The Saint's Blog devoted to news and rumors about The Saint and Leslie Charteris. Simon Templar, alias The Saint, was played by Roger Moore in the 1960's TV show featuring the Volvo 1800.
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The response to the announcement of James Purefoy as the new Saint has been extremely positive with growing excitement -- there are many more happy Saint fans than when the Val Kilmer movie was shaping up. This choice has been really well done. Genius!
A few more details have trickled in. The Saint will be a German/Australian co-production. Exterior shots will be filmed in Berlin, Germany, with the interiors and post production will be done in Brisbane, Australia. Financing will be finalized this week, and there will certainly be even more details forthcoming in the near future.
More news about James Purefoy as The Saint can be found using Saint Search.
Breaking news on the forthcoming coming TV series of The Saint, and you heard it here first!
James Purefoy, who played Mark Antony in "Rome" is set to play the new Simon Templar in the forthcoming TV series of The Saint.
Bill Macdonald tells www.saint.org (the official website of The Saint Club) that his team is prepping a two-hour pilot for a European shoot. The reason for shooting in Europe is the current strike situation in U.S. would otherwise hold up production. Shooting in Berlin and Australia begins in April.
Bill goes on to say that the show is being produced by himself (William J. MacDonald), Geoffrey Moore (Sir Roger Moore's son), and Jorge Zamacona (most recently of "Oz").
James Purefoy, who will play the new Saint, was screen tested for the role of James Bond in 1995 for Goldeneye, and throughout 2004 and 2005 Purefoy's name was rumoured as a possible candidate to replace Brosnan as agent 007 in future James Bond films. These rumors surfaced again before the 2006 film, Casino Royale.
In what appears to be a bazaar copyright and/or trademark infringement, it's been noted that there is an electronic cigarette on the market which features the Saint logo.
You can visit the SuperSmoker website for time being, that is until the lawyers show up. This is not in anyway an endorsement of this product. It is a surprised, "hey check this weird thing out while you can" notice.
Leslie Charteris, the author of The Saint stories, smoked up until the 1950s when he quit completely and even had Simon Templar quit as well! He was quite adamant about not having smoking around him, and would not be happy about this use of his worldwide trademarked Saint Stickman Logo.
As I've been updating The Saint in Spanish bibliography I keep running accross El Santo the Mexican wrestler. His real name was Rodolfo Guzmán Huerta, but much of the world knew him as "El Santo," the most beloved wrestler in Mexican Lucha Libre history.
El Santo was famous for his silver mask, and the fact that he was never seen without it. More than any other wrestler, El Santo was able to keep his true identity and face a mystery and this served him well in creating a mystique which increased his popularity with wrestling fans across Mexico. His appeal, however, did not stop with grappling fans and he would eventually became one of the most popular movie stars in all of Mexico, performing in movies such as Santo vs. the Vampire Women, Santo in the Wax Museum, Mummies of Guanauato, and others. With all of his success and after so many years as an active performer, El Santo decided to call it quits and retired from the Ring in 1983, one year after the debut in the Ring of his son, El Higo Del Santo (The Son of The Saint). For the next two years El Santo worked as a performer in a nightclub, continuing to entertain his fans. On February 5, 1984 he suffered a fatal heart attack in Mexico City, Mexico and the world mourned the loss of an honored champion. True to his larger than life persona, El Santo was buried days later - with his mask on.
Since these films are still not out on DVD yet, this is a great way to see them again on your new flat-screen TV!
Nov 12, 2007 (All Times are Eastern):
6:00 AM - Dick Tracy (1945) Dick is faced with a series of murders in which the victims all come from different social and economic backgrounds. Cast: Morgan Conway, Anne Jeffreys, Mike Mazurki. Dir: William A. Berke. BW-61 mins, TV-PG
7:15 AM - Dick Tracy Vs. Cueball (1946) A police detective uses his girlfriend to track down a homicidal maniac. Cast: Morgan Conway, Anne Jeffreys, Dick Wessel. Dir: Gordon Douglas. BW-62 mins, TV-PG
8:30 AM - Dick Tracy's Dilemma (1947) Dick Tracy takes on "The Claw" in this crime thriller Cast: Ralph Byrd, Lyle Latell, Kay Christopher. Dir: John Rawlins. BW-60 mins, TV-PG
9:45 AM - Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome (1947) Dick Tracy tracks down a bank robber using nerve gas. Cast: Boris Karloff, Ralph Byrd, Anne Gwynne. Dir: John Rawlins. BW-65 mins, TV-PG
11:00 AM - Saint In New York, The (1938) The Saint goes undercover to get the goods on New York's mob kingpins. Cast: Louis Hayward, Kay Sutton, Jonathan Hale. Dir: Ben Holmes. BW-72 mins, TV-G
12:15 PM - Saint Strikes Back, The (1939) The Saint helps a young beauty take vengeance on the mobsters who ruined her father. Cast: George Sanders, Wendy Barrie, Barry Fitzgerald. Dir: John Farrow. BW-64 mins, TV-G
1:30 PM - Saint In London, The (1939) The Saint's investigation of a counterfeiting ring uncovers a nest of spies. Cast: George Sanders, David Burns, Sally Gray. Dir: John Paddy Carstairs. BW-72 mins, TV-G, CC
2:44 PM - Short Film: Looking At London (1946) C-10 mins
3:00 PM - Saint's Double Trouble, The (1940) Reformed jewel thief Simon Templer lands in hot water when a look-alike smuggles stolen goods out of Egypt. Cast: George Sanders, Jonathan Hale, Bela Lugosi. Dir: Jack Hively. BW-67 mins, TV-G, CC
4:15 PM - Saint Takes Over, The (1940) Reformed jewel thief Simon Templar tries to help a police inspector whose been framed on bribery charges. Cast: George Sanders, Jonathan Hale, Wendy Barrie. Dir: Jack Hively. BW-70 mins, TV-G, CC
5:30 PM - Saint In Palm Springs, The (1941) Reformed jewel thief Simon Templer's efforts to deliver a fortune in rare stamps are complicated by murder. Cast: George Sanders, Wendy Barrie, Jonathan Hale. Dir: Jack Hively. BW-66 mins, TV-G
6:45 PM - Saint Meets The Tiger, The (1943) The Saint infiltrates a small English village run by smugglers. Cast: Hugh Sinclair, Jean Gillie, Clifford Evans. Dir: Paul L. Stein. BW-69 mins, TV-G
Retired Long Island Science Teacher Sets Sights on 3 Million Miles In His Record-Breaking 1966 Volvo P1800
IRVINE, Calif., Oct. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- With 2.6 million miles on his record-breaking, shiny red 1966 Volvo P1800, 67-year-old Irv Gordon is now aiming to achieve a near impossible milestone -- driving three million miles in the same car.
Gordon, a retired science teacher from East Patchogue, N.Y., purchased his sporty Volvo in June 1966, and immediately fell in love, driving 1,500 miles in the first 48 hours. With a 125-mile round-trip daily commute, a dedication to vehicle maintenance and a passion for driving, Gordon logged 500,000 miles in 10 years. In 1998 with 1.69 million miles, he made the Guinness Book of World Records for most miles driven by a single owner in a non-commercial vehicle.
Today, Gordon breaks his own record every time he drives, whether it's to Cincinnati for coffee, Rolla, Mo. for lunch or Green River, Wyo. for dinner. And now, as the treasured Volvo P1800 continues to roll through the ages despite the wear of road and time, Gordon -- like any mighty record-holder at the top of his game -- has begun to think about his legacy.
"My goal is to reach three million miles in the next five years," Gordon said. "But, whether I reach that mark is more up to me than it is the car. The car's parts may be able to take it, but I'm not so sure about my own.
"I turn 72 on July 15, 2012," he added. "That seems like a nice day to clock three million and park the car once and for all. It will be a fantastic testament to the engineering genius of Volvo as well as to the resiliency of folks my age.
"I'll also feel comfortable that three million miles is a record that no one will ever be able to reach in the same car," Gordon continued. "That is, unless Barry Bonds decides to start driving his car more after he retires from baseball."
Slowing the Pace in Recent Years
Through the late '90s and early part of this decade, Gordon had been driving at a near fanatical pace of well over 100,000 miles per year, peaking in March 2002 when he gained worldwide attention for turning two million miles while driving down Broadway in Times Square. Today, to reach his next milestone, he is allowing a more conservative pace of 80,000 miles per year, thanks in large part to doctor's orders.
"You tire a little easier when you reach my age," Gordon said. "Gone are the nights when I'd be driving through Nebraska at 3 a.m. on I-80 West, jacked up on two pots of delicious Waffle House coffee.
"Last year, when my doctor told me I could no longer drive 24 hours at a time, 1,000 miles a day, I thought he was out of his mind, but I now realize he's right," Gordon said. "Today, I get a full night's sleep, eat healthy and take eight days to drive cross country, rather than six. The car gets plenty of exercise no matter how I plan each trip."
Gordon Seeking New Places to Drive
Gordon drives for the pure pleasure of driving but, these days, what motivates him most is an invitation to drive to an event to show off his car and visit friends. As he drives toward three million miles, he's looking for new places to go.
"I've traveled pretty much every Interstate in the U.S. many times over, so these days I'm looking for fresh, alternative routes and sights," Gordon said. "I'm hoping for some invitations to some faraway places like Europe, Australia or Hawaii.
"I can hold my own with almost any trucker at any truck stop in any country -- discussing roads, construction, or the best nearby, small-town diner with a good cup of decaf and piece of raisin toast."
What to Do After 3 Million
Gordon is unsure what to do with his Volvo after three million miles, though he has considered selling it for no less than one dollar per each mile he's driven.
"I also think it should go in a nice, cozy museum where people will get to enjoy seeing the car that beat the odds -- all with the same engine, same radio, same axles, same transmission and of course the same driver," Gordon said.
"So, maybe I'll sell it. Maybe I'll donate it to a museum," he concluded. "Who knows? Maybe I'll keep driving it."
Members of The Saint Club recently recieved the annual Saint Club Christmas Letter from Ian Dickerson with some news about a couple forthcoming publications:
Hodder & Stoughton will be publishing two Saint anthologies in the Autumn of 2008. Unoriginally entitled The Best of the Saint (volumes 1 and 2) they'll feature a selection of stories from across the Saint's career (including one which has never appeared in an English paperback before); each volume will also have an introduction from a notable Saint (or Saint fan) plus some additional material by me. Current plans are for each book to have a yellow jacket cover, along the lines of the old H&S style.
Next year will also see the publication of the definitive history of the Saint's television adventures. Currently and unoriginally entitled The Saint on TV, it's written by me (Ian Dickerson) and if you thought the story of the Saint on TV started with Roger Moore, well this book will show you otherwise. It starts in 1940s Hollywood and this book follows the Saint on TV right up to the present day and the new show in development.
Amongst other things it provides a unique episode guide to all three Saint TV series detailing plots, cast, crew, filming locations and critical reaction. It also comprehensively details what many of the cast and crew have been up to since they met the Saint. And perhaps of more interest to you lot, tells the full story behind The Saint in Manhattan and The Saint (with Simon Dutton) using exclusive interviews with many of the cast and crew involved on the productions to analyse what went wrong.
There's loads more in it but I'm not spilling all my beans here. If you want to know more about it, or the two reprints, keep checking www.lesliecharteris.com because that's where the latest news will be.
A Happy Halloween goes out to all you Saints, souls, and cherubs out there!
All Saints Day is tomorrow, and All Saint's Day Eve (Halloween) is otherwise known as All Hallows Eve, or as I call it All Halo's Eve. So cheers and keep your halos on straight.
Sir Roger Moore was honored with a star on Hollywood's "Walk of Fame" last Thursday, October 11th, just three days ahead of his 80th birthday.
