RKO brought Leslie Charteris' thief-turned-sleuth The Saint back to the screen after a two-year break with The Saint Meets the Tiger, only to decide this 1943 production was so below even their worst B films that they handed U.S. Billy Brooks Windows Of The Mind Rarlab. Distribution over to Republic Pictures. Yet The Saint Meets the Tiger maintains historical importance as a link in one of the screen's most popular series. In addition, it contains early work from Oscar®-winning cinematographer Robert Krasker ( The Third Man, 1949). RKO had introduced Simon Templar, aka The Saint, to the screen in 1938 in The Saint in New York, starring Louis Hayward. Although Hayward was an effective, albeit more dramatic than most, incarnation of Charteris' hero, the next five entries in the series starred George Sanders. The role increased his standing in Hollywood, but Charteris was not happy with RKO's handling of his stories or the casting of the lead (he wanted Cary Grant in the role) and tried to stop them from making any more films in the series with no luck.

Like most Hollywood studios during World War II, RKO had frozen assets in England, so they shot two new Saint movies back to back there, The Saint's Vacation (1941) and The Saint Meets the Tiger. Even though they brought Charteris in to write the first, he remained unhappy with the results. Meanwhile, the studio picked up the less expensive character the Falcon, who had appeared in books by Michael Arlen, and moved Sanders into a new series (he would eventually be replaced by his brother, Tom Conway). Charteris then sued, claiming the Falcon films plagiarized ideas from his books. For the two British-shot films, RKO cast Hugh Sinclair, a British actor who had made his stage debut in 1922. Among his early theatrical hits were the stage versions of Escape Me Never and J.B.

The last words uttered by by a conscience-stricken crook dying on the Saint's doorstep lead the detective in pursuit of gold. The Saint Meets the Tiger. The Saint Meets the Tiger [Leslie Charteris] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. LE SAINT Le Secret de la Vieille Maison LE PREMIER SAINT Meet the Tiger NRF by Leslie Charteris and a great selection of similar Used, New and Collectible Books. The Saint Meets the Tiger [Leslie Charteris] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers.

Priestley's The Good Companions. He had previously visited Hollywood, where he made his screen debut opposite Constance Bennett in RKO's Our Betters (1933). At 38, he was the oldest actor to take on the role to that time. In this outing, Templar uncovers a band of gold smugglers after a dead body turns up on his doorstep. Although The Saint Meets the Tiger was the last film in RKO's initial series, it was adapted from the first Saint novel, Meet the Tiger.

It was also the only film in the series to feature Pat Holm (Jean Gillie), the girlfriend from Charteris' books, and Simon Templar's butler, Horace (Wylie Watson). Gordon McLeod -- who had played Inspector Teal in the studio's earlier British-lensed series entry, The Saint in London (1939) -- returned to the role this time out. The Saint Meets the Tiger was met with decidedly weak box office response. In fact, RKO was so unhappy with their two British-shot Saint films they kept the second from U.S. Screens for two years after The Saint's Vacation proved a box-office flop. Finally, they sold the U.S.