The Saint in Movies and Films

1938 The Saint in New York

Adapted from the Leslie Charteris novel The Saint in New York (15-B27, 1935). Directed by Ben Holme. Produced by William Sistrom. Screenplay by Charles Kaufman and Mortimer Offner.

Starring Louis Hayward as Simon Templar, Kay Sutton as Fay Edwards, Sig Rumann as Hutch Rellin, Jonathan Hale as Inspector Fernack, and Jack Carson as Red Jenks.

1939 The Saint Strikes Back

Adapted from the Leslie Charteris novel The Saint Meets His Match (7-B36, 1931). Directed by John Farrow. Produced by Robert Sisk. Screenplay by John Twist.

Starring George Sanders as Simon Templar, Wendy Barrie as Val Travers, and Jonathan Hale as Inspector Fernack.

1939 The Saint in London

Adapted from the Leslie Charteris short story The Million Pound Day from The Saint versus Scotland Yard (8-B13, 1932). Directed by John Paddy Carstairs. Produced by William Sistrom. Screenplay by Lynn Root and Frank Fenton.

Starring George Sanders as Simon Templar, Sally Gray as Penny Parker, David Burns as Dugan, and Gordon McLeod as Inspector Teal.

1940 The Saint's Double Trouble

An original story not used in any book, Charteris didn't particularly like the film. Directed by Jack Hiveley. Produced by Cliff Reid. Screenplay by Leslie Charteris and Ben Holmes.

Starring George Sanders as Simon Templar, Helene Whitney as Anne Bitts, Jonathan Hale as Inspector Fernack, and Bela Lugosi as Partner.

1940 The Saint Takes Over

Leslie Charteris had nothing to do with the storyline for this film. Directed by Jack Hiveley. Produced by Howard Benedict. Screenplay by Lynn Root and Frank Fenton.

Starring George Sanders as Simon Templar, Wendy Barrie as Ruth, Jonathan Hale as Inspector Fernack, and Paul Guilfoyle as Pearly Gates.

1941 The Saint in Palm Springs

Palm Springs is based on an orginal story by Leslie Charteris, but the plot was so changed that the final version of the movie hasn't any of Charteris' plot intact. The photoplay that appeared in the May 19, 1941 issue of Life magazine, and the subsequent short story were written afterward, and are completely different than the movie or the orginal plot outline. Later adapted into a short story by Leslie Charteris as Palm Springs from The Saint Goes West (23-B24, 1942). Directed by Jack Hiveley. Produced by Howard Benedict. Screenplay by Leslie Charteris and Jerry Cady.

Starring George Sanders as Simon Templar, Wendy Barrie as Elna Johnson, Paul Guilfoyle as Pearly Gates, and Jonathan Hale as Inspector Fernack.

1941 The Saint's Vacation

Adapted from the Leslie Charteris novel The Saint's Getaway (9-B11, 1932). Directed by Leslie Fenton. Produced by William Sistrom. Screenplay by Leslie Charteris and Jeffry Dell.

Starring Hugh Sinclair as Simon Templar, Sally Gray as Mary Langdon, Arthur MacRae as Monty Hayward, and Gordon McLeod as Inspector Teal.

1943 The Saint Meets The Tiger

This movie was produced in 1941 by RKO Radio British Productions, but turned over to Republic for distribution. Adapted from the Leslie Charteris novel The Saint Meets The Tiger (1-B17, 1928). Directed by Paul Stein. Produced by William Sistrom. Screenplay by Leslie Arliss and Wolfgang Wilhelm.

Starring Hugh Sinclair as Simon Templar, Clifford Evans as Sidmarsh, Jean Gillie as Patrica Holmes, and Gordon McLeod as Inspector Teal.

1953 The Saint's Return
1954 The Saint's Girl Friday

Distributed in the UK by Royal Productions Exclusive Films as The Saint's Return; 73 minutes, 6583 feet. Released in the UK on October 12, 1953.

Distributed by RKO Radio Pictures in the USA as The Saint's Girl Friday; 68 minutes, 6132 feet. Released in the USA on April 15, 1954.

Directed by Seymour Friedmann. Produced by Julian Lesser and Anthony Hinds. Screenplay by Allan MacKennon.

Starring Louis Hayward as Simon Templar, Naomi Chance as Carol Denby, Sidney Taffler as Max Lennar, Diana Dors as Margie, Russell Enoch as Keith Merton, and Charles Victor as Chief Inspector Teal.

1960 Le Saint Mène La Danse
1960 The Dance of Death

Le Saint Mène La Danse (The Saint Leads the Dance) was very loosely based on the Leslie Charteris short story, Palm Springs, from The Saint Goes West (23-B24, 1942). Directed by Jacques Nahum. Screenplay by Albert Simonin and Jacques Nahum.

Starring Felix Marten as Simon Templar, and Jean Desailly as Fred Pellmann

This film was released in the US by Paramount Pictures as The Dance of Death and although the main character's name was Simon Templar, the "Saint" was never mentioned.

1966 Le Saint Prend L'Affut
1966 The Saint Against Agent 001

Le Saint Prend L'Affut translates to 'The Saint Lies in Wait' in English. This film was not distributed in any English-speaking country.

This film was distributed in Italy by Medusa Distribuzione as The Saint Against Agent 001.

Directed by Christian Jaque. Screenplay by Jean Ferry and Henri Jeanson.

Starring Jean Marais as Simon Templar, and Jess Hahn as Hoppy Uniatz

1968 The Fiction-Makers

Rewritten as a novel by Fleming Lee as The Saint and the Fiction-Makers (40-BX, 1968). Directed by Roy Baker. Produced by Robert S. Baker. Screenplay by John Kruse and Harry W. Junkin.

Starring Roger Moore as Simon Templar, Sylvia Syms as Amos Klein, Justine Lord as Galaxy Rose, and Kenneth J. Warren as Warlock.

1969 Vendetta for The Saint

Based on the Leslie Charteris novel Vendetta for The Saint (37-B41, 1964). Directed by Jim O'Connolly. Produced by Robert S. Baker. Screenplay by Harry W. Junkin.

Starring Roger Moore as Simon Templar, Ian Hendry as Allessandro Destamio, Rosemary Dexter as Gina Destamio, and Aimi Macdonald as Lilly.

1980 The Saint and the Brave Goose

The original working title was Vanishing Point. First shown on television in two parts as Collision Course: The Brave Goose, and Collision Course: The Sixth Man. Novelized by Peter Bloxsom as Salvage for The Saint (50-BX, 1983). Directed by Cyril Frankel. Produced by Robert S. Baker. Screenplay by John Kruse.

Starring Ian Ogilvy as Simon Templar, Gayle Hunnicutt as Annabel, Stratford Johns as George Duchamps, and Derren Nesbitt as Inspector Lebec. Shown as a TV movie in many counties, possibily shown in theatres in some...

1997 The Saint

Directed by Philip Noyce. Produced by Robert Evans, William Macdonald, Mace Neufeld, and David Brown. Executive Producers are Robert S. Baker and Paul Hitchcock. Screenplay by Wesley Strick.

Val Kilmer stars as Simon Templar, alias The Saint. Elisabeth Shue stars as the leading lady. Other cast members include Valery Nikolaev, Rade Serbedzija, and Evgueni Lazarev.