Roger Moore was present at a morning ceremony which saw the 2,350th star unveiled on Hollywood Boulevard. Moore's star is aptly located at 7007 Hollywood Blvd. The honor was for his work in such movies as the James Bond series from 1973 and 1985. Roger is the third Bond to be so honored, joining Sean Connery and Pierce Brosnan on the prestigious walk.
Sir Roger George Moore, KBE (born 14 October 1927) is an English actor known for his suave and witty demeanour. He may be best known for portraying two British action heroes, Simon Templar in the television series The Saint from 1962 to 1969, and James Bond in seven films from 1973 to 1985. He has been a UNICEF ambassador since 1991.
Happy 80th Birthday Roger, and congratulations on the star!
This e-mail arrived from the Honorary Secretary of The Saint Club a few days ago. The latest merchandise catalog of Saint Club goodies is avaiable. You must have a valid Saint Club member number to order, and we're posted information about how to join The Saint Club if you aren't already a member.
From: The Saint Club Sent: Tuesday, September 25, 2007 7:34 AM Subject: Saint Club Merchandise
Dear All,
Please find attached a pdf file detailing the latest Saint Club merchandise. This is a taster for the Christmas letter, which should be following via good old snailmail in a few weeks time.
If you wish to order anything via e-mail you can as long as you use PayPal. E-mail me for more details.
We're sorry to hear that Lois Maxwell passed away in Australia on Saturday from cancer.
Lois Maxwell was probably best known to the world from her role as Miss Moneypenny in the James Bond films, but that was probably the smallest part she ever played. Saint fans might also remember that she guest-starred with Roger Moore in the October 7, 1966 episode of The Saint, entitled, Interlude in Venice.
Bond star Sir Roger Moore, who had known her for more than 60 years, spoke to the BBC about his friend and co-star:
I'd known Lois from the beginning of my acting career, we were both drama students at Rada in 1944 and 1945.
We first played opposite each other in Pride and Prejudice. I was Darcy, she was Elizabeth. She was a very fine actress with a great sense of humour.
I think it was a great disappointment to her that she had not been promoted to play M. She would have been a wonderful M.
Lois was wonderful, absolutely perfect casting. It was a great pity that after I moved out of Bond, that they didn't take her on to continue in the Timothy Dalton films.
She had a tremendous sense of humour. She used to sing dirty songs, from the Canadian women's army in which she'd served.
We'd done a number of episodes of The Saint and The Persuaders together, so over the past 60 years I'd seen a great deal of her. But unfortunately, not over the last couple of years.
She had a quite a wide range of parts before she went into the Bond franchise. I'm afraid she got sort of typecast as Miss Moneypenny, that's what producers do, unfortunately, they put people in categories, they don't seem to move people out of them.
At the National Movie Awards, I presented an award to [Bond producers] Barbara Broccoli and Michael Wilson. It's a pity the timing was so bad, we really could have given her a tribute then.
It is very rare that the artwork used on the covers of various Saint books is used twice, especially from country to country. The 1955 Swedish edition of Helgonet vid Spanska Sjön (The Saint on The Spanish Main) uses the exact same artwork as the 1955 American first edition of the same title by The Crime Club. Both editions feature cover artwork by Richard M. Powers.
You can tell that The Crime Club edition was first as there are still remnants of their clever Crime Club man (see if you can find the letters C.R.I.M.E. within) swimming in the ocean on the Swedish edition.
If you know of any other such double-use of cover artwork, please comment below.
The Saint's website has been running since the Web 1.0 days of 1995, and in those days each web page's HTML had to be hand-coded in a text editor, such as BBEdit and then FTP'd up to the saint.org web host by me and me alone. Web 1.0 for The Saint was a one-way posting of static information that you hoped someone would find and read (this was called "Pull", as it was hoped that the sites content was so good that the sheer gravity would pull users to it.
With Web 2.0, The Saint's website is much more collaborative and automated. The use of Blogger means that an entire dream team of Saint experts from around the world can add, edit, or delete news articles in a rich web-enabled editor using only a web browser. These articles can have pictures, links, video, and other files. Additionally, all of the Saint fans who read these articles can use the comment feature to add their thoughts and feedback -- giving us collaboration, discussion, and ideas about the next article.
Each News article written in Blogger has an RSS syndication feed powered by Blogger and enhanced by FeedBurner to promote, gauge, and facilitate adding to your home page, like My Yahoo! or iGoogle. This allows people to see the news headlines on their favorite site, instead of having to visit Saint.org every day to check to see if there is any news. The Feedburner RSS feed "pushes" content to the user, which then brings them to the site. Feedburner also features a News Headlines module which appears on the home page of www.saint.org and automatically lists the links to the most recently posted news articles. In addition, FeedBlitz "Subscribe Via E-Mail" was added to allow users to have the Feedburner RSS feeds sent automatically to their e-mail address whenever anything has been posted.
Web 2.0 also gives us the tools to allow anyone to help publicize a particular news Story about the Saint. If something catches your eye, for example, you can use Digg, Del.icio.us, Technorati, or StumbleUpon to share your links with other people. This is a great help, as it allows more people than just a single webmaster to update a list of links that are related to the same subject. For example, all of the Saint Actor pages (like Tom Conway) feature external links about that actor which are powered by Del.icio.us. By adding me to your Del.icio.us network, you can help in maintaining and adding links to important Saint sites around the web.
Statistics are another important way of seeing what information has the most interest, and if additional pages, articles, or other items are needed. SiteMeter gives quick statistics for each page, and FeedBurner gives statistics on each RSS feed usage.
And in the end, the other big change in Web 2.0 is all of the advertising capabilities for giving Saint fans relevant products for sale that are at least somehow related to The Saint. These tools, like Google's AdSense, Commission Junction, and Amazon Associates allow this site to remain up and running at no charge to the public. The advertising revenue, while slight (about $1 a day), does pay for the domain registrations and other hosting charges incurred. Please continue to support www.saint.org by visiting the advertisers and using all these Web 2.0 features to be part of The Saint's online community!
Fiona Glenanne is a fictional character (portrayed by Gabrielle Anwar) in the television series Burn Notice. She was affiliated with the IRA for 14 years, but ran afoul of her old organization because she didn't like being told what to do. She has since gone out on her own, picking up odd jobs and using her skills in explosives, lock picking, tracking, weapons, and hand-to-hand combat to make a living. Fiona picked up Michael Westen in Miami, and has since helped him numerous times in his various jobs. Fiona and Michael had a past relationship, which Michael ended, apparently due to a fear of commitment. Since she has met up with Michael again, Fiona has continued to pressure Michael into a relationship.
While The Saint's girlfriend, Patricia Holm has a very different background, there is something about the interaction between Fiona Glenanne and Michael Westen that is reminiscent of The Saint's relationship with Pat. It has been written that Leslie Charteris wrote Patricia to portray his ideal of the perfect male/female relationship, and while that aspect isn't quite as apparent, there are similarities:
Both Pat and Fiona are strong women who are equal to the tasks that face their male counterparts.
Simon Templar and Michael Westen avoid commitment due to job dangers.
The dialog between the two has affection, humor, and intelligence.
Both Simon and Michael trust their girlfriends to do even the most dangerous jobs without hesitation.
Watch the interaction between the two on Burn Notice; it compares favorably to how Simon Templar and Patricia Holm might act together in this current day and age.
All in all, if there is to be a Patricia Holm in the forthcoming TV series of The Saint, it would be great if the dialog was as sharp as the writing on Burn Notice!
Occasionally, and for no reasonable reason, there is groundswell of interest in a particular random topic. Such is the case this week with The Wild Geese, a movie starring Saint Roger Moore in 1978. Amazon's review explains that, "Mixing action, humor, sentiment, and even a few righteous moral convictions, The Wild Geese is good, rousing fun."
Released theatrically 29 years ago in 1978 (even though the 2005 DVD release was promoted as the "30th Anniversary Edition"), The Wild Geese depicts the adventures of a group of British mercenaries hired by a shady multinational corporation to free the benevolent leader of an African nation held captive by a ruthless dictator. Led by the caustic, no-nonsense Col. Allen Faulkner (played by Richard Burton), these soldiers of fortune are all stout fellows out to earn a big payday and restore a good man to his rightful place of power.
Watch for a filming goof during the parachute jump. When they leave the plane, the soldiers are wearing helmets, but as soon as they land, in some cases even before collapsing their parachutes, they've switched to berets -- and no discarded helmets are visible on the ground.
The cast includes Richard Harris, Roger Moore, and a host of other fine veteran actors. The Wild Geese is a very enjoyable ride.
Photoshoot and trailer for German TV. Sir Roger Moore has taken part in a photoshoot and trailer for German television channel Das Vierte to promote "The Persuaders" and "The Saint" being shown on the network from 1st September 2007. The shoot took place in Monaco, where Sir Roger also gave a comprehensive interview which will be shown on the channel on 2nd September 2007. A German translation of the transcript is on the network's website. Source: MI6
To read the interview (in German) and see the 14 photos, please visit the web.de site. You can also read a very badly worded English translation of the Roger Moore interview using Google's automatic translation service.
Before Roger Moore became The Saint, he had a recurring role on the TV series, Maverick, starring either James Garner and Jack Kelly.
Now that Maverick is being re-run on TV in various countries, including Good Life in the US, watch for a young pre-Saint Roger Moore in 14 episodes from 1959 to 1961. Roger was a regular on the show beginning in 1960 (he had been in one episode, The Rivals before that), co-starring as Beauregard "Beau" Maverick, Bret and Bart Maverick’s cousin. His regular appearances were due to the fact that James Garner had left the show over a contract dispute.
Maverick was a clever show that used a lot of comedy to lighten up the action. There are many Saintly touches, in that the Maverick cousins are basically good people who will go outside the law to correct wrongs that need to be righted. The intelligent con games of outsmarting your rivals instead of beating them up will certainly appeal to Saint fans who want to see a young Roger Moore playing a Texas Templar.
Episode 80 on September 18, 1960, entitled Bundle from Britain, introduced Roger Moore as the "white sheep" of the family -- he had the misfortune of earning a medal in the Civil War, and Pappy had banished him to England for five years because no Maverick had ever been a hero.
Roger Moore was highlighted in the main feature area of the UK version of the BBC's home page today. This prime spotlight was in connection with the BBC Radio 4 show that Roger narrates, and is well worth the listen!
Leslie Charteris -- A Saintly Centennial Listen Online
Roger Moore celebrates the life of Leslie Charteris, the creator of The Saint, one of the longest-running characters in detective fiction.
BBC Radio 4 has posted a RealAudio stream of Leslie Charteris: A Saintly Centennial. The link will only be available for seven days: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/ram/tue1130.ram
You will need to download the latest RealPlayer from Real.com in order to listen to Barbra Paskin's radio tribute to Leslie Charteris as narrated by Roger Moore.
Don't forget to tune in tomorrow for Barbra Paskin's tribute to 100 years of Leslie Charteris with Roger Moore narrating. The live show is at 11:30am tomorrow, London time, with on-demand replays available for seven days after the initial broadcast.
Roger Moore, who starred as Simon Templar in the original TV series, celebrates the centenary of the birth of popular fiction writer Leslie Charteris, famous for his adventures featuring the character better known as The Saint. The programme includes rare interview footage of Charteris along with contributions from his family, actor Ian Ogilvy and Charteris biographer Ian Dickerson.
There has been some recent issues with BBC Radio 4's RealAudio play back, and during testing today, this is the message that was being displayed:
We are experiencing severe technical problems, and regret that many programmes are unavailable. We are working to restore normal service. See station websites for alternative links.
We'll keep you posted as to the lastest links and news about this great show.
