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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Friday, December 22, 2006
The Saint in London
A nice collection of Saints were in London recently, where on December 7th, 2006, we had Robert S. Baker, Ian Ogilvy, Malcolm J. Christopher, Dan Bodenheimer, Ian Dickerson, and John Goldsmith all in the same DVD recording studio. The team at Network DVD is putting the final touches on the upcoming Return of The Saint DVD box set, and it is looking like a true winner with a number of great extras to look forward to watching.
Of course, during my stay I had to make a quick detour to the Sherlock Holmes museum on Baker Street. Not only is Sherlock Holmes great reading in his own right, Leslie Charteris actually co-authored a number of the Sherlock Holmes radio shows in 1944 and 1945 under the name Bruce Taylor, writing with Denis Green.
Val Kilmer wore a stainless steel Bulgari Chronograph watch in The Saint movie that was released by Paramount in 1997. For the occassion, Bulgari created 100 limited edition versions of their Chronograph for the movie. One of those watches is now available on eBay for a Buy It Now price of $4799.00
In the movie the watch plays a crucial role, as Simon Templar trades a Bvlgari Platinum Rattrapante Chronograph for his life at one point. There are some other product placements in the movie: Volvo and Nokia to name a couple.
Bvlgari "THE SAINT" Special Edition Chronograph, details:
36mm stainless steel case
Quartz (battery operated) movement with date indication and chronograph ability
Gorgeous black dial with silver sub dials
Full size all stainless Bvlagri "hinged" bracelet with hidden folding deployment buckle
This model is not available and may never be seen again as there are so few of them around
Very rare and collectable
Released in only 100 individually numbered pieces - this is number 49/100
Here are some search links for the current item and to search for similar items in the future:
For those of you wondering what kind of an actor Roger Moore's son Geoffrey will be, see if you can get your hands on a copy of Fire, Ice, and Dynamite. This movie starred both Roger Moore and Geoffrey Moore. I haven't actually viewed the film myself, and I'm looking to hear from the Saint fans out there about what they think about the chances that Geoffrey might take on the role of The Saint in 2007.
Jason MacIsaac has written an extensive review and plot synopsis that truly defies explanation. It's part of his site dedicated to Jabootu, the muse of bad movie creativity. There are a great number of screenshots and a complete description and review of Fire, Ice, and Dynamite.
Star Car Hire has an entire fleet of famous replica TV & Movie vehicles based throughout the UK & Ireland that are guaranteed to put you or your company in the spotlight.
The Saint television show, starring Roger Moore and his Saintly white Volvo P1800, was a big hit in the 1960s. Now you can hire this stunning replica in the UK and relive those 60s memories. The car is located in South East England, and please call 0845 017 5017 for a quote or visit their About Us page for more information.
If you own a Star Car and would like to get listed on starcarhire.co.uk please email them at info@starcarhire.co.uk
Last month Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes exchanged wedding vows at the 15th-century Odescalchi castle in the lakeside Italian town of Racciano. According to Malcolm Christopher, this same castle was used in the 1970s as a location for The Return of the Saint episode, "The Village That Sold Its Soul" starring Ian Ogilvy. Malcolm J. Christopher was the Locations Manager on The Return of The Saint, and look for some great commentary from him on the forthcoming DVD set coming to the UK in 2007.
I scored 10/10 with 100 total points. Sadly, the average score for this quiz is only 6/10. The hardest question, with only a 26% correct rate is "What was the title of the first "Saint" book?"
I have been collecting The Saint books by Leslie Charteris for more than 20 years now and amazingly enough there are still missing items from my collection! Please take a look at my want list and let me know if you have a source for any of the items listed there. I am especially eager to get the last remaining Severn House edition with Ian Ogilvy on the cover. Thank you and please e-mail me at "saint" as this domain (@saint.org).
The best bit of news for me this year and for many other Saint Volvo fans was the unexpected release of the 1/18 scale Volvo 1800S coupe in white/cream by Revell during November. It's a model us Volvo fans have been waiting for, for a very long time, so it came as a bit of a surprise to me that Revell beat everyone to release it. If you haven't ordered one then pop along to Suffolk Die-Cast Models who are stocking it at their website and on ebay, they do overseas orders as well as the UK mainland plus they are a trusted website.
