The Saint courts media interest wherever he goes and today is no interest even though Monty just wants a nice quiet holiday with him, with no mystery or adventure. Slipping onto the ship in disguise throws most of the journalists off Templar's trail but not the plucky and determined Mary Langdon, who follows him on his trip. But as Summer follows Spring, so adventure follows the Saint and it is not long before he finds himself involved in shady goings-on over the possession of what appears to be a perfectly ordinary music box.
As a fan of the Falcon series I decided to give other franchises a try and where better to start than the series that the original Falcon jumped out of The Saint. In this entry the Saint gets into his usual scraps in the pursuit of a mystery box and the end result is a quite enjoyable little b-movie. The plot is straightforward but just about has enough action to make it worth seeing if you are into this sort of light entertainment (which I am). However those seeking a bit more substance will find this film lacking it but as long as you know what you are getting then it'll do the job.
With Saunders jumping ship to join another RKO franchise (The Falcon) the role falls to Sinclair and he takes to it with no great distinction. True his performance is fitting for a b-movie serial but I didn't find him very memorable at all. Macrae is better and made some of his scenes better never a good thing for a sidekick from a lead's point of view. Parker makes a good villain and he is by far the most interesting person in the film his chemistry with Sinclair is effective and the former helps the latter be better than in solo scenes. Gray is just too obvious a blonde starlet to really stand out from the crowd but she does well enough. The film makes reasonable use of the location despite some heavy foreign accents that are distracting the train scenes are quite enjoyable and the film manages to avoid feeling like it is stuck on a soundstage (even if it mostly is).
Overall this is an OK film that will be enjoyed by viewers who like this sort of b-movie serial a la the Falcon etc. The plot is interesting enough even if it never really grabbed me; the acting helps and, although I didn't think Sinclair really managed to make the role his own, he is helped out by a great Parker and nice support from Macrae. Not anything special but a typical b-movie serial that can be enjoyed on that level.
