Recommend "The Saint" or not? (Page 1 of 4)

By all means.The Saint is Sir Roger's signature role--even more than James Bond was.Roger always played Roger, and you'll see the same elegance and humor in evidence--along with a serious tone as well.Simon Templar was the original international man of mystery-a dashing cross between A.J. Raffles and Robin Hood.For many years, The Saint was one of the most popular heroes in British adventure fiction-he predates 007 by over 30 years(his first appearance in print was in 1929).

The Saint is an excellent series, and during it's seven year run many of the actors who appeared in some of the Bonds appeared in it as well--notably Bernard Lee and Lois Maxwell,and in large guest-starring roles.In fact, almost every British actor and actress of note at that time(1960s), appeared at least once on The Saint.If I remember correctly, a very young Julie Christie is in one of the earlier episodes.

A great number of the program's episodes were adapted from the original stories by The Saint's creator,Leslie Charteris(who personally selected Roger to play Simon Templar).The series was relatively expensive for it's time, and it's very much a period piece now.That's part of it's charm.

By all means give The Saint a try.There's even a kind of "The Saint Meets James Bond" episode on set 6.It's a 2-parter called,"The Fiction Makers".But check them all out.I think you'll like what you see...

Last edited by Willie Garvin (6th Jan 2009 21:04)

I totally agree with WG.  The series is fun and Roger was at his best.

If you would like you could check out THE SAINT on BBC America on Friday nights.  But if the DVDs are relatively cheap than by all means get them.

Hmm, maybe I'll take a shot at that auction.

The series with Roger Moore was good. Just don't expect the same from the 1998 remake film With Val Kilmer.

I quite liked the Return of the Saint with Ian Ogilvy (I'm a little tto young to remember the Roger Moore version, and, I hate to admit it, have never seen any of the re-runs or DVD copies).

If I'm not mistaken, he drives a Jaguar in that series, right?  Then there was a short-lived reprisal during the 80's with a darker-haired Saint, who drove a Jensen Interceptor.  Together with the white Volvo P1800, gottaluvit!

As we mentioned BEWARE territory...

BEWARE of The Saint in Manhattan, featuring Aussie Andrew Clarke as Simon Templar. It's actually pretty hard to stumble accross this piece, as it was the pilot of an aborted Australian-American series... But if you do, watch it really carefuly.

I actually don't know what the casting people thought when they cast Clarke into the role, becuase he really differs from both more established Saints (Roger and Ian), and the difference is taken further with a really disturbing and odd moustache.

But it's not really only Clarke's or the cast's fault, it's pretty much the mediocre script which took away all the British charm of the original and was just anoter middle of the road American crime featurette.

I came across this picture just recently with the help of a local fan, so I'd just like to warn everybody... That there is actually one worse thing than Val Kilmer's feature.

Last edited by The Cat (27th Jan 2005 00:10)

He looked like a seventies porn star!

From the replies in this thread, it seems that The Saint is right up my alley.  Sir Roger at his best? Mystery, intrigue, humor and pretty girls? How can I possibly turn that down? The Saint sounds wonderful! It'll also be fun to try and note all the appearances of Bond actors and actresses. I'm going to have to bid on an auction or 2 and then I'll respond back to this thread. 

Also,as advised, I'll also steer clear from the Kilmer movie and The Saint in Manhattan . Thanks to everybody who responded!

In my opinion the Roger Moore Saint series is considerably better than Ian Ogilvy's Return of the Saint series.This is due to the fact that RM's show adapts many of the original Leslie Charteris short stories.Also there are plenty of familiar actors in the casts-many of them before they became famous elsewhere.Then there's Roger--whose personality style and flair perfectly suits Simon Templar.Overall,The Saint is simply superior to the later sequel series.The earliest seasons are probably among the best, but the entire RM series is uniformly excellent.

I like Ian Ogilvy and he did his best with what he had to work with, but his material isn't at the same high level as Sir Roger's was.Not a bad show but nothing special.Little of the Ogilvy series is drawn from Charteris.Incidentally,Ogilvy's show was originally designed to be the adventures of the son of The Saint.In early drafts his character was Simon Templar,Jr.

Last edited by Willie Garvin (27th Jan 2005 17:01)

I always thought the later episodes were too dark, as compared to the novels and the RM series.  The Saint was a great blend of action and light humor, so Roger was PERFECT for the role.  Also, Ogilvy wore these rather hip clothes that were also counter to the traditional image of the Saint, and Inspector Teal was never present.  Return of the Saint could have been almost any action hero/series.

Also, IMO the George Sanders films were not very good.  They were bland B-Pictures, and nothing more, and I thought Sanders was too arrogant for the role.

Go with RM's Saint, and you can't go wrong.

So I guess the post-Moore series with Ogilvy and the others are just 'inspired by the characters,' but not written by Charteris?

Also about the 'Kilmer vehicle'. Does it contain winks and nods to the literary series? I mean if I did THE SAINT movie, I'd certainly do that. Much like DAD (one of it's redeeming aspects).

The Ogilvy series uses the Saint character but is almost entirely comprised of original stories created for that show.There might be one or two Charteris stories adapted,but "inspired by" is the best overall description.

As for the Kilmer movie--this one has a weird  and tangled history.

It all began as a new Saint movie starring Roger Moore in his final turn as Simon Templar-one in which he meets his equally adventuresome son.In the earliest drafts Simon Templar--played by Roger Moore at his real age--finds himself in an adventure where he manages to accidentally come across the adult son he didn't know existed.Simon Holm is the handsome and dashing son of Templar and his longtime girlfriend,the late Patricia Holm(from the early Charteris novels).The two Simons join together to take on the villains and at the end of the movie Simon Templar passes the mantle--or halo if you will--of "The Saint" to Simon Jr,who in turn becomes Simon Templar Jr., and a new Saint for a new age.A Saint movie series would follow with the new Saint as it's lead character.

Pierce Brosnan was offered the role of Simon Templar Jr,and he found it tempting--but he turned it down in order to be available in case Eon was interested in him playing James Bond.And as we all know,they were.

So....the screenplay was rewritten several more times until it became an origin tale explaining The Saint's past and his motivations.That's the film Val Kilmer(a talented actor but miscast in this instance) starred in.There's nothing of Leslie Charteris in it--even The Saint's internationally famous stick man symbol was redesigned.It would be a much better movie if it didn't pretend to be a Saint movie--because it really isn't, regardless of the title.There are no winks or nods to the literary Saint anywhere in this movie.In fact,Roger Moore's UNICEF ad on the car radio at the film's close is the only link to what came before--and that's too bad.

Unlike Ian Fleming,Leslie Charteris lived to see his famous creation dramatized in the movies,on the radio,in comic strips and on television.He owned his character outright and always had considerable input into the many dramatic versions of his creation other people dealt with.I sincerely doubt that he'd have enjoyed the Kilmer film.Leslie Charteris was always very protective of his famous character and was careful to never give The Saint an origin--he's supposed to be a man of mystery,after all, and some mystery should always be maintained.

Last edited by Willie Garvin (28th Mar 2005 17:07)