We're playing a little bit of catch up here, as all of the RKO films of
The Saint from the 1930s 1940s have been out on DVD for a few months now. This is great news for fans of The Saint, as they can now watch Leslie Charteris' creation of Simon Templar be played by
George Sanders,
Hugh Sinclair, and
Louis Hayward in DVD digital quality. And, these have been released in both Region 1 and Region 2 formats. It's time to catch up on these great old films from RKO, and watch the first movies of The Saint all over again for the first time!
American/ Region 1 DVDs:
The Falcon
Additionally, and just for added interest. You could also pick up a copy of The Falcon collection. When George Sanders left The Saint, RKO made a series of him as The Falcon. These are done in such a similar style, with the same crew, same writers, same casting, same studio, and same promotion, that Leslie Charteris sued them over it. In fact, if you re-read
The Saint Steps In, you'll find Charteris having some fun at The Falcon's expense. To us, it's just more Saint films for us to enjoy, albeit under a slightly different name.
MIA - Missing in Action
The Saint in New York -- There are two films which are MIA... both starring Louis Hayward. In America, you can't find the first Saint film,
The Saint in New York, on DVD yet. It is only available in the British series.
The Saint's Girl Friday -- The other missing film is the very last one, from the 1950s. It was released in England in 1953 under the name,
The Saint's Return, and distributed by RKO in the USA during
1954 as
The Saint's Girl Friday. Neither version is available on DVD at this time.
You forgot to mention the British Region 2 releases by Odeon of the Falcon. Which by this time are more titles than the US version contains.
ReplyDeleteAgreed, I wasn't sure if I should include them as there are so many -- and it might overpower the actual story about The Saint releases. However, you make a good point, and I've added them! Cheers,
ReplyDeleteBut for the fans, the "so many" is a sheer pleasure. Now you can watch a lot of them whenever you want. For your information: The Odean releases have no special features at all and lack any subtitles.
ReplyDeleteThe Saint RKO Films have been available on DVD here in Finland since 2005.
ReplyDeleteAny hope of seeing the missing tow Hayward episodes during 2014? I've checked the Warner's Archive site, to no avail.!
ReplyDelete