The people who run Suffolk Models namely Mark and Caroline are nice and friendly and will help you with your orders, so give them a try before using other retailers--you can also phone their shop sales if you feel uneasy about ordering over the net. The Volvo model is made of metal and both doors open; also the bonnet comes in white/cream or red, and I have a feeling its going to sell a lot of the white/cream version quickly. Don't be fooled by the low price of £19.99 as it's a really good detailed model and many of us would have paid a lot more for this.
The model is based on the rare B20 version of the Volvo 1800S of which only 1,693 were produced between Aug 1968 and Aug 1969. There is a B20 emblem on the front grill, and from the details in the engine compartment you can see the dual Stromberg carburetor set-up with the large single air filter. The next year, Volvo moved to the 1800E with electronic fuel injection.
Revell 1:18 scale diecast Volvo 1800S in cream/white
The saint.org website devoted to Leslie Charteris, Simon Templar, and The Saint has been up and running for over 4050 days (more than 10 years), and the log file contains almost 20.1 million entries! Using Analog 6.0 for Macintosh, I have compiled and posted a complete statistical usage report for www.saint.org through November 30, 2006.
A complete display box of The Saint collectors cards from 1966 sold recently on eBay for $1275. These cards were made by Somportex in Denmark and sold mainly in Great Britain. These display boxes with Roger Moore on the cover are very rare, and it's even harder to find them full of unopened packages of the cards! Congratulations goes out to the winner of this fine item. I don't think I've ever seen the "prizes paper" that was included as part of the winning bid.
Television Heaven has a great article entitled, Baker and Berman: A Saintly Combination within their Saint section that is well worth reading. It covers the great partnership between Robert S. Baker and Monty Berman on the production of The Saint TV series starring Roger Moore.
The link to The Saint came by way of John Paddy Carstairs, who directed the filming of The Saint in London in 1939. Carstairs eventually became very friendly with Leslie Charteris and years later it was he who suggested the idea of a TV series to Robert S. Baker and Monty Berman.
My first Volvo was a white 1964 Volvo 1800S that I sold to a chap in Norway in 1996. I have updated My First Volvo page to add more pictures, details, and history about this beautiful car.
It currently lives in Norway, and is being well taken care of by its current owner. I have also included a couple of photos that he sent to me in 2004.
eBay has been the consistant best source for buying Saint items worldwide for a long time. To make it easier to find and bid on the latest new Saint items on eBay I have created an eBay Saint RSS feed. This feed searches for all items that have the words The Saint or Le Saint and also have at least one mention of Roger Moore, Ian Ogilvy, Leslie Charteris, George Sanders, or the Volvo 1800. It also leaves out all VHS and DVD listings as they are really numerous! The listings are sorted by newest items first, so the most recent additions will always be at the top.
This can be used in a couple different ways:
You can go directly to the RSS feed and connect it to your My Yahoo, Google, or MSN Home page using the tools in the side menu of the Feedburner feed. eBay Saint RSS feed.
You can subscribe to e-mail updates via the FeedBlitz form below:
The television series, "The Return of The Saint" starring Ian Ogilvy will be released on region 2 DVD on January 29th 2007 by Network (the same company that just did the excellent Roger Moore sets. Extras, including interviews and commentary, are in the process of being produced, with further details forthcoming.
This DVD set will include all 24 episodes of The Return of the Saint.
Think of any cult/fantasy television show of the 1960s or '70s and the chances are that they were created by ITC, the company owned by legendary media tycoon Lew Grade. For the first time in one book, the incredible stories behind the making of these enduringly popular shows are told by the actors, directors and creators involved in bringing them to the small screen. Robert Sellers' stellar list of almost fifty interviewees includes such international stars as Sir Roger Moore, Tony Curtis and Robert Vaughn; legendary animators Sylvia and Gerry Anderson; Jane Henson, widow of Muppets creator Jim Henson; Oscar nominated director Franco Zeffirelli; and cult stars such as Peter Wyngarde and Ian Ogilvy. Arranged in eight chronological sections, "Cult TV: The Golden Age of ITC" contains a wealth of anecdotes and detail that will delight fans of these remarkable series and cult television in general. The book is introduced with a foreword from former "James Bond" and "The Saint" star, Sir Roger Moore and contains an afterword by Gerry Anderson.
Ian Ogilvy is looking out the driver's window of The Saint's white Jaguar XJS in the episode "The Village That Sold Its Sold" from the TV series The Return of The Saint.