Mike Reid, famous for his role as Frank Butcher on the Eastenders, and not-so-famous for being Roger Moore's stunt double on The Saint, passed away on July 29th. Look for Mike in various scenes of The Saint as the much taller Simon Templar doing the really dangerous work!
Mike Reid, 'the great storyteller' and comedian, dies at the age of 67
Mike Reid, the actor and master of the politically incorrect joke, died yesterday, aged 67.
His agent, David Hahn, told the BBC that the stand-up comic was in Marbella, Spain, where he owned a villa, when he suffered a fatal heart attack while apparently in good health.
"Mike was in fine fettle. Only a couple of weeks ago we were having dinner and Mike went to see his consultant that day, had a full medical and they gave him a clean bill of health."
Reid played Frank Butcher in the BBC soap opera EastEnders and starred in the British gangster film, Snatch. Born in Hackney, London, he began his career as a stuntman, working on films such as Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Spartacus, as well as on The Saint as a stunt double for Roger Moore.
Rising to fame on London's comedy circuit, Reid worked as a stand-up comedian in the 1960s in clubs and cruise liners. His big break came in the seventies in a popular television series, The Comedians, that consisted of short slots by mature comedians.
Reid had a daughter by his first marriage and two sons by his second wife, Shirley Collins. Last night, Mr Hahn said of Reid's wife: "Mike was her life."
The entertainer Russ Abbot said Reid was a great story-teller who had a great sense of comic timing. "There are certain comedians who do one-liners, but Mike was a story-teller and a great deliverer," he said.
Reid's close friend and fellow comedian Frank Carson, speaking in Spain, said his death was "absolutely devastating".
If you haven't seen the new TV show, Burn Notice, on USA Networks, you should take a first look. It is billed as an Action-Comedy and is very much like in the Saint in many ways. The show premiered on Thursday, June 28, and they've shown three episodes in the first season series so far.
Simon Templar vs. Michael Westen Jeffrey Donovan stars as an ex-CIA agent named Michael Westen, who like Simon Templar, is a man of strong moral beliefs working outside the law. Using his Special Ops training, whatever tools are at hand, and his sardonic humor, Michael takes on the larger mission of finding out why he got fired from the CIA and helps out a number of people along the way.
Michael Westen Michael is living every spy's worst nightmare. When a spy gets fired, he doesn't get a call from human resources and a gold watch. In Michael's case, they jeopardize his life, freeze his bank accounts, dump him in Miami, and flag him on every government list known to man. They can't take away his skills or what's in his head, so they take away his assets and his resources to make sure he can never work again. They burn him.
Now Michael has a much different mission: he must find out who issued his burn notice and why he was blacklisted so that he can put his life back together. Meanwhile, he has to fend off a suddenly hostile world of old foes gunning for him. In order to survive in Miami and fund his own personal investigation, Michael enlists the help of the only two "friends" he has: Fiona Glenanne an ex-IRA operative who also happens to be an ex-girlfriend and Sam Axe a washed-out military intelligence contact whom the feds have keeping an eye on Michael.
Patricia Holm, meet Fiona Glenanne Like The Saint's Patricia Holm, Westen has a female counterpart that is his equal with somewhat of a romantic history between them. Leslie Charteris wrote the character of Patricia as a strong female character who could jump in with both feet and do just about everything Simon Templar could do. In Burn Notice, that character is named Fiona Glenanne, played by Gabrielle Anwar. Glenanne is also like Holm in that she doesn't sit home waiting for things to happen; she does what she wants and doesn't put up with anything that she doesn't like.
Fiona Glenanne Fiona Glenanne may look like she just stepped out of a fashion magazine but she's a force to be reckoned with. She was affiliated with the IRA for 14 years, but ran afoul of her old organization because she didn't like being told what to do. She has since gone out on her own, picking up odd jobs and using her skills in explosives, lock picking, tracking, weapons, and hand-to-hand combat to make a living. Fiona is definitely a shoot first and asks questions later kind of gal. Her fearless nature is both enticing and dangerous, as she is capable of making things go "boom" very quickly. When Michael is dumped, battered and unconscious, in Miami, Fiona is called since she is still listed as his emergency contact. They were once romantically involved but that ended years before when Michael left her without an explanation. Fiona isn't used to being rejected and the end of their relationship left her with a bruised ego.
She decides to stay in Miami to help Michael, but her reasons aren't all work related. For a woman who considers a good head-butt to be foreplay, seducing men is second nature. Although Michael's reluctant to re-kindle a very complicated relationship, Fiona is a stubborn master strategist and won't stop till she gets her way.
Talking Directly to the Audience The Saint with Roger Moore was one of the first dramatic shows where the actor would talk to the camera, explaining what was going and and letting the audience in on a little inside information. Burn Notice does this in very much the humorous manner of the Saint. Just as Westen is about to be hit by a car, the scene freezes, and Westen explains something to the effect of, "if you're going to get hit by a car, there are two ways to avoid getting hurt. The first is to have the car miss you, and if that isn't an option, then jump onto the hood sideways and try to roll over the top of the car." This is very much like the way Leslie Charteris used to have Simon Templar explain things in the books: as The Saint was hitting someone over the head with a chair he would cast aside a comment similar to, "when hitting a bad guy over the head with a chair, one first needs to acquire a good solid chair."
Spy Hints The action stops from time to time, and Westen gives us, the audience, some Spy Tips. There are also Spy Tips on the Burn Notice website. This is remensicent of the tips sections of The Roger Moore Adventure Book, The Saint Annuals, and on the backs of many of the Swedish 'Helgonet' comic books.
Teal Baiting One of the sources of humor in the Saint books was Simon Templar's relationship with the bumbling Scotland Yard Inspector Teal. Leslie Charteris had The Saint refer to is as 'Teal-Baiting' and it was always a lot of fun. In Burn Notice, Michael Westen has a similar foil in the person of Sam Axe, played by Bruce Campbell.
Sam Axe Handsome with a good-natured grin, Sam Axe is a former Navy Seal, Military Intel Operative, and all-around Cold Warrior. In his prime he was point man on an array of armed conflicts the world over. He worked with Michael many times during those heady days. When Michael reconnects with him in Miami, Sam has embraced his post-espionage days by letting loose. Once, he loved the threadbare world of secret surveillance in the communist bloc, or forward recon in the touch-and-go Middle East.
Now, he has moved on to mojitos, Sugar Mommas and bikini watching in the bars and on the sands of South Beach. He's reliable and consistent, in the way that you can count on a former spy to dig up solid intel and execute missions with stealthy aplomb. Despite his predilection for rich divorcées and cocktails, he is an asset to Michael, even when he becomes an informant for the FBI. Though the Feds have Sam keeping an eye on Michael, he needs Sam's friendship, partnership, and expertise, now more than ever.
The Big Con: Saving The Damsel In Distress One of great things about The Saint is that he uses many tricks of the trade to con the bad guys and save the damsel in distress. In the most recent episode of Burn Notice, Westen finds himself trying to protect a mother and her daughter from a drug dealer who wants to kill them before they testify. The police won't help, and that is where Westen steps in. He uses a number of clever devices and tactics that the police could never use, and thus saves that day. The Saint would be proud.
The Car Of course, what would an action show be without a car. Westen's vintage black Dodge Charger wasn't introduced until the third episodes where it has been sitting in a garage ever since his father died. The Charger isn't exactly the picture of European finesse of The Saint's Volvo, but it does have a certain retro throw-back feel being a vintage car from the 1970s.
Summary Burn Notice is a clever show that lives up to its Action-Comedy moniker. The show has great humor, and a hero who can deal with the darker side of life with aplomb, wits, and style. In short, if you are looking for a intelligent show that has a Saint-like hero who works outside the law with both his brain and his brawn, then Burn Notice is for you.
I wasn’t planning to do it quite this soon but since the radio documentary’s now been scheduled I thought I’d better do something.
Yup, www.lesliecharteris.com is back online. New host—apparently spam protected (but that’s not an invitation!)—and new look. Some new content…I’m sure you’ll all be whizzing over to have a look at the short interview with Jorge Zamacona, the writer of the new Saint pilot.
I still have some work to do—I’ve temporarily killed work on the merchandise page to get the web site back up, and a couple of strange html-like boxes have appeared at the bottom of every page—but I’ll get that sorted in due course.
Burl Barer reports a few more details about the upcoming BBC Radio 4 special by Barbra Paskin on the author of The Saint, Leslie Charteris.
Leslie Charteris – A Saintly Centennial Tuesday, July 31, 2007 11:30am - 12:00noon BBC Radio 4
This year marks the centenary of the birth of popular fiction writer Leslie Charteris, best known for his many books chronicling the adventures of Simon Templar, alias The Saint. In this special programme, actor and Saint portrayer Roger Moore explores the life and legacy of Charteris and reveals a world of adventure, torment, insecurity, failed marriages and enormous success as a thriller writer.
The adventures of The Saint have appeared continuously since 1928, making Simon Templar the longest-running character in contemporary detective fiction. But there was more to Charteris's literary acuity than The Saint alone. He was fluent in several languages; he had a monthly column in the epicurial delight, Gourmet magazine; and he devised a pictorial sign language which he called "Paleneo" and wrote a book about it. He was also one of the earliest members of Mensa.
Despite his film-star looks, with a hint of exoticism, Charteris suffered from a long-standing insecurity about his appearance, arising from his mixed racial origin. In later years he dated some of Hollywood's most beautiful women, among them Marlene Dietrich and Jean Harlow.
It wasn't until 1963, when Lou Grade cast Roger Moore and filmed the first television series of The Saint, that Charteris at last felt he'd received the final seal of approbation that had eluded him for 30 years.
Among those exploring the world and psyche of Charteris are Dan Bodenheimer, who runs the official Saint website; Burl Barer, author of The History Of The Saint; and Charteris's biographer Ian Dickerson.
Saint Enterprises 314 N Robertson Blvd West Hollywood, CA 90048-2414
A greatly detailed description of his vast enterprise was written by Leslie Charteris and sent out to a large number of subscribers to his weekly newsletter.
If someone could comment below and tell us all what is there now, that would be wonderful.
From 'A Letter From The Saint', May 16, 1946:
This, then, involved an Office; because as everyone knows no business executive can execute properly without an Office. Wherefore we made ourselves heirs to a heavily mortgaged piece of real estate of sufficiently white elephant proportions to carry the gaudy howdah which we felt our new role in life demanded of us. It has been suggested to us that you might be interested in knowing what this environment is really like.
This exotic mausoleum occupies most of a short block on a Hollywood boulevard otherwise distinguished by hand laundries and hamburger stands. It is a one story building, partly because we are selling most of our spare stories, and partly because we cannot afford insurance for all the visitors who might otherwise fall or be helped down the stairs.
At one end of this building is a large barn known as the Shipping Room, which for some unaccountable reason is usually stacked to the ceiling with large quantities of Saint books which we are still waiting for various characters to buy.
Northwards of this is the main entrance, fronted by a spacious and studiously uncomfortable reception room, where writers, entrepreneurs, and general creditors endeavor to struggle past a receptionist whom we have thoughtfully protected with a sheet of bullet-proof glass. Those who are lucky or persistent enough to gain entrance to the interior, would find on their right the studio of Milt Neil, the artist already referred to, who with the help of three or four assistants turns out our book jackets and other illustrations, as well as plenty of other work of his own. This is a very convenient arrangement for us, but results in a considerable loss of man-hours when he is working on pin-up calendars with live models.
Turning your back on this temptation, you might progress to an open section known as the Slave Market, where the most beautiful girls in the world pound typewriters to perpetuate incomparable manuscripts, or adding machines to keep abreast of our incoming debts.
