The Saint in New York (film)

The Saint in New York is an American 1938 crime film, directed by Ben Holmes and adapted from Leslie Charteriss novel of the same name by Charles Kaufman and Mortimer Offner. Released by RKO Pictures, The Saint in New York marks the first screen appearance of Simon Templar The Saint. Louis Hayward stars as the titular character, with Kay Sutton as his love interest. Hayward would not play The Saint again until 1953 after being replaced by George Sanders.

Police Lieutenant Martin, an officer leading the fight against New York gangsters, is killed. Jake Irbell is arrested and charged with his murder, but has to be released when prosecution witnesses are either coerced into changing their testimony or simply disappear. A civilian crime commission demands action of the police commissioner, but he has no fresh ideas. William Valcross Frederick Burton, a respected leading citizen and member of the commission, suggests they resort to drastic measures and recruit Simon Templar Louis Hayward, the Saint, a British amateur Detective with a reputation for dealing with criminals outside the law. The commissioner reluctantly agrees to give the Saint free rein to do what he must.Valcross spends months tracking the Saint down, following a trail of dead criminal bodies across Europe and South America. Templar is intrigued by the challenge and is given a list of six gangsters whose removal would hopefully bring peace to the city. ........

Source: Wikipedia