Quoting The Cat:
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)