992'', McFarland, 2003, p. 69 ''The Saint Meets the Tiger'' is an adaptation of Charteris' first Saint novel, ''

Meet - The Tiger! ''Meet the Tiger'' is an action-adventure novel written by Leslie Charteris. In England it was first published by Ward Lock in September 1928; in the United States it was first published by Doubleday's The Crime Club imprint in March 1929 with ...

'', and was the last Saint novel adapted by the RKO series. In a sense, it was also the last film in the RKO series, as the final film, ''

The Saint's Return ''The Saint's Return'' (released in the US as ''The Saint's Girl Friday'') is a British crime thriller film from 1953, produced by Hammer Film Productions in London. It premiered in London under the original title on 12 October 1953

'' did not come until ten years later and was produced and distributed in the UK by British Hammer Films, while RKO only handled the US distribution.

Plot summary

Simon "The Saint" Templar finds a dead man on his doorstep. Soon the ace investigator finds himself mired in more murder, smuggling and a South American mine.

Cast

* Hugh Sinclair as Simon Templar (The Saint) * Jean Gillie as Pat Holm * Gordon McLeod as Insp. Claud Teal / Prof. Karn * Clifford Evans as Tidemarsh / The Tiger *

Wylie Watson Wylie Watson (6 February 1889 – 3 May 1966) (born John Wylie Robertson) was a British actor. Among his best-known roles were those of "Mr Memory", an amazing man who commits "50 new facts to his memory every day" in Alfred Hitchcock's film ' ...

as Horace (Templar's butler) *

Dennis Arundell Dennis Drew Arundell OBE (22 July 1898 in Finchley, London – 10 December 1988 in Camden, London

as Lionel Bentley *

Charles Victor Charles Victor (10 February 1896 – 23 December 1965) was a British actor who appeared in many film and television roles between 1931 and 1965. He was born Charles Victor Harvey. Born in Southport, Lancashire, England, Victor was a fourth ...

as Bittle *

Louise Hampton Louise Hampton (23 December 1879 – 10 February 1954) was a British actress. Although her career began when she was a child, it was for "the pathos and dignity of her elderly, motherly roles""Obituary: Louise Hampton", ''The Stage'', 18 Februar ...

as Aunt Agatha Gurten *

John Salew John Rylett Salew (1902 (some sources state 1 January 1897)14 September 1961) was an English stage film and TV actor. Salew made the transition from stage to films in 1939, and according to Allmovie, "the manpower shortage during WWII enabled ...

as Merridon (curator of the Baycome Museum) *

Arthur Hambling Arthur Hambling (14 March 1888 – 6 December 1952) was a British actor, on stage from 1912, and best known for appearances in the films ''Henry V'' (1944) and ''The Lavender Hill Mob'' (1951). In 1939 he appeared in the West End in N.C. Hunter ...

as Police constable *

Amy Veness Amy Veness (26 February 1876 – 22 September 1960) was an English film actress. She played the role of Grandma Huggett in ''The Huggetts Trilogy'' and was sometimes credited as Amy Van Ness. Veness was born Amy Clarice Beart in Aldeburgh, Suff ...

as Mrs. Donald Jones *

Claude Bailey Claude Bailey (19 November 1895 – June 1950) was a British actor. He was born and died in London. Partial filmography * '' Little Waitress'' (1932) * '' The Unholy Quest'' (1934) * ''The Saint Meets the Tiger'' (1941) * '' Hatter's Castle' ...

as Donald Jones * Noel Dainton as Burton (Bentley's butler) *

Eric Clavering Eric Clavering (1901–1989) was a British-born actor who spent much of his career in Canada. He played supporting roles in a number of British films during the Second World War. He later moved to Canada, and had a recurring role on the Canadian ...

as Frankie * Ben Williams as Joe Gallo *

Joan Hickson Joan Bogle Hickson, OBE (5 August 1906 – 17 October 1998) was an English actress of theatre, film and television. She was known for her role as Agatha Christie's Miss Marple in the television series ''Miss Marple''. She also narrated a number ...

as Mary (Aunt Agatha's maid) * John Slater as Eddie * Tony Quinn as Paddy *

Alf Goddard Frank Henry "Alf" Goddard (28 November 1897 in Brentford, Middlesex – 25 February 1981 in Ealing, London) was an English film actor. Brother of a famous boxer, Alf Goddard was once a boxer too. He was also a trained athlete and a professiona ...

as Tailor

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Meets The Tiger, The 1943 films The Saint (Simon Templar) British black-and-white films Films directed by Paul L. Stein British crime films 1943 crime films Films based on British novels British detective films Republic Pictures films 1940s British films