I'm a Saint fan so when I saw this on TCM I jumped at the chance to watch it. I'm really only used to the Roger Moore Saint and I never read the books but I also watched one or two earlier Saint films, so that's where I am now. So, my best guess is The Saint came to New York to kill off the entire underworld here. Not sure why. Did they say bad things about the King? Queen? Who knows, but he sure did have a grudge against these guys. The New York police don't know either but welcome him since you know, the system is crooked. So off we go and along the way Simon gets shot and kisses a hot woman who dies (I think), oh whats the point, you know you are intrigued. The Saint is a one man Lee Marvin killing machine. Totally out of character from the rest of the series even to this day, this Saint deserves a watch. A good stiff drink is in order as well or two or three, or however many you wish. Enjoy. 7 out of 10. I have no idea looking back why he was there but he killed a lot of the mob on his way out.

The print I saw wasn't great and the movie starts off a little slow, but once the plot kicks in this is a great little pulp adventure. It's a quickie B-movie, but it's a lot of fun.Simon Templar, a.k.a. The Saint, is a sophisticated thrill-seeker who hands out vigilante justice to those who deserve it. He's a great character. In this film he works alongside the police (to a degree), while employing his own peculiar (and brutal) methods. He's like Batman, but wearing a normal suit and tie. The guy's quick-witted and resourceful, and he leaves dead bodies in his wake. The man plays by his own rules, but he sure gets results.THE SAINT IN NEW YORK (1938) is the first of many film outings for the Simon Templar character. Played by Louis Hayward, Templar is a scrappy sort of globetrotter with the charm of an Orson Welles (think Harry Lime). He's a man of the world and something of an intellectual. One of the henchmen he meets (Paul Guilfoyle in a great performance) is awed by Templar's way with words. ("It's like poetry.")This Saint adventure is action-packed, with Templar taking down a city- wide crime syndicate over the course of a few nights. Often he is taken into custody by his enemies, only to be the only man left alive. There are some pretty exciting fights. The kind of stuff you might see in a pulp magazine or hear on an old-time radio broadcast: The lights go out, a shot is fired, there's a shriek, furniture tumbles over, two more shots, a door opens, a window breaks, another shriek, etc., etc. It's good stuff and The Saint is a force to be reckoned with. Like I said, he's Batman in a suit.

Simon Templar aka the Saint started his long and illustrious career in 1929 with the release of Meet the Tiger as written by the brilliant Leslie Charteris. By the time this movie came along The Saint was already a very popular book character. And while most people know of Roger Moore, Ian Ogylvie, Simon Dutton or George Sanders playing the Saint this first one is played by Louis Hayward (he played in the first movie and the last one of the b/w series) and he does it very well. This Saint is light years away from the later suave performance of Sanders or Moore. This is a straight "revenge" story in which the Saint takes care of the organized crime in New York, by means that are not available to the police. In the book he has stay clear of both parties but in the movie, a knee fall to morality of those days, he is more or less asked by the police. The Saint does so in a whirlwind 48 hours. The 60 odd minutes the movie lasts fly by and leaves you with the feeling to see more.In a recent movie by Tarantino (Inglorious Basterds) he kinda gives a wink to the Saint by letting his heroine read a novel "Le Saint a New York", which proves that the Saint is still out there. With a new TV-pilot just behind the horizon. Now if the powers that be only released a full DVD-boxset of all b/w Saintmovies I for one would be a very pleased person.

The first film adaption of Leslie Charteris's hero Simon Templar, aka The Saint finds The Saint In New York taking on the job of cleaning out organized crime in the big apple. As if Thomas E. Dewey wasn't doing enough around that time.But I doubt Dewey would condone The Saint's methods. He's been put on retainer by an elite group of civic leaders concerned about rising crime rate. What they get is little more than a contract killer, albeit a charming one.Louis Hayward plays The Saint and then left the role to return to it for one more go in the Fifties. I wish he had done a few more episodes in this film series.What The Saint's been hired to do is eliminate one way or another a gang of six that control all the crime in New York City worth controlling. There's a seventh involved, but nobody knows who he is, he's an almost mythical figure known as the Big Fellow.Given this is a B film with a limited cast there's not too much suspense involved and it's rather obvious who the mastermind is. Still this Saint film gets by on the considerable charm of Louis Hayward and it's easy to take.