The Saint's Jaguar page has been updated with more photos and details about the cars used in the production of the series.
Many thanks to David Cleary for all his time and trouble in getting this important addition accurate and full of great information.
Elstree Film and Television Studios has posted some further information and pictures about Roger Moore's plaque presentation event. Sir Roger Moore returned to Elstree Studios on Tuesday to see a plaque unveiled in his honour, 35 years after his career took off as the face of The Saint.
In an article in the China Daily, Roger Moore says the Daniel Craig is "absolutely super" in the role of James Bond in the new movie, Casino Royale. In the same article, Roger Moore hints at a remake of The Saint which might involve both Roger and his son Geoffrey Moore.
BEIJING, Nov. 2 -- Sir Roger Moore has backed the new James Bond Daniel Craig, saying he will be "absolutely super" in the role of the secret agent.
Sir Roger, who played Bond during the 1970s and 1980s, was unveiling a plaque at the Elstree film and television studios yesterday.
He said: "I am fed up with everybody attacking poor Daniel Craig, I am sure he is going to be absolutely super."
Sir Roger was unveiling the plaque to mark the six years he spent filming at Elstree when he played Simon Templar in the hit TV series The Saint.
He said: "I spent eight to nine years of my life literally working every day from crack of dawn till sunset, sometimes through the late nights. "It`s good to be back."
Sir Roger was joined by some members of the cast and crew of The Saint, and hinted there may be a remake in the pipeline, thanks to his son.
He added: "I think my son may be remaking it in the very near future and he might even give me a part."
I've been working on expanding this site's information about the various cars The Saint has driven over the years. I now have three pages about Simon Templar's automotive exploits, and I am looking for more references in the books by Leslie Charteris about the mighty and mythical Hirondel.
I have just added a page about the blue Jensen Interceptor that Simon Dutton drove in the 1989 as Simon Templar, alias The Saint, in the six made-for-TV movies. The car was a 1976 Jensen Interceptor Saloon Mark III painted Briazs Blue. After filming was completed, a Saintly plaque was added to the dashboard and the car was sold to a Doctor in England.
I am always looking for more information and details about the Saint's cars, so please look at The Saint's Volvo and The Saint's Jaguar pages as well and let me know if there are any additions or corrections.
I am using del.icio.us to bookmark various sites around the web and categorize them. By joining my network, you can help me find new bookmarks to be posted on various pages thoughout this site. For example, The Saint's Volvo Links page has bookmarks that are tagged at "volvo" while The Saint's Jaguar page's bookmark lists are all tagged "jaguar". These lists are automatically updated, and with your help can grow!
I have added a section at the end of the Saintly Sources page that automatically posts all bookmarks that have been tagged as "the.saint".
Roger Moore was honored with a plaque by the Town Council, in association with the British film Institute at Elstree film and television studios on October 31, 2006.
He joins a very distinguished list made up of Alfred Hitchcock, George Lucas, Stephen Spielberg, Vivien Leigh, Simon Cowell, Richard Todd, John Mills, Trevor Howard, Stanley Kubrick, Dame Elizabeth Taylor, Dame Margaret Rutherford, Peter Cushing, Charles Lawton, Dame Anna Neagle, Herbert Wilcox, and Alistair Sims.
Roger's official site has three pages (1, 2, 3) about the event with lots of pictures and stories. I espicially enjoyed listening to the sound clips from the event. Tony Curtis even called in and had some very nice things to say about working with Roger Moore on The Persuaders.
For all of you Saint fans out there with website or blogs of your own. Please link to this site at http://www.saint.org/ to promote the latest news about The Saint and Leslie Charteris. It's important for all those interested in Roger Moore as Simon Templar, the Volvo connection, or the Val Kilmer movie to find the latest news in a quick and timely manner!
Many thanks for your support, and remember to link today!
<a href="http://www.saint.org/">The Saint and Leslie Charteris News</a>
Due to the popularity of the information on The Saint's Volvo, I have created another page all about The Saint's Jaguar. If anyone has more pictures or information they would like to contribute to this work in progress, please e-mail 'saint' at this domain (saint.org).