Opening off this Elysian backwater are a number of black doors with enormous brass handles, resembling bank vaults in every respect except the amount of money cached behind them. These portals admit to various offices occupied by the male bees, or drones, in this hive, or dive.
These are mainly paneled in redwood, fluorescently lighted, healthily ventilated, equipped with bookshelves and restful couches, and swept out once a week. In subsequent letters we may tell you more about their occupants. On this first cursory once-over, you may be informed that one of them contains two gentlemen named Cleve Cartmill and Roby Wentz, who are the mainstays of our Editorial Department, while another harbors our office manager and general panjandrum, Mr. Robert Black, whose perpetually worried expression is probably due to a congenital inability to get used to coping with visiting sheriffs.
A third vault is actually the sanctum sanctorum, or Saint's Den. This over-sized chamber, as befits the hideout of the master mind, contains more bookshelves and more books (mostly by Charteris) than any of the others. It also has a victrola equipped to play radio transcriptions, a radio with short-wave facilities to give adequate warning of police raids, and a piano which has probably been played worse than any similar instrument in the country. Through this Grand Central station passes more busy traffic than any other section of the building, except one.
This section is fortunately next door to my office and is strictly a structural liability. But it always did seem to me that if anyone has to work for a living he might as well have some simple comforts with it.
This other room therefore is a bar. Not one of those converted closets, but a nice big room decorated for mental relief in South Sea island style, with straw matting on the floor, woven bamboo on the walls, and tarred fishnet draped across the ceiling, in which several petrified starfish seem to have become inextricably entangled.
In this sanctuary our braintrust and preferred visitors congregate, first thing in the morning for coffee, at noon for the first cocktails justified by the elevation of the sun across our drooping yardarms, at the end of the day for post mortems, relaxation, and more plans to be disappointed in tomorrow... and since you have let me talk myself into it, that is where I am going now, since this letter is already long enough and I have to save a few items for next week.
Barbara Peterson has created a five-page synopsis of The Fiction-Makers, one of the Saint movies starring Roger Moore as Simon Templar. This movie was orginally aired as a two-part episode in 1967. The synopsis is fully illustrated with screen-shots from the recent DVD release.
The secret organization that The Saint goes up against in The Fiction-Makers is the Secret World Order For Revenge and Destruction, also known as S.W.O.R.D.
The goal of Volcano Seven is to pay tribute to "caper" films and TV shows. The debut of Volcano Seven starts with The Fiction-Makers synopsis, and there is sure to be more to follow in the near future!
New Jersey Herald, Sunday, June 24, 2007 'The Saint' car brings man back to Franklin memories By TOM HOWELL JR. (thowell@njherald.com)
FRANKFORD — As the Robin Hood-like hero of the 1960s British television series "The Saint," Roger Moore rode a sporty white Volvo 1800 to fame and a role as James Bond.
After negotiations with an overseas owner and extensive repairs, Franklin native Bill Krzastek, 55, rode that Volvo to the Chatterbox at Ross's Corner last weekend.
"I'm very surprised to see it here," said John Smith, of Hampton, marvelling at the car's gleaming white body and shiny chrome. "It's perfect, ya know?"
Adapted from novels written by Leslie Charteris from 1928 to 1963, "The Saint" TV series ran from 1962 to 1969.
Moore played Simon Templar, the show's namesake whose initials "ST" appear on the license plate of Krzastek's keepsake vehicle.
Templar was a crusader who worked within or outside the law to root out crooks and corruption. His fast Volvo was unique and pure, and the Swedish auto manufacturer never made another "enthusiast-driven" car, Krzastek said.
"It put Volvo on the map worldwide," he said. "All of a sudden, every week, here was Roger Moore streaking across the screen with this white, sleek sports car."
The car was built and first used in 1967. Earlier versions of the model were made in Britain, because Volvo did not have the capacity to build it in Sweden, according to Krzastek.
But the company built a new factory in Sweden in 1963, and an "S" at the rear of Krzastek's car indicates its country of origin. Besides acting, Moore was the original owner of the car, according to logs known as a "green book."
Krzastek grew up in Sussex County and graduated from Franklin High School, but now resides in Waynesboro, Va., where he teaches high school math.
"The Saint" series allowed him to bond with his father, Mathew, when the show ran in the 1960s. Mathew Krzastek suffered a stroke in 1975, retired from the Franklin Post Office, and always had a request for his son when he visited Virginia during the 1980s.
"He'd say, 'Hey Bill, you got any Saints episodes?'" Krzastek recalled. His father passed away in 1993.
Nostalgia and an affinity for stylish cars set Krzastek on a mission to rescue The Saint's Volvo from a British museum owner's storage facility.
"It was literally rotting in his warehouse," Krzastek said.
Krzastek talked the previous owner down from $75,000 to $54,000 after an independent assessment, but the restoration cost an estimated $25,000.
The car had to be stripped down to bare metal in some interior parts, and the doors' rocker panels and the body's nose panel were replaced due to rust. The process was called a rotisserie restoration, because the car was placed on its side in a way that lets it turn.
Two British television stations, the BBC and ITV, filmed segments on the car's restoration.
"I thought it was quite the grand project," said Dan Reder, of Wantage, Krzastek's boyhood friend.
Another high school friend, Joe Prtorich, of Frankford, marveled at the car and the scope of the restoration.
"You've got to trust someone half the world away to take this apart and put it back together," he said.
Once complete, the car was shipped in a crate from England and made the rounds at car shows throughout North America. Stops have included the Carlisle Import Festival in Pennsylvania and a recent auto extravaganza in London, Ontario, Canada.
"It's been in both Londons now," Krzastek said. "All of a sudden, folks have been really excited about seeing (the car)," Krzastek said.
The Franklin native heard about the Chatterbox's classic car night and decided to check it out.
"I said, 'Holy smokes!' The place was full of cars," Krzastek recalled.
The Volvo's steering wheel is on the right side, which is customary for a British vehicle. Krzastek said he does not need a special permit to drive it, and post office work in his youth prepared him for driving in the configuration.
It's great for picking up mail, but terrible at drive-thrus, Krzastek joked.
The Wanderers Car Club, which hosts cruise night at the Chatterbox, were thrilled to have a celebrity car in the lot on Saturday.
"I thought it would be a real attraction for everyone," Wanderers' member Sandy Mazza said. "Who doesn't remember 'The Saint'?"
Classic cars such Krzastek's harken back to a generation when new car models were released amid "a lot of hooplah" and anticipation.
"Today they all look alike," she said.
Chatterbox owner Don Hall said it was nice to pull back a memory through the gleaming white Volvo.
The Lipstick Chronicles (where the Book Tarts talk love, laughter, laundry and the mysteries of writing life) has just published a nice essay by William Simon on Black and White Heroes that has provoked a lot of excitement and response. The basic premise is that in the days of old, heroes were heroes and you could tell them from the bad guys without too much effort. Nowadays, in an effort to be dark and realistic, all the good guys are much darker shades of grey and not that much different than the evil that they are fighting.
This will be a bigger issue when the Saint returns to TV in the near future on TNT. How will a modern-day Saint still retain the gentleman touch and yet still be able to relate to the new darker side of the underworld with the good humor and aplomb we have come to know and love?
William's essay ends with:
Back to the point, look around today and we have no heroes on television. We have sociopathic psychos with badges who ram guns down people's throats and yell "Suck THIS, pal!", and they are usually some sort of recovering addict, be it alcohol/drugs, sex, or gambling. We have characters who kill as easily as they sneeze. Stealing is perfectly acceptable, as long as no one gets caught. No damsel needs rescuing, and if she does it's usually a setup to try and kill the protagonist. It is entertaining for him to slap/hit/threaten her, usually while screaming her marked resemblance to a female canine at the top of his lungs. Lie, cheat, steal, hurt, no matter; it's okay, the end justifies the means. Results are what count, not the methods to achieve them, and if you don't believe that, take a close look at the Business World today.
Heroes should be above the crowd; polished but not effete, superior but not snide, capable but not arrogant, strong but not uncaring.
Special.
Today, we have no Bogart, or Gable, or Cooper. We don't have a Gardner, a Bacall, a Hepburn.
The Saint by Leslie Charteris was published in Japan as セイント by レスリー・チャータリス.
The book pictured here is a 1966 Japanese (Kanji) edition of Nazo no kaito Saint of which the original English title is unknown. The cover artwork of this particular edition is fairly reminiscent of the Dutch editions that were done by Dick Bruna around the same time.
Much like Volvo did with The Saint movie in 1997 with Val Kilmer, Volvo continues to use movies as a cross-promotional vehicle for their advertising team. This time, in a movie-tie-in with Pirates of the Caribean, Volvo hired a deep sea exploration company to retrieve a treasure chest filled with $50,000 in gold doubloons and a key to a new Volvo. The funny thing is, the deep sea company found a real treasure worth $500 million, and now that the Spanish government has gotten involved this simple contest has become horribly complicated. So complicated that perhaps only The Saint could solve the case, and bring the treasure up to the rightful owner? The Pirate Saint, Saint Overboard, anyone?
Controversy Sparked by $500 Million Real-Life Treasure Find Adds New Mystery and Intrigue to Final Leg of Volvo's Online Hunt
(IRVINE, Calif.) June 22, 2007-In a twist worthy of any great pirate story, Volvo Car Corporation today upped anchor--at least temporarily--on the last crucial leg of its global online treasure hunt: the retrieval of a prize treasure chest filled with $50,000 in gold and a key to a new Volvo from the sea floor. The retrieval of the chest will hang in the balance until controversy dies down over the discovery of real life treasure by Volvo's Hunt partner, Odyssey Marine Exploration.
Earlier this year, Volvo selected Odyssey, the world leader in deep-ocean shipwreck exploration, to sink a treasure chest with one goal: to create an authentic, exciting treasure hunt to promote Disney's 'Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.' Veiled in secrecy, Odyssey scouted locations in the Western Mediterranean, finally zeroing in on a perfect spot off the coast of Gibraltar. They had planned to take the winner of The Hunt, 23-year-old Alena Zvereva from Ekaterinburg, Russia, out to retrieve the treasure from its secret location when the operation hit an unprecedented snag: Odyssey found real treasure. And a media storm ensued.
"We thought sinking a real treasure chest, filled with $50,000 in gold doubloons and a key to a new Volvo, and creating a global treasure hunt for 22 markets was challenging," said Linda Gangeri, national advertising manager, Volvo Cars of North America. "But that was, quite literally, a drop in the ocean compared to the storm our attempted retrieval process has stirred up."
While thousands of would-be treasure hunters from around the globe battled it out to find Volvo's prize booty, Odyssey struck gold and silver of their own in the Atlantic Ocean with the discovery of an estimated $500 million in coins from a deep ocean site the company has now code-named the 'Black Swan.'
As soon as the discovery was made public, having been spotted depositing Volvo's treasure in an entirely different area, questions started circulating as to the real provenance of the 'Black Swan.' Was it a Spanish shipwreck? Had Odyssey been working on shipwrecks in Spanish waters? Unable to reveal the exact location of the 'Black Swan,' in the Atlantic Ocean because of obvious security reasons, and under a non-disclosure agreement with Volvo to protect the location of its treasure chest, Odyssey found itself in the eye of a media storm that has yet to abate. Reports have been widely circulated that a court in the Spanish coastal town of La Linea has issued an order for the Spanish Guardia Civil to detain any Odyssey vessel should it leave the port of Gibraltar, putting Volvo's retrieval plans on hold.
"When we discovered the 'Black Swan,' international interest in the find was amazing," said Greg Stemm, real-life shipwreck explorer and co-founder of Odyssey. "Even though we have been very clear that it's in the Atlantic Ocean, outside any country's territorial waters, when Spanish authorities saw that we'd been out near Gibraltar in March, some unfortunately jumped to the wrong conclusion. Until very recently, we were contractually bound not to reveal our arrangement with Volvo, so without a real explanation of why we had deep-sea exploration equipment out there, it's easy to see how imaginations could run wild."
