Tweet George Sanders as "The Saint"...or "The Falcon?"

I was not at all familiar with George Sanders in his series' as "The Saint" or "The Falcon." Were these films very popular? Do they hold up as well as "The Thin Man" or the "Charlie Chan" series? Sanders had a real gift for the clever line.

The Saint is collected in a dvd set, and it looks like The Falcon will be too.

I find them both to be enjoyable series. Not as high budgeted as the MGM Thin Man or early Fox Chan films but still generally well produced, directed, written and acted.

Sanders is not in all of the Saint films, btw and is only in the first few Falcon films too (before the role was taken over by his real life brother Tom Conway).

Joe Moore

[Christopher Jacobs]

They're both fun series if you like B-mystery films from the 40s. As I recall, the "Saint" films were a touch above the "Falcon" films, but if you like Charlie Chan, Mr. Moto, the Sherlock Holmes, the Michael Shayne, the Nancy Drew, and the like, you'll probably enjoy both The Saint and The Falcon series (which have some overlap as I recall, as one transitions into the next as Tom Conway takes over).

The Falcon films are very nice lightweight entertainment with a mix of comedy and thrills There are always a few pretty girls, mostly minor but pleasing starlets like Harriet Hilliard. The most interesting bit in the whole series was when George Sanders left the role and handed it over to his brother Tom Conway.

[Mike Gebert]

The first Saint movie (with Louis Hayward) is worth seeing just because it's so different-- he's kind of a righteous hit man, which is fairly unusual for 1938 or whenever. Not great (that's pretty much always true of Hayward) but certainly worth a watch.

I think both series are wonderful. My wife and I have watched them both over and over during the past several years, and we never tire of them. The Saint went on with Hugh Sinclair even later, and they're not too bad, either. I agree with the assessment, too, of "The Saint in New York" (1938): you really should see it to understand how it differs [rather hugely] from the later ones with Sanders. Sanders has so much charm, though, that, frankly, no one could take his place... Tom Conway in The Falcon was really very good, but even then he wasn't any George Sanders...

They're pretty good Bs. Plus, Sanders is always fun.

Bob

Like so many B mysteries from this period, you have to have a pretty high tolerance for dumb cops and lame comedy relief. If you can get past that, they're pretty entertaining.

I am not familiar with this series, but would be very interested to view it.

I am a huge fan of George Sanders in "The Picture of Dorian Gray" & "All About Eve". His dialogue in Dorian Gray is mind blowing - Oscar Wilde's words I guess, but George really delivers it with panache like no one else could.