The Jaguar Model Club also has a great list of all the appearances of a Jaguar in movies and TV and has the following additional information about the Jaguar XJS' role in the Return of The Saint TV series starring Ian Ogilvy:
This early prototype 1975 four-speed manual, V12 XJS was driven by Ian Ogilvy in 20 out of the 24 episodes filmed. Replaced by a second White XJS for the last four episodes after Ogilvy, burned the clutch out doing one of those famous get away starts on gravel! The original car was registered PWK 530R but had false 'ST 1' plates fitted. The car survives today and is one of the 352 rare manual versions of the Jaguar XJS.
On October 31st Sir Roger Moore unveiled a plaque at Elstree Studios to commemorate his time working there on The Saint and subsequent feature films. Keeping him company at the presentation were a number of his former colleagues who worked with him on the show such as producer Robert S. Baker, Johnny Goodman, Malcolm Christopher, Dave Prowse, June Randall, Burt Kwok and many others.
Visit the official website of Leslie Charteris to see more pictures from the event, including a few good ones of Roger signing the hood of the Saint's Volvo 1800.
Radiolovers.com is a site featuring free old time Radio shows
They offer hundreds of vintage radio shows for you to listen to online in mp3 format, all for free. Before the days of video games, shopping malls, MTV, and the Internet, families used to sit in their living room each night to listen to radio shows such as Abbott and Costello, The Saint, Superman, Groucho Marx, Bulldog Drummond, The Avenger, Gunsmoke, Sherlock Homes, The Shadow, and many others. When TV become popular in the 1950's, most of these shows went off the air, but they now live on at websites such as this one and on weekly nostalgia radio broadcasts worldwide.
This was the second episode of the short-lived series and the DLT Entertainment site describes the plot as "against the romantic backdrop of Paris, a priceless blue sapphire, once the possession of the Russian Czars, is the bait to trap a murderer and thief who mixes with the cream of high society." I'm not sure why they left out mention of the twin sisters...
Bill Cawthon has written a great article about the history of The Saint's Volvo that features a couple of nice pictures of early models.
One of the interesting things that is discussed in the article is that after Leslie Charteris sold the television rights to Producer Robert Baker and Lew Grade of ITC their first visualization of Simon Templar on TV was of Patrick McGoohan driving a Jaguar E-Type. When the producers went to Jaguar they were turned down as Jaguar felt they had enough exposure and could not keep up with the demand as it was. Therefore they ended up with the other hot car introduced at the Geneva Auto Show in March 1961 by buying one at full price from a London Volvo dealer. Luckily, as the show took off , Volvo kept the show well stocked with fresh 1800's as the years went buy. Older cars were cut apart for interior shots, crashed, and otherwise used by Roger Moore as his personal vehicle of choice.
Burl Barer reports on his blog that there is some interest in Capture The Saint in the busy offices of the Hollywood movie business. There is nothing confirmed, of course, but the fact is that Robert Evans, the famed Producer of the Val Kilmer The Saint movie in 1997 is currently reading a personally signed copy of Capture The Saint by Burl Barer.
Robert Evans, as you might remember, not only produced The Saint. He has had quite a remarkable career and is most remembered for his years on the Paramount lot during Chinatown, The Godfather, The Conversation and other heady days of the 1970s. His Wikipedia entry has a lot more detail for your reading enjoyment. A new Saint film under his belt would be a lot of fun.
Robert Evan's book, The Kid Stays in The Picture chronicles the life and times of one of Hollywood's greatest producers is also available in Audio Book and DVD formats.
I've read Capture The Saint and I think it would make an excellent movie. And keep reading Burl Barer's Blog for updated news on this subject.
Retro To Go reports that a new Saint mug personally designed by Sir Roger Moore is now available for order from Whatever It Takes. All proceeds go to charity, so not only are your doing your part, you also get a really cool retro mug of The Saint.
The charity that The Saint and Roger Moore is supported is called 21st Century Leaders, which sells high-quality "merchandise with meaning" with all profits going to help poverty and protection of the environment. Their latest batch of merchandise is mugs and Sir Roger is just one of the many famous people contributing a mug. Other notables include David Bowie, Giorgio Armani, Nicole Kidman and George Clooney.
These cult TV retro mugs are available to pre-order now for November delivery, priced at a reasonable £9.99. Please visit their product page to purchase one today.