Whatever happens, Zvereva will receive $50,000 and a new Volvo XC70. Volvo, however, is not giving up on its retrieval plans yet and is committed to exploring every avenue possible to reclaim the chest from its watery depths.
"We wanted an adventure, and we certainly got one," said Gangeri. "Real-life shipwreck exploration is uncharted waters for us, and Odyssey did warn us that you never know what will happen out on the high seas. They have been an excellent partner throughout all this, and they helped make this contest one of the most authentic, exciting promotions of the year. Now, pirate story or not, we're putting everything we have toward raising a thrilling--and happy--ending."
About the Hunt The wildly popular Hunt, a month-long multi-media campaign developed as part of Volvo's promotion of the theatrical release of Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, attracted more than 32,000 online contestants from 22 markets around the world. Participants solved a series of puzzles that led to a semi-final puzzle, Puzzle 21: World's End, posted May 31. The first contestant from each country to submit the correct answer then went on to compete in one final online puzzle to decide the winner. All participating markets were represented in the final with the exception of Italy, who didn't have a participant submit a correct semi-final answer within the time limit.
Finalists were Andreas Aigner, Austria; Konstantin Popov, Bulgaria; Erin Chock, Canada; Dennis Leifheit, Germany; Cheuk Fung Leung, Hong Kong; Andreas, Indonesia; Yukio Takai, Japan; Siew Hang Teh, Malaysia; Patricia Gabriela Medrano Picon, Mexico; Liss Johansen, Norway; Aaron Joseph N. David, Philippines; Jarosaw Nowakowski, Poland; Ciprian Constantin Grosu, Romania; Alena Zvereva, Russia; Wilson Teo, Singapore; Jungtae Ahn, South Korea; Maria Qvick Faxa, Sweden; Shih-En Chen, Taiwan; Geranun Jiraboonyanon, Thailand; Karyn Burgess, United Kingdom; and Deborah LaValley, United States.
About Volvo Cars of North America Volvo has been building cars with Safety in mind for 80 years. The current 2007 model line-up of Volvo Cars includes: the award-winning S40 and its wagon counterpart the V50; the award-winning XC90; the sporty S60 sedan; the all-new S80 luxury sedan; the versatile V70 wagon and rugged XC70 (Cross Country); and the new C70 convertible with the innovative retractable hardtop.
About Odyssey Marine Exploration and "ZEUS." Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. is engaged in the exploration of deep-water shipwrecks and uses innovative methods and state-of-the-art technology to conduct extensive deep-ocean search and recovery operations around the world. The company was founded by industry pioneers John Morris and Greg Stemm. The ZEUS remotely operated vehicle (ROV) is the centerpiece of an advanced robotic archeology system. It is rated to operate at depths to 8,200 feet and is driven by eight powerful hydraulic thrusters. The system's cameras feed high-definition video signals through advanced fiberoptic telemetry to the surface.
This is a picture of a very rare Korean (Hangul) edition of The Saint. It's a VHS tape of the 1997 Val Kilmer movie.
The Saint was known as 세인트 in Korea. It is not known if any books have been published, and please comment or e-mail if you know of any. Leslie Charteris' name was translated to 레슬리 차터리스 in Korean.
The page of foreign editions of The Saint has been updated with this information, and a few newly found Japanese editions have also be added.
Ian Dickerson reports that LeslieCharteris.com is temporarily down due to another hacker spam attack much bigger than one that occurred earlier this year. His ISP is working on the issue, and Ian is taking this opportunity to update and upgrade the website. The site should be back up within a couple of weeks with new grand re-opening. We'll keep you posted.
In the meantime, you can always view past versions of LeslieCharteris.com that have archived in the Internet Wayback Machine.
From: Bill Krzastek Date: Mon, 18 Jun 2007 23:12:24 -0400 Subject: ST1's Trip To Canada Part 2
Hello to All,
Welcome to Part 2 of "ST1"s trip to Canada. While at the Fleetwood Country Cruize-In at London, Ontario, ST1 was visited by another legend, Mr. George Barris, the "King of the Kustomizers". Mr. Barris is known worldwide for the many custom, film, and TV cars he designed and built since the 1950's such as the TV Batmobile, Munsters Coach, the Ala Kart, and dozens of others. Several of Mr. Barris's creations were on display but even he was interested in seeing "ST1", the Roger Moore "Saint" Volvo.
Mr. Barris has a website where he interviews people and talks about their cars. He chose "ST1" to be part of this and in the attached photos, we see Mr. Barris interviewing me (and vice-versa) about the car. During the interview, I found out that Mr. Barris has a connection to Roger Moore: turns out that Mr. Barris built a car for Sir Roger's first Bond film "Live and Let Die" and had actually met Mr. Moore during filming. "A real gentleman" is how Mr. Barris described Sir Roger.
Also on hand was Tony Davey, restorer of "ST1" who had flown over from England for the show. Tony is seen being interviewed by Mr. Barris in one of the photos. Plus, Irv Gordon, owner of the 2+ million mile Volvo can be seen in the backround of the first photo being interviewed from the folks from Old Cars Television. Small world indeed.
I have recently found a number of new Leslie Charteris foreign language editions of The Saint, and have therefore expanded that area of this site quite substantially. Look for the new Finnish, Hungarian, Norwegian, and Portuguese editions on the main foreign language page!
Then look at the growing collection of artwork for the following languages:
From: Bill Krzastek Date: Wed, 13 Jun 2007 09:19:48 -0400 Subject: ST1's Trip To Canada Part 1
Hello to All,
What an amazing weekend in London, Ontario at Steve Plunkett's Country Cruize-In. Not only did we have a great time but over $150,000 was raised for charity. We are glad that "ST1" was chosen to help participate in this "Saintly" endeavor. While at the show, I had the opportunity to meet and greet many fans of "The Saint" and Sir Roger Moore. It always surprises me to hear that people come to the show to specifically see "ST1" when there are so many other attractions. One family had each of their 5 family members take turns behind the wheel for photos! It's nice to know that this car meant so much to so many people.
We were interviewed several times about the car and it's history but two interviews really stand out: the first was by Rick Walker of Old Autos Television. In the photos that follow, we decided it would be fun to try to recreate the original publicity photos of Sir Roger and "ST1". I posed for the boot shot then persuaded Rick to please take over for the others. As you can see, the photos definitely improved by my absence!
In Part 2, we have a very special interviewer so... "Watch for the car of The Saint, it will return".
Barbra Paskin, a British yet Hollywood-based, journalist has been commissioned by BBC Radio 4 to create a radio show celebrating the 100th year of Leslie Charteris. Barbra, who is most recently noted for her fine biography of Dudley Moore, is an excited Saint fan who has been looking forward to making a show like this for many years. As noted on LeslieCharteris.com, she's a life-long Charteris fan who grew up enraptured with Simon Templar. Her brother Simon (not actually named after Simon Templar), from earliest memory, has always called himself 'ST' and signs all his personal letters with a stick symbol and a halo.
The 30-minute show is in production at the moment and will feature contributions from such notables as Roger Moore, Ian Ogilvy, Patricia Charteris, Dan Bodenheimer, Ian Dickerson, and Burl Barer. More details, including a broadcast date and time, will be posted here as and when we know them.
Steve Chaput has posted an interesting essay about The Saint on Old Time Radio.
Steve's blog, Skot's Shack, is devoted to all the things that are fun to talk about: Old Time Radio, classic television, westerns, comic strips, and comic books.
Book and Magazine Collector's June 2007 issue features, "Leslie Charteris: 100 Years of The Creator of The Saint."
The long 13-page article was written by Norman Wright, begins on page 36 of the issue. The article discusses Charteris' creation of the Saint and is printed in full color with some marvelous illustrations of Roger Moore, George Sanders, Vincent Price, Ian Ogilvy, Louis Hayward, magazine appearances, various dustjackets, and paperback editions.
A three-page annotated bibliography of the British editions is included, along with some current pricing guidelines within the UK; the highest price is, of course, for a British first Ward Lock edition of Meet The Tiger with dustjacket, at over £3000+ ($6000+)!
The issue went on sale May 10, 2007.
While thanking Book and Magazine Collector for doing a piece on The Saint and Leslie Charteris, Ian Dickerson has also posted a number of factual content errors to the news page of LeslieCharteris.com for you to enjoy -- see how many of them you found yourself!
From: Bill Krzastek Date: Sat, 2 Jun 2007 14:12:59 -0400 Subject: ST1 goes to Canada!
Hello to All,
This coming weekend, June 8-10, "ST1" has been invited to participate in Steve Plunkett's Fleetwood Country Cruize-In located in London, Ontario, Canada. This show attracts over 2,500 vehicles and is a world class event. This year "King of the Customizers" George Barris will be there with some of his creations. Also appearing will be Irv Gordon and his 2+ million mile Volvo and Guy Lombardo's antique boat!
Peter Noone of Herman and the Hermits will be there to entertain (so "ST1" will not be the only classic "Brit" there) as will Frankie Avalon, Fabian, and Bobby Rydell.
Proceeds from this event will benefit over 20 charities and "ST1" will be doing it's "Saintly" part to assist. Here is a link to the event: http://www.fleetwoodcountrycruizein.com/
And now for your viewing pleasure. The Star Wars Saint! This is the front cover of Gerçekleşen Düşler, a Turkish paperback edition of The Saint by Leslie Charteris. It is by far one of the strangest ones I've ever seen, as it features C3PO of Star Wars fame. What's the connection? Is there a ST3PO that we need to know more about?
Coming in at number six is The Saint's Volvo 1800 as driven by Roger Moore in the classic 1960s TV show, The Saint:
6. Volvo P1800 - The Saint Something fast, sporty and flashy was needed to match the style of the mysterious Simon Templar, first played by Roger Moore in the '60s. In the end, the Volvo P1800 was chosen over a similar Jaguar E-Type because of its sleek look and power (and, well, because Jaguar didn't want to supply one). Aside from a few cosmetic changes to the bumper, license plate and trim, the Volvo car remained unchanged during filming. Therefore, the car's elongated hood, rounded headlights and wide front grille remained unmistakable throughout the show's run.
The exotic P1800 contributed to the smoothness Moore's character exuded, as he was often seen zipping through city streets in the two-door speedster.
Cool fact: Roger Moore liked the P1800 so much that he bought one for himself.
From: Bill Krzastek Date: Wed, 23 May 2007 19:47:24 -0400 Subject: Re: ST1 News May 2007 Part 1
Hello to all,
Just wanted to let everyone know that "ST1" had a successful weekend at the Carlisle Import Festival. I met alot of "Saint" fans there as auto enthusiasts had come from as far away as Sweden to attend the event. Many photos were taken of the car and the backround exhibit. Several people told me how much this car meant to them and how happy they are to know that it still exists and has been sympathetically restored.
I was also quite surprised to learn that "ST1" was on the cover of the event magazine as well as the dash plaque and the event shirt! WOW, you can imagine how special this was! Attached is a photo of the exhibit and the magazine.
Next month, "ST1" will cross the border for a show in Canada. Stay tuned!
12th May 2007 marks the 100th anniversay of the birth of Leslie Charteris, one of our famous former pupils.
Leslie Charters was a hugely successful and popular writer from the 1930s almost to the end of the twentieth century. He is often credited with inspiring Ian Fleming in the creation of James Bond.
Born Leslie Charles Bowyer-Yin to a Chinese father and an English mother. His father was a physician who claimed to be able to trace his lineage back to the emperors of the Shang Dynasty. Hebecame interested in writing at an early age, at one point creating his own magazine with articles, short stories, poetry, editorials, serials, and even a comic strip.
