The Dance of Death (1960) User Reviews

The Saint in Dance of Death

[nova-63 · 6/10 · 27 March 2010]

A French Saint film starring Felix Marten as Simon Templar. The film begins with a gangster being chased on foot by the police. As he tries to make his getaway he is struck by a passerby and falls. The gangster is then shot dead by the police.

Fast forward to a year later and the passerby who helped the police kill the gangster has received threatening letters. The passerby it turns out is a very wealthy man who is afraid that a friend of the gangster has marked him for death. The wealthy man then contacts Templar, who he wants to hire to protect him from an unknown assassin. The Saint is sceptical but agrees to take the job for a hefty fee.

The film has a breezy quality, like the German Edgar Wallace films. It's fun and stylish. The print I saw was the English dubbed version and ran just over 80 minutes. Also The Saint's name was changed from Templar to Thompson.

Very twisty story is good but almost has too much going on for too little a payoff

[dbborroughs · 6/10 · 26 August 2007]

Based on a Leslie Charteris (The Saint) story, this West German film is essentially a Saint movie in disguise ( at least in the American release which has the lead having a different name). The plot concerns a rich American who aids the police in "capturing" an American gangster (actually the gangster is killed). A year later the American is in France when he receives a letter threatening his life. Fearful that the police will not be able to protect him he hires a well known adventurer (Simon Templer or stand in stand in) to provide protection.

This is a good, but not great, little thriller that feels almost like one of the Edgar/Bryan Wallace films that were being produced at the same time with a few horrific elements added in. Almost overly "twisty" the film at times to be over doing the mystery by over loading it with suspects and red herrings. Its not bad but its clear early on that the film is carrying a great deal of baggage that is there just to distract from whats really going on. The result is that you begin to disconnect since its clear the they are playing with you.

Worth a look on TV or as a rental with a second film

From when it was known as "The Dance of Death"...

[works-2 · 11 October 2004]

"This overlooked gem is a combo horror film and crime film, filled with atmospheric scenes in and around an eerie country mansion and a spooky, overgrown cemetery. Unknown killers threaten a playboy millionaire with death. A posh detective comes to his lonely country estate to protect him. Within the mansion's walls are many suspicious characters, including three vampish bomb-shells (one resembles Barbara Steele), along with two odd servants: one tall, dark and gruesome, the other a small Peter Lorre-type. Terrifying things soon happen. The sinister shadow of an unknown killer is seen prowling the grounds in the black of the night. A guard dog is found dead - poisoned. The chauffeur is found, his head jammed into the blades of a car's cooling fan-the motor still running! Things finally end up in a local graveyard where our hero is sealed up in a tomb! A neat, twist ending finishes off this fine, obscure Euro-thriller. Fairly similar to a 1960s Edgar Wallace chiller"

"I never take cheques,I don't trust banks and cheques can make enemies."

[morrison-dylan-fan · 8/10 · 16 March 2019]

Taking part in ICM's French viewing challenge,I looked for titles starring my favourite actress: Michele Mercier. Learning when checking her credits that Mercier had starred in a French version of The Saint,I was disappointed when I was unable to find it under its French title. Taking a gamble searching under the English title, I was thrilled to finally locate the film, which led to me getting set for a saintly viewing.

View on the film:

Slapped with the name "Stewart Thompson", (despite Leslie Charteris getting credited on screen) Felix Marten still captures the class of The Saint/ Simon Templar,with not a drop of sweat on the man as he karate-chops thugs, and Marten having Templar act in a polite manner towards the baddie, even telling the person to stay in and wait for the police to turn up. Introduced with a close-up on her chest (so classy) Nicole Mirel gives a sweet, flirting turn as Gina, whose welcoming manner has Templar and Pellmann both taking a fancy to her. Looking very sexy draped in jackets, Michele Mercier gives a terrific performance as Dany, with Mercier pressing on Dany's frostiness to bring out an ambiguity over if Templar can trust her.

Adapting the Leslie Charteris story "Palm Springs", the screenplay by co-writer/(with Albert Simonin and Yvan Audouard) director Jacques Nahum neatly carries the spirit of The Saint in their Krimi- inspired take, thanks to firmly drawing up doubts in the murder-room mystery mansion set-up by scattering clues between the inhabitants, which are finely pieced together by Templar, in between chatting up the ladies. Filling every corner of the screen with mysterious dames, Nahum & cinematographer Roger Hubert brew a rich Gothic atmosphere in stylishly panning shots slighting along to each of the ladies hiding in the shadows, as The Saint performs the dance of death.