| The Saint's Girl Friday a.k.a. The Saint's Return |
|
|---|---|
| Directed by | Seymour Friedman |
| Produced by | Anthony Hinds Julian Lesser |
| Written by | Allan MacKinnon based on characters by Leslie Charteris |
| Starring | Louis Hayward Naomi Chance |
| Cinematography | Walter J. Harvey |
| Editing by | James Needs |
| Distributed by | RKO Radio Pictures |
| Release date(s) | October 12, 1953 |
| Running time | 73 min. |
| Language | English |
The Saint's Girl Friday is the title of an Anglo-American crime thriller distributed by RKO in 1953, filmed by Hammer Film Productions and Royal Productions in London, and produced by Anthony Hinds and Julian Lesser. American release of the film occurred in 1954. It was the last in a series of popular films, dating back 1938, featuring the character of Simon Templar, hero of a series of novels by Leslie Charteris. It was also released under the title The Saint's Return.
Louis Hayward, who had been the first actor to play Templar in the series 15 years earlier (The Saint in New York), returned to the role one last time for The Saint's Girl Friday.
Although based upon Charteris' character, the film was an original work and not based directly upon any of his stories.
Charteris had a percentage in the film,[1] the first Saint film to be produced in 10 years, in hopes that it would revive the movie series, but this did not occur. In 1960, Royal Productions produced a French film entitled Le Saint mène la danse starring Felix Marten in the lead. Charteris reportedly was so disgusted that he refused to allow Royal Productions any further usage of the character. It wasn't until 1962 and the advent of the TV version of The Saint starring Roger Moore that the character achieved lasting success beyond the literary world. The next English-language theatrical film featuring the character wouldn't be released until 1997.