Of course, he is best known for his creation of Simon Templar, "The Saint" who appeared in almost one hundred novels and the well-know TV series of the 1960s, and 70s. Played most famously by Roger Moore, Simon Templar is known as the Saint because of his initials (ST), and also because of his heroic adventures that fly in the face of an otherwise dubious reputation, giving him the reputation of a type of "Robin Hood" who uses questionable methods to "right wrongs".
Templar uses a number of aliases, often using the initials S.T. and often leaves a card behind showing a stick-man drawing of a man with a halo, which is the logo of both the books and TV series.
In order for me to give you an line-by-line translation, I'd have to download the clip again, and I don't have time to do that right now.
In general, the interview was pretty typical and covered pretty familiar ground. The interviewer wanted to know how Leslie came up with Simon's name (he tried some options and picked the best one), what his writing method was (insert paper into the typewriter and start with the first line), was he happy with the Hollywood movies (no, but there were French ones being considered) and a few other related topics. Of course there was the obligatory "I'm sorry, but my French isn't very good," line from Leslie which the interviewer quickly discounted.
I'm sure people who are more fluent or who watch with purpose of translating the clip will be along shortly to do a much better job of providing you with a better, fuller and more complete translation, but I hope that gives you a sense of the interview.
Perhaps someone can comment below with a better translation?
Happy 100th Birthday to Leslie Charters: the creator of Simon Templar, alias The Saint!
Leslie Charteris was born in Singapore 100 years ago today on May 12, 1907 as Leslie Charles Bowyer Yin. Leslie legally changed his name by deed-poll to Leslie Charteris in 1926. He died in Windsor, England on April 15, 1993 at age 85.
Sue Evans, the Press and Marketing Officer at the Watford Palace Theatre, thought that the readers of The Saint and Leslie Charteris News Blog might be interested to know that Simon Dutton is about to star in a production of Blithe Spirit at Watford Palace Theatre.
Blithe Spirit is a 1941 comedy, written by Noël Coward, and plays from May 24th to June 16th with Simon Dutton.
Perfect entertainment for the summer.
Charles is a sceptic. He only sets up a séance as research for his latest comic novel. But inviting celebrated medium Madame Arcati into his home brings him more than he bargained for. Incredibly, the spirit of his beautiful but impossible late wife seems to want to take up residence in the marital home again. Which causes one or two problems with his current wife...
This sparkling comedy about how past relationships can come back to haunt you was written in 1941 when death was no joking matter and has become a comedy classic.
This 42 minute show is available for download in MP3 format as a PodCast and features a brief description and history of Simon Templar, The Saint, and Leslie Charteris, with descriptions of the films, movies, books, and television shows.
There is a brief interview with Dick Fiddy, author of So You're The Famous Simon Templar.
It also features the complete March 4, 1951 radio episode, What-Not What Got Hot, with Vincent Price as The Saint.
LeslieCharteris.com reports that if you wondered why you hadn't seen much of Saint Simon Dutton over the last few years, this could be why:
From a pool hall in Portobello, via a dressing room in Glasgow to the mountains of Provence. Wheels within Wheels is the journey, actor Simon Dutton took in search of Tom Simpson, a sporting hero.
A documentary made over a 4 year period. It chronicles Dutton, who, in a mid-life crisis decides to go off in the tracks of Simpson, the legendary British racing cyclist who tragically died in the 1967 Tour de France.
The film follows Dutton on what turns out to be a pilgrimage… of sorts. Along the way expect humour, pathos, shaky camera work, vintage footage, and a few facts, all backed by an eclectic musical soundtrack. Saddle up and enjoy this well oiled chain of events!
This documentary, following Simon Dutton in the tracks of the legendary racing cyclist Tom Simpson, is now available on DVD. It follows Simon Dutton on his quest as he meets up with people and places from the life of Tom Simpson.The film was shown at the 2006 cycle film season at the Riverside Studios in London to great acclaim and a positive review from London's Time Out magazine on January 25, 2006:
A big-hearted, emotionally-charged tribute to British road racing cyclist Tom Simpson, who died near the summit of Mont Ventoux during the 1967 Tour de France. Actor Dutton visits friends and family before attempting the ride up Mont Ventoux himself to pay respects at Simpson's memorial. The movie may use home movie production values but at least Dutton and co-producer Shale have been imaginative with it. Indeed, so enearingly watchable is Dutton as a presenter that he should be given his own TV series. One of the most enjoyable cycling films to date. [Derek Adams]
Mai-Kai, The Polynesian restaurant was opened on December 28, 1957 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and is grandly celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.
Leslie Charteris was a regular to the restaurant when he lived in Florida in the 1960s, and even wrote a slightly infrequent column from 1965 to 1967 called Pehea Ka Piko for the in-house magazine, Happy Talk, in return for many delicious drinks and meals "on the house" at Mai-Kai, as Charteris remarked, "which is only the best of the luau and rum-drink emporia on this coast." Charteris went on to note that, "It is a wonderful commentary on today’s economics that this kind of barter deal gives me much more satisfaction than a monetary contract which might be worth many times as much."
There is a Great forum with a large number of pictures and memories from the 50 years of Mai-Kai Happy Talk Tiki Tiki!
The Mai-Kai Restaurant, The Polynesian Restaurant 3599 N Federal Hwy Fort Lauderdale, FL 33308 (954) 563-3272
One of the French Saint films, Le Saint Mène la Danse, from 1960 has been re-released by Turner Classic Movies on DVD and VHS under the title, The Dance of Death. Leslie Charteris did not think very highly of the film, and forbid it from all English-speaking countries. The producers were able to get around this restriction by changing the title and not mentioning The Saint at all when promoted the film -- it's just a strange coincidence that one of the character's has the name Simon Templar.
Description: After he's threatened by unknown killers, a playboy millionaire enlists the help of detective Simon Templar. Things soon get even creepier when prowlers are spotted on the grounds of the playboy's mansion, a guard dog is poisoned and the chauffeur is found brutally murdered. Felix Marten and Francoise Brion star in this French entry in "The Saint" series.
Cast: Felix Marten, Francoise Brion, Jean Desailly, Clement Harari, Michele Mercier, Henri Nassiet
Google Maps has just released a My Maps feature that will allow anyone to create a custom map and publish it for the World to share. So, here's the project for someone out there: create a custom map of one of the following:
All the locations that the Saint has visited in the Saint books by Leslie Charteris.
All the locations used in filming any of the TV shows, along with screenshots of that location from the episode.
All the locations used in any of the Saint movies, again with screenshots of the scene involved.
According to Cinematical, Val Kilmer has signed on to do a sequel to the movie, Real Genius. While this isn't exactly The Return of The Saint for Val Kilmer, it was still a great movie.
According to Roger Moore, his son Geoffrey will not be playing The Saint in the upcoming TV series on TNT. The following question came up in Roger's monthly column on his website, and as you can see by his answer the casting for Simon Templar is still wide open:
QUESTION: Hello Sir Roger, Any idea how the new Saint project is coming along? Is your son still attached to it? As the Saint?
ANSWER: My son Geoffrey co-owns the rights will Bill Macdonald. He will produce, not star. It's nudging along, but like everything else in this business, it takes an age to get things going. So time, patience and determination are the watch words...
Author Burl Barer has just posted some interesting notes on his novel, Capture The Saint, on his web blog:
My original Saint novel, CAPTURE THE SAINT,is the only Saint novel in which the copyright rests with someone other than Leslie Charteris. That honor belongs to me. For that reason, television and movie producers often contact me about acquiring the rights to this singular adventure -- and then send a contract proposal that, in the fine print, give them all sorts of rights to which they are not entitled. This has happened more than three times in the past four years. The TV rights to the Saint character are currently in the hands of my buddy Bill Macdonald; Robert Evans has sequel rights to his Val Kilmer film, and RKO has remake rights to their old films. Capture the Saint, of course, is a wonderful book, written by a true genius and approved by the Estate of Leslie Charteris. The literary concept and execution of the novel (although the execution was not fatal) is that it replicates, chapter by chapter, the progression of styles used by Charteris between the 1930's and the 1950's. Actually, it begins in the style of the 1950's, then works backwards to the 30's and forward again --not in time, but in writing style. Of course, it's not a copy of Charteris' style exactly, but rather a combination of affectionate homage and occasional outright satire of Charteris' intentionally overwritten prose. He once said that this is what his readers paid for, much as Cadillac owners pay for the big fins and all that chrome. Striped of his verbosity and prolixity, he said, he was left with his skinny "fundaments" exposed. Before I wrote THE SAINT: A NOVEL (the movie tie-in) the publisher read CAPTURE THE SAINT, and said "today's readers are not sophisticated enough to get the humor. In the new novel for us, can you be less literary?" I replied, "You mean, dumb it down?" "Yeah, that's what we mean." Well, I don't think today's readers are dumb or not sophisticated enough to get my humor. However, I did alter the writing style for the novelization - more streamlined, etc. I wanted to keep Charteris' in-joke approach, but I needed a different way of pulling it off. Hence, I crammed the book with all manner of references to old Saint stories, characters, actors, titles, and even worked in the Bishop and the Actress in the first chapter.
If you want a copy of CAPTURE THE SAINT, be prepared to pay well over $100.00. They are collectors items as the first edition was limited to 600 signed and numbered copies, and the second edition (from Volvo) was only 200 copies distributed at the international test drive of their new vehicles in, I believe, 1998 or 1999. [Search ABE Books]
CAPTURE THE SAINT will be reprinted soon via The Authors Guild "Back in Print" program. And yes, movie and TV producers still call me about the rights. As Mr. Macdonald has the TV rights to the Saint character, it only makes sense to allow his company the opportunity to make a television adaptation. We will discuss this further in the near future...stay tuned and watch for the sign of the Saint...he will be back!
The saint.org website devoted to Leslie Charteris, Simon Templar, and The Saint has been up and running for almost 4200 days (more than 10 years), and the log file contains close to 21.3 million entries! Using Analog 6.0 for Macintosh, I have compiled and posted a complete statistical usage report for www.saint.org from October 18, 1995 through March 31, 2007.
I have also posted single-month reports to get better insight into the month-to-month differences and trends: 2007: Jan, Feb, Mar 2006: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec
For extra credit, please comment below on any special insights you might have into what these statistics actually mean!
For the past month it looks like that besides the main home page and the news blog, the top pages are about the The Saint on TV, The Saint's Volvo 1800, The Saint Films, and the Jensen Interceptor used in the Dutton series.
Rob Ida Concepts has created what they call the eVolvo, which is a highly modified version of a 1971 Volvo 1800E.
The eVolvo is an especially unique and stunning automobile, and showcases just how far the original Volvo body style could go with just a few subtle and tasteful modifications. If you feel the need for Swede then this is the ultimate car. Once owned by Ron Dutton (who recently traded it away for a 1961 'Vette), this coupe surely ain't no Saint! It has a 2.3L Ford Duratec engine, with a turbo charger and intercooler, backed by a 5-speed manual transmission. The reshaped body with wider quarter panels, sharpened grill with frenched headlights, flush-mount tailights, and 18" billet wheels give this street legal car an exteme look unlike any other Volvo on the road today. The down-in-the weeds stance is due to lowering springs, extra heavy sway bars, and Bilstein gas shocks -- perfect for keeping a low profile.
Surely when this car was shown at the 2004 SEMA show with Volvo of North America, people must have thought that The Saint was back! Visit RobIdaConcepts.com for a full set of high-quality photos of the eVolvo.
