Completely agree.
The modern version, for whatever reason, will be too closely compared with Bond. And the two characters are completely apart in terms of their respective literary conceptions. Bond is a miserable civil servant. The Saint cheerfully does what he does because he Loves it. All lost in the infinite translations on screen but, that is why in this downturn, I am actually re-reading all my Saint books. For the cheer.
A Phantom era Saint is exactly what is required.
Agree with all this. I love The Saint - the Roger series is one of my favourite TV shows ever - but a lone Englishman will surely be compared to Bond, and what is left over has already been done in the last decade with Hustle, Leverage, White Collar, Burn Notice etc.
I think The Avengers has more going for it as a property, as Kingsman has perhaps shown.
The Charteris books make curious reading from a modern perspective, as the prose is quite verbose and self-indulgent. Not saying they’re bad - I own them, after all - but sometimes it is like wading through treacle.
I am not a Saint fan, don’t know why, so forgive me if I’m way off base- but wasn’t Simon Templar a thief/criminal who did good in the course of his affairs? Kind of like the John Robie (To catch a thief) and Alexander Mundy (it takes a thief)? There really isn’t anything like that currently is there?
You’re right. Simon used to be a thief, but decided to rob exclusively from who he termed “the ungodly”. Hence his nick-name in the stories, ‘The Robin Hood of Modern Crime’. This broadened out into helping anyone who was suffering an injustice.
In the Roger series, the censors wouldn’t let them state this explicitly, but it’s hinted occasionally. In the episode ‘Escape Route’, for example, we see Simon rob somewhere and even get caught by Inspector Teal - but it’s all a ruse to get into prison so he can find out how Donald Sutherland intends to break out of it.
I love Charteris’ “verbose and self-indulgent” prose. Keep in mind that the first books were serialized in magazines, where the author was paid by the word - so why describe a fight scene in twenty words when a hundred will earn you more? The sad fact that no one writes that way anymore is what makes those stories so enjoyable.
Charteris once dedicated a volume to P.G. Wodehouse, “who could write them so much better, were he so inclined.” (paraphrased)
Yes, I too love the writing style.
It might be called indulgent but I saw it as the words of someone who clearly loved writing, knew every word in the dictionary, and celebrated their existence. To be sure, he never wrote Down to his audience. It was from this canon that I first learnt and later used the word, thaumaturgical.
As to what could be done with the Saint now, the idea of him fighting international megalomaniacs bores me. But, then could his involvement with small time crooks and many words be turned into stuff of the big screen? I really do not know. It seems the director also has Sherlock 3 on his plate and perhaps if his style for 3 emulates that of 1 and 2, then perhaps all is possible.
Just no more bloody back stories please…
Of course, we must remember that this may not happen at all. Lots of films get stuck in development hell for years. I am, though, hopeful that this one - unlike The Saint in New Orleans with James Purefoy, or the Adam Rayner series - will actually materialize.
I’ve heard several Saint fans say in the past that television is the better medium for the character and the scope of the stories. It’s easier for the viewer to realize that this man battles injustice on a regular basis if we see a few example which establish this pattern, and that means television.
Chris Pine, though, is a perfect fit, in my view. He has the tanned look that Charteris described, and will certainly be able to pull off that insouciant, fun-loving side of Simon.
The Saint should return to his own era make it a period piece, this should offer him a outlet which is unlike 007 or Mission Impossible series, and make him return in a more wicked way, the Saint was never as clean as Roger Moore did show him.
I recently Bought all the Saint adventures in two DVD box sets, Monochrome and colour. I’m really
enjoying them and on some there are commentaries from cast and crew. I don’t know if they’ve
been remastered or cleaned up a bit, but they look fantastic.
I was always a big Roger Moore fan, and remember The Saint used to be on television when I got home from school. I also have the Persuaders on download from Amazon Prime. It’s funny to see how much stunt work Tony Curtis was allowed to do.
The studio was really used well, it’s amazing how with a few different camera angles and putting up a few Palm trees, as all TV series of the 60s did. Roger once said about the glamour of Television that the back lot would be dressed as some Caribbean island and he’d be in a light linen suit, but it was really November and he was shaking with the cold.
There’s also the famous clip of the car crashing over a cliff, which I think turned up in every 60s action series. Apparently the budget for the saint was £32,000 per episode, I think given the limited budget of the 60s, I think they did a great job.
Just last night watching episode two of series two of mission impossible, they moved through a Latin America out post, which I recognised as the Federation station attacked in the Star Trek episode
“Arena”, when Kirk has to fight the Gorn.
I was born in 1975 And had a return of the Saint annual, when I was about Three or four, so Ian Ogilvy was “my Saint”
Odd that Return of the Saint wasn’t a bigger hit at the time. It was likely a tough job to sell a revival of a lighter crime show ten years after its initial end, when crime shows like The Sweeney and The Professionals went for a tougher tone. While the family audience was swept up by either comedy or Dallas.
Agreed, The Return of the Saint was an excellent adventure series but somehow didn’t engage the audience the way the original series did. Even the recent Pilot Saint Movie, didn’t succeed in getting a series. I would have thought the character was perfect for each generation to re-invent
for themselves.
I remember reading that the return of the Saint came at the wrong time,as Britain was undergoing power strikes and three day working weeks, so seeing a playboy chucking his money about did not set well really.
I also feel Roger was a hard act to follow. I remember my Dad often saying " He’s no Roger Moore " or
Worse.
I’m quite happy this thread has resurfaced… I was a big fan as a kid ( already discussed ) and my only tattoo is that of the Saint logo on my butt cheek ( I was 15 and very ridiculous )
I was a fan of the books, the comic strips and of course the reruns of both Saint TV shows, but to me at that age they were the same actor…
This is the mistake made successively for a Saint reboot, unlike 007 the creators consistently look for a new Roger Moore rather than an updated Saint. Very few people could do " Moore " and not come across smarmy and sleazy.
Rip up the rule book, go back to the books, see what is s relevent and hire an actor to fit that vision.
Aside from the stories from the books having a fairly good translation to screen in the Moore series, I don’t think the true book character has Ever been successfully translated.
And to be sure, the more times the character is given a dusting off, the further away from both character and story source do they seem to go; and I am not at all sure they will ever get it right.
For me, as Stbernard, the books all the way. They are a masterclass in writing skills and wit. I cannot tell you how many times I have read each of the non-ghost written stories. And every time, I love’em.
I have to confess,I have never seen any of the 1930s Saint movies.
Nor have I.
I seed them all, back in '78 on CBC late night and again recently on TCM.
It was a bit of a surprise, expecting Roger Moore and being introduced instead to George Sanders (“the original, you might say”) and, after he left to do the Falcon, Hugh Sinclair (I didn’t see The Saint in New York - the real original - with Louis Hayward until much more recently).
The old Saint serials got me reading the books, though, and sharpened my appreciation for that elevated writing style wherein a fistfight reads like a ballet. Made it easier to read and comment on 19th century British Lit in University.
If you come upon the original serials, I highly recommend watching them for both the sake of completion and for the novelty.