Turner Classic Movies (TCM) has been showing some really great detective movies every Tuesday and Wednesday this month in their 53 movie celebration called, Watching The Detectives. The movies have included, The Saint with George Sanders, The Thin Man, Dick Tracy, The Lone Wolf, Sherlock Holmes, and Philip Marlowe. This week they are showing a number of Boston Blackie films, as well as Chinatown, and the James Garner Marlowe from 1969.
This collection of whodunits follows Van Dine’s rules in highly suspenseful and entertaining fashion. Our Detective All-Stars include Sam Spade in The Maltese Falcon (1941) and Philip Marlowe in The Big Sleep (1946) — both given definitive readings by Humphrey Bogart in his best wry, burned-out style. We present four films each devoted to The Lone Wolf (all TCM premieres), Sherlock Holmes, Dick Tracy, Nancy Drew, The Saint and The Falcon — plus the TCM debut of no less than eight Boston Blackie mysteries! Among our Police Detectives are Lt. Vincent Hanna, played by Al Pacino in Heat (TCM premiere, 1995), which also stars Robert De Niro as his nemesis, a master thief who calls himself “double the worst trouble you’ve ever seen.” Perhaps the most famous of all Society Sleuths are Nick and Nora Charles (William Powell and Myrna Loy) in The Thin Man (1934), which took its title not from Powell’s character but from that of Edward Ellis, who plays the murder victim.
Amateur Detectives include the elderly British spinster Miss Jane Marple, played for the first time by the indomitably droll Margaret Rutherford in Murder She Said (1961). The actress has become so closely associated with the role that it is sometimes forgotten that the Miss Marple of the Agatha Christie novels is quite a different character — far less funny and eccentric than the jut-jawed Rutherford.
The question on everyone's mind is, who will star as Simon Templar in the new series of The Saint on TNT?
Roger Moore's son, Geoffrey Moore is co-producing the show with Producer William J. MacDonald, and while there was some initial speculation that Geoffrey might take the role on himself, it appears that they are still casting for the role.
Who will be The Saint? Who do you think would make a great Saint for 2007? Please comment below!
- Four new pages are now devoted to the French edition of LE SAINT DETECTIVE MAGAZINE which feature all 154 issues and index all the Leslie Charteris et al. stories published therein (with the same information then added to the Bibliography page), with more cover scans to come.
- It turns out that there were FOUR stories published in LSDM not collected in book form: (i) The Noble Sportsman, (ii) Le Saint et les Prospecteurs, a Michel-Tyl adaptation of a NYHT strip, (iii) Amours, Gadgets et Colonel, of which nothing is known at this time, and (iv) The Power Artist, a Fleming Lee collaboration, which was, however, later retranslated in the Livre de Poche Saint on TV collection. In particular, (ii) and (iii) are the first time these stories have come to the attention of Saint fans everywhere!
- It also turns out that the Charteris original The Uncritical Publisher was never translated after all, although there is a 1945 French-Canadian edition of The Saint Intervenes.
- Our Cover Gallery Page 7 now includes additional covers of rare 1950s Saint reprints, the Fayard "Omnibus" volumes, and the Lefrancq reprints of the mid-1990s.
- Finally, fans of French cover artist Bernad will enjoy additional cover scans of the Fayard NERO WOLFE and TOFF series.
From Bill Krzastek, owner of one of the white Volvo 1800's used in The Saint with Roger Moore:
Hello to all,
Just wanted to let everyone know that "ST1", the 1967 Volvo 1800S from "The Saint" television series has been invited back to the Carlisle Import Festival this coming May. The car will again be part of the "Invitational Display" and will be located inside Building "Y" which means you will be able to see it and take photos no matter the weather! I willl also be bringing my display items including new photographs of Sir Roger Moore with "ST1".
This really is unprecedented as this is the first time that a vehicle has been selected to be part of the "Invitational" two years in a row! Of course, we all know that "ST1" is a special automobile!
I look forward to seeing everyone at Carlisle and I have attached the online brochure of the event (which includes "ST1"!)
Best Regards, Bill Krzastek
From the Carlisle Import Kit/Replicar Nationals brochure: The focus of the import side of the show this year will be on our friends from Sweden... Volvo. Translated to English, Volvo means "I roll." This Scandinavian favorite will be coming to Carlisle in droves. The Volvo Club of America will be hosting their East Coast meet at the Import-Kit/Replicar Nationals this year. Additionally, Volvo Cars of North America is bringing six of their antique Volvos from their superb collection. They'll be bringing a 1927 Jakob, Volvo's first car; 1956 P1900 - only 67 ever built; a 1953 PV444, once owned by Colin Powell; a 1953 PV444 pickup truck; a '55 PV444 and a 1961 P210 hearse. In the spirit of the Volvo spotlight, "The Saint" car will return to Carlisle. This '67 Volvo 1800S, was originally owned by Sir Roger Moore, and driven by him on the show of the same name.
Roger Moore is Simon Templar, Collector's Box I Selected episodes from The Saint TV series starring Roger Moore are now available on DVD in Germany. The first set contains 8 discs, encoded in Region 2 format. The first set was originally released on April 21, 2006 and it has sold well enough to bring out a second set.
Studio: Koch Media Deutschland GmbH - DVD Running Time: 1170 Minutes Format: Dolby, HiFi Sound, PAL Languages: English, German Region: Region 2 Viewing Format: 4:3 Number of Disks: 8
You can buy the German DVD Set 1 from Amazon.de today.
Roger Moore is Simon Templar, Collector's Box II The second set will be released on April 27, 2007. It will contain 16 colour (2 of them never before shown in Germany - with subtitles) and 6 b/w uncut episodes.
As extras the second box set will have the documentaries, "The Saint Steps In... To Television," and "The Saint Steps In... To Colour," as well as an audio commentary for "The Ex-King of Diamonds." The total number of DVD discs in the box is 7.
Studio: Koch Media Deutschland GmbH - DVD Running Time: 900 Minutes Format: Dolby, HiFi Sound, PAL Languages: English, German Region: Region 2 Viewing Format: 4:3 Number of Disks: 7
There will only be these two DVD box sets in German, and many thanks to Martin Metzler of SimonTemplar.de for writing the booklets for both sets and informing us of these important foreign language releases.
The Saint on TV page has been updated to include a number of the original plot summaries that were supplied by ITC to publicize the Roger Moore TV series of The Saint.
Volvo Design Chief Steve Matten has not rested on his laurels after bringing the XC60 Concept into the world. Steve has been working on the next S60, and these first renderings by our neighbours Auto Motor & Sport from Sweden look very promising indeed. Perhaps even sharp enough for The Saint to drive in the new TV series on TNT? The Saint has a long tradition with Volvo, what with Roger Moore driving the Volvo P1800 and Val Kilmer's red C70 coupe!
Ian Dickerson of the Saint Club has posted an English pound note (remember them?) signed by the author (and creator of The Saint) Leslie Charteris to an auction on eBay.
This unique one pound note signed by Charteris is being sold by The Saint Club on behalf of Compass Counselling, a New Forest based charity that provides counselling services. Assuming it hits the reserve figure, all the money from this sale is going straight to charity!
With the upcoming TNT series of The Saint currently in pre-production, I suddenly have a deadline to finish the print version of The Saintly Bible -- The Exhaustive Bibliography of the Immortal Works of Leslie Charteris and his Saint Books.
To that end, I need to quickly get copies of a number of the French Saint Detective Magazines that I am missing from my collection. Please view the last section at the very end of my want list, and let me know if you can offer any assistance. I'm not reposting all the numbers here, as then I'd have to maintain my want list in two places.
Jean-Marc Lofficier has a great site dedicated to the Saint novels in French, and it is sadly missing a detailed section on The Saint Detective Magazine. UPDATE March 24: Jean-Marc has just added a new section about the magazines, and we've been working together on getting it finished.
I have already scanned eBay and ABE Books for the missing issues, and need your help in finding other sources.
Aston Martin will be procuring Volvo’s help to develop the Aston Martin Rapide 4-door sedan’s safety system. Volvo’s safety engineering expertise was also used previously on the DB9 and V8 Vantage models. Volvo will develop a stiff aluminium structure for the Aston Martin Rapide.
Lots of news last week about the new version of The Saint series that is in development for TNT. Roger Moore's son, Geoffrey Moore, has teamed up with producer William J. MacDonald to create a new series for television. Jorge Zamacona is working on the script for a 90-minute pilot, and they are getting consulting advice from such notable long-time Saints as Ian Dickerson and Burl Barer -- both who are huge fans of the Leslie Charteris books, and hopefully can exert some influence in keeping with the gentleman thief character of Simon Templar.
There is certainly some concern, as William (Bill) J. MacDonald was one of the producers (along with Robert Evans) of the Val Kilmer Saint film by Paramount back in 1997 – a movie so un-Saint-like, that Leslie Charteris’ name was removed from the credits. The Saint (1997) was a tough movie for die-hard fans as the character that they knew and loved didn’t actually show up until the end of the movie – such is the problem with “origin stories.” That said, Bill MacDonald has surrounded himself with some great Saint this time, including Roger’s son, and we are very hopeful for a clever gentleman with his own code of moral values to emerge without the need to spend any time telling the story of how Simon Templar became The Saint.
As yet, nobody has been cast as the Saint. There was some initial speculation that it might be Geoffrey Moore himself, and that option has not been completely taken off the table as they look for The Saint of 2007.
Up for auction on eBay is Director Roy (Ward) Baker's original script for the 1964 "The Saint" episode starring Roger Moore entitled "The Good Medicine". One of the guest stars in this episode is Jean Marsh. A very interesting piece of memorabilia from the show. Mr. Baker auctioned his scripts from "The Saint" a few years ago, and the seller purchased this one from Nigel Williams Rare Books in London with the intention of using it as part of an aborted book project. The seller really doesn't want to part with it, but they could use the money. The seller had originally intended to donate the script to Boston University, which houses Saint creator Leslie Charteris archives. Perhaps the new owner would consider doing this.
This script features Mr. Baker's notes and sketches for set designs, as well as the addresses of each of the principal actors. It is kept in an original brown folder with the title of the episode.
Bonhams Auction House in England had an auction of Sale 15337 - The Angels Star Collection of Film & TV Costumes on March 6th, 2007 in Knightsbridge.
Lot No: 4 was of a brown pinstripe jacket as used by Roger Moore in The Saint, 1962-1969.
Roger Moore from The Saint, 1962-1969 A brown pinstripe jacket,of wool with satin effect lining, having brown plastic buttons, labelled inside pocket "Howard Trent (inc A.R Wall & Sons), Bespoke Tailors, 213 High Street, Bromley, RAV 1778", inscribed in blue ink in an unknown hand "R.MOORE R", having further label inside inscribed "R.MOORE 1968 11th AUG"
The estimate was from £1,200 to 1,500 and it appears that it might still be available.
Happy Saint Patrick's Day! And for a little time travel excerpt from Time Magazine, around the time of St. Patrick's Day in 1948:
Gregory Peck and Whodunit Writer Leslie (The Saint) Charteris, with their wives, were safe & sound in Miami after weathering a mild (46 m.p.h.) blow. Battling through rough water in their cruiser Tonga they had to anchor offshore and radio the Coast Guard to come and get them.
Noted Saintly author, Burl Barer, has posted some interesting news about his part in the new series of The Saint on TNT. This show is really going to be great, and follow in the footsteps of Roger Moore, Ian Ogilvy, and Simon Dutton.
If I have anything to say about it, and supposedly I do, the new SAINT TV project for TNT will retain the flavor of Charteris' original.
The Roger Moore series that began in 1962 used the "glob trotting celebrity" character found in Charteris later short stories, and due to the restrictive TV codes of the time, Charteris lamented that the Saint on TV bore as much similarity to his creation as Winnie the Pooh did to Captain Blood.
Times have changed -- restrictions have relaxed. Soooo...this version of The Saint will be the more dangerous and picaresque adventurer, having way too much fun as he takes on recalcitrant and contumacious oppressors while bedding the requisite bevy of beauties -- including the mercurial and romantic Ms Patricia Holm. As all Saint fans know, Simon Templar parks his shoes in numerous international locales, but Holm is where he hangs his hat -- or halo.
Bill Macdonald asked me to serve as "consultant" to the project, and has honestly taken my suggestions to heart (and page). The show should be really cool, faithful to the character, and won't have Charteris getting what he termed Graveyard Torque from spinning in his metaphoric grave. What I like best about the project, of course, is that I'm supposedly getting paid for my wit and wisdom. As with any TV or film project - or publishing for that matter -- I will be 100% convinced when the check clears the bank. As Bill has never deceived me in the past, I trust it will all come out in the wash, even if the spin cycle makes me crazy.
TNT's development slate includes Leverage, a Mission: Impossible-like action series; Mrs. America, about a woman valiantly juggling career and family; a remake of the 1960s series The Saint; and a family drama tentatively titled A.D.
TNT is Turner Network Television, and their website is http://www.tnt.tv/
Glenn Hauman of ComicMix has news about a new TNT series in development:
The Saint? Again?
Simon Templar debuted in 1928 and Leslie Charteris continued writing about him until1960 when he began using ghosts to help him. Movies, TV, comic books, radio, pulps, slicks over and over in various countries...This is one durable dude.
My favorite Charteris story dates back to when George Sanders was playing the Saint at the RKO B-movie unit. Charteris bombarded the suits with letters insisting that they try getting Cary Grant for the part. Grant was by then an enormous international star...and he was going to do a series of B movie? Doubtful.
When Sanders left his younger and more vulnerable brother Tom took over. Fifteen years later Tom was aboard a bus taking him to a body pile where indigent alcoholics went to die. He didn't make it. He died en route.
The Saint may not be Tarzan or Superman or Sherlock Holmes...but he's certainly a creation who adapts well to each generation.
TNT has a new series in development that could be of interest to us all:
The Saint – a new one hour series based on the Leslie Chateris classic character – the famous Simon Templar. From executive producer William J. MacDonald and producer Jorge Zamacona. The Saint was featured in movies dating back to the late 1930s (starring the great George Sanders) and the British television series from the 1960s starring Roger Moore. I can hear the theme song now...
Variety reports today a bit of news that I've known for months: TNT is developing a new, TV series version of THE SAINT. The producer is William J. McDonald and even though he was involved in the horrendous movie version with Val Kilmer a few years ago, I'm told by sources in-the-know that this project will be more loyal to the character immortalized in the novels by Leslie Charteris. Jorge Zamacona (HOMICIDE, WANTED) is writing the script.
In the new Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 the search architecture has been redesigned and replaced by the Toolbar Search box, which is located to the right of the Address bar. Sites can now advertise search providers, making it much easier for users to perform searches on sites directly from the Microsoft Internet Explorer frame without first having to navigate to that site.
This change in Internet Explorer means that you can add Saint.org's new search engine (powered by Google) as a search provider by following a few easy steps.
1) The first step is to click on the magnifying glass at the upper-left hand corner, and choose the "Find More Providers..." option.
2) Fill in the gold "Create Your Own" box with a Search URL of (make sure to remove any spaces first):
Variety reports that William J. MacDonald will be producing a new series of The Saint for TNT.
Two other one-hour projects emerged in the upfront, presided over by Steve Koonin, president of Turner Entertainment Networks, and Michael Wright, senior VP of original programming for TNT and TBS: "The Saint," from the exec producer William J. McDonald ("Rome"), a remake of the 1960s British series that starred Roger Moore as a debonair international thief; and "A.D." (working title), a family drama from Angelo Pizzo and David Anspaugh ("Hoosiers," "Rudy").
TNT Boasts Oscar®, Emmy® and Golden Globe® Winners in Dynamic Original Programming Slate
Steven Bochco, Dean Devlin, THE CLOSER’s Greer Shephard and Michael M. Robin, William J. McDonald and Jorge Zamacona, Angelo Pizzo and David Anspaugh Developing New Drama Series for TNT
The network’s high-profile development slate boasts the limited series THE TALISMAN, from DreamWorks Television and executive producer Spielberg, as well as an as-yet-untitled legal drama from Bochco; LEVERAGE, a new action drama from Devlin; an untitled series from THE CLOSER executive producers Greer Shephard and Michael M. Robin, as well as Michelle Ashford; THE SAINT, an updated version of the popular 1960s series; and A.D. (working title), a new family drama.
"Our strategy with original series is to provide an environment in which the industry’s best and brightest can work and be successful," said Wright. "The roster of top talent coming to work at TNT demonstrates our commitment to providing our viewers with the very best dramatic entertainment possible."
Wright also announced that TNT is creating extensive broadband content complementing its series.
The following are TNT’s original projects slated for premiere this summer or going into production or development:
In Development
THE SAINT - One-hour drama series in development Classy, suave, debonair, charming international thief Simon Templar (AKA The Saint) makes an action-packed return in this updated version of the classic 1960s series. This series pilot comes to TNT from executive producer William J. McDonald (Rome) and producer Jorge Zamacona (Homicide: Life on the Street, Wanted).
Turner Network Television (TNT), television’s destination for drama and one of cable’s top-rated networks, offers original movies and series, including the acclaimed detective drama The Closer, starring Golden Globe winner Kyra Sedgwick; Saving Grace, a bold new drama starring Oscar winner Holly Hunter; Heartland, a powerful medical drama with Treat Williams and Kari Matchett; and this summer’s eagerly anticipated television event The Company, executive-produced by Ridley Scott and starring Chris O’Donnell, Michael Keaton and Alfred Molina. TNT is also home to powerful one-hour dramas, such as Without a Trace, Law & Order, Las Vegas, Cold Case, ER, Charmed and Judging Amy; broadcast premiere movies; compelling prime-time specials, such as the Screen Actors Guild Awards; and championship sports coverage, including NASCAR and the NBA. TNT is also available in high-definition.
Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner company, is a major producer of news and entertainment product around the world and the leading provider of programming to the cable industry.
The Saint's website has been up since 1997, and has been publishing and using the same e-mail address since that time. Therefore, we recieve a lot of e-mail spam telling us how we could "Make Money Fast", "Go Big", and make a fortune handling a banking transaction for a large number of dead general's widow. So much, if fact, that we had to route all our incoming mail to Postini a few years ago in order to handle it all.
Additionally, about a year ago we removed all instances of our e-mail address from anyplace we could find it on this site and other sites. Only one problem: now people can't contact us! So, the e-mail address is back again -- this time as a graphic. Hopefully that will help?
Please e-mail any current news and rumors about The Saint to:
And no, this doesn't have anything to do with SPAM, the tasty canned precooked meat product made by the Hormel Foods Corporation.
Bookride has some interesting information about a rare book of poetry by Val Kilmer, star of the 1997 Paramount movie, The Saint. The book, entitled, My Edens After Burns, was published by Blue Feather Press of Wildomar, California in 1987 (ISBN 0932482201). Apparently the book is so rare, that currently there is only one available on ABE Books, and it's priced at £3989.91!
This evening Turner Classic Movies is showing a number of The Lone Wolf movies, starring Warren William. One of the classics being shown is The Lone Wolf Strikes from 1940. These movies are based on a series of books by Louis Joseph Vance, and some have said that they were in part an inspiration to Leslie Charteris for his Saint books. Vance's books feature Michael Lanyard, alias The Lone Wolf, as a charming gentleman rogue who was trained to be a jewel thief by a mysterious Irishman named Bourke. As with The Saint, The Lone Wolf also has a weakness for robbing from the rich and giving to the damsel in distress, all the while keeping a percentage to maintain his fine lifestyle.
Another interesting tie-in between The Lone Wolf and The Saint is that Louis Hayward played The Lone Wolf in seven TV episodes between 1954 and 1955, just one year after he starred as Simon Templar in The Saint's Girl Friday aka The Saint's Return (RKO 1953). Louis Hayward also played the title role in The Saint In New York (RKO 1938)
The Lone Wolf TV show is currently playing on GoodLife TV, with the next show airing Saturday, March 10 at 3:30AM.
The Lone Wolf is an important part of the Gentleman Thief genre, and for further information about The Lone Wolf, visit Thrilling Detective or read the novel, Alias The Lone Wolf, online for free from Project Gutenburg.
Many people are looking for "saints logo" on this site. Are they looking for the classic Fleur de Lis logo of the New Orleans Saints professional American football team? The Fleur de Lis is a symbol from the Court of Louis XIV. It is a french word that stands for "flower of the lily". The Fleur de Lis is also a symbol for New Orleans, which was adopted during the French occupation of Louisiana from 1682-1762. Traditionally, it has been used to represent French royalty, and in that sense, it is said to signify perfection, light and life.
Or perhaps they are looking for the Southampton Saints British football club's logo? Back in 2002, the Southampton Saints Football Club launched an anti-racism campaign using The Saint's logo by permission from the Estate of Leslie Charteris.
Or perhaps they really are looking for the famous Saint stickman logo that Simon Templar, alias The Saint, used as a calling card in many of the adventures written by Leslie Charteris. In this case, Simon Templar.co.uk has a brief illustrated history of some of the various styles, adventures and artists humour of the famous Saint logo collected from books, film and other publications. Visit their Stickman Gallery for a great show of The Saint's logo through the years.
The current owner of a certain Jaguar XJ-S, registration no. PWK 530R, has been in touch with us to let us know that he owns the car and that he has plans to restore it to its former glory.
This is splendid news, for this is the primary car that was used in the making of Return of the Saint and although for many years it was owned by Saint fan (and Saint Club member) Alisdair Stewart we lost track of it when it was sold in the early 21st Century.
The current owner has promised us more pictures so keep checking www.lesliecharteris.com to see what happens to this classic car.
For more information about The Return of The Saint's Jaguar XJ-S, as driven by Ian Ogilvy, please visit The Saint's Jaguar page.
Gorilla Sushi is holding Roger Moore to account for the death of fashionable men's hats.
I've been watching the 007 marathon they had on Starz ("007 in '07"), and the thing that strikes me most from the earlier episodes (most notably the opening gunshot scene), and I realized that the hat in the opening gunshot barrel vanished when Roger Moore took over as Bond.
So I'm blaming Roger Moore's term as James Bond, and his dislike for hats (he never wore a hat as The Saint, either) for killing the entire hat industry.
Be a true Saint and send flowers in honor of Saint Valentine!
Saint Valentine's Day or Valentine's Day is on February 14. It is the traditional day on which lovers express their love for each other; sending Valentine's cards, candy, or donations to charities, often anonymously. It is very common to present flowers on Valentine's Day. The holiday is named after two men, both Christian martyrs named Valentine. The day became associated with romantic love in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished.
The day is most closely associated with the mutual exchange of love notes in the form of "valentines". Modern Valentine symbols include the heart-shaped outline and the figure of the winged Cupid. Since the 19th century, handwritten notes have largely given way to mass-produced greeting cards.
In the second half of the 20th century, the practice of exchanging cards was extended to all manners of gifts in the United States, usually from a man to a woman. Such gifts typically include roses and chocolates.
The South Coast Today of Southern Massachusetts published on February 7 has a good article about how Volvo's connection with The Saint has been good for their business.
The response to the announcement of James Purefoy as the new Saint has been extremely positive with growing excitement -- there are many more happy Saint fans than when the Val Kilmer movie was shaping up. This choice has been really well done. Genius!
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. For now, you'll just have to watch 
starring Ian Ogilvy as The Saint is now available on DVD (region 2)!