The saint.org website devoted to Leslie Charteris, Simon Templar, and The Saint has been up and running for over 4000 days (more than 10 years), and the log file contains almost 20 million entries! Using Analog 6.0 for Macintosh, I have compiled and posted a complete statistical usage report for www.saint.org through October 31, 2006.
I have also posted a shorter version of just the last month to see what the near-term trends look like.
A Happy All Saints Day goes out to all you Saints, souls, and cherubs out there. Yesterday was Halloween, otherwise known as All Hallows Eve, or as I call it All Halo's Eve. So cheers and keep your halos on straight.
In my travels I often run into The Saint in strange places, and it's surprising the number of bars named The Saint. Probably none of them have any relation to Leslie Charteris' Simon Templar, and yet there must be some connection?
Here's a short list of a few I know of in London:
The Saint Bar and Kitchen on Rose Street near St Paul's Cathedral in London.
Saint Bar on Great Newport Street near Leicester Square in London.
Saint's Bar in The Saint Gregory Hotel near Liverpool Street in London.
I'm sure that there are others in many other cities around the world. I have heard of one in Boston, and another in Melbourne.
With thanks to FeedBlitz you can now subscribe to The Saint and Leslie Charteris blog to get updates e-mailed directly to you as they happen. You are then free to visit this site to see what Simon Templar and his trusty Volvo are up to!
Retro, an Argentinean Cable TV Channel, is broadcasting The Saint and The Persuaders on Saturday nights. Starting at 9:00 (BA,+0300), Roger Moore and Tony Curtis episodes are followed by another famous English series: The Fugitive. Only available on Cablevision and Multicanal TV Station. Viva Simon Templar!
There is news of a new movie based on The Persuaders television show which starred Roger Moore and Tony Curtis. The original Persuaders TV show was piloted in The Saint episode, "The Ex-King of Diamonds" and featured many of the same co-stars, production teams, and writers as The Saint TV show.
This new movie appears to be coming out in the summer of 2007 and will star Ben Stiller and Steve Coogan as two wealthy playboys from different backgrounds. The original series paired a Texan Oilman with a British Aristocrat. I'm not sure what updating this new Stiller/Coogan vehicle will impart.
The sad news this week that actor Peter Barkworth has passed away at age 77 sent me on surfing on an interesting wave today. Peter was most famous for his British television role of international banker Mark Telford in Telford's Change, however I remembered him from his days with ITC on such shows at The Avengers and Doctor Who. I was also pretty sure that he must have been on The Saint at least once, as there was a lot of cross-over in those heady days of the 1960’s spy shows.
In looking for the Barkworth connection to The Saint on TV, I found an absolutely remarkable site. It features every single actor who played in The Avengers, and sorts them by their connection to other TV shows. In looking at their list for The Saint, I find that Peter did not actually appear in either Return of The Saint, or the Roger Moore Saint... and thus ending my ride. Wipe out!
Thank you to all of you who have been so patient that last few months. This site has been having on-going connection issues for a while, and then on top of that the hosting server started to crash on a regular basis.
I'm happy to announce that www.saint.org is now hosted on a new, faster, and more reliable server that should serve our needs for many years to come. In addition, we have switched our ISP so that our connection to the Internet should be that much more reliable as well.
With great delight, Wesley Britton of Spy Television fame would like to announce three new articles now posted at his website:
Untold Stories of 007: Writer Ronald Payne Shares Some Secrets In the first part of my talks with writer, agent, and raconteur Ron Payne, Ron talks about his connections to 007 historian O. F. Snelling and his work to update Selling's 1964 classic Bond study; Ron's friendship with George Lazenby; and Ron's stories about so much more--like his first movie job--keeping director John Ford upright!
Untold Stories of 007 (Part II): The James Bond Curse? In Part II, Payne describes his attempts to work on an official Bond film, his trying to connect with Thunderball producer Kevin McClory, insider notes on Never Say Never Again, and some Bond might-have-beens.
Untold Stories of 007 (Part III) The Secret Script to Warhead Speaking of might-have-beens, here Ron tells the story of what was in the 1976 never produced Bond script, Warhead, written by Sean Connery, Kevin McClory, and Len Deighton.
All this is now at www.WesleyBritton.com under the "SpyWise" button, then scroll down to the "Interviews with Insiders" section.
gee bobg's blog has an interesting article about Vincent Price's public service announcements following some of the Saint radio broadcasts.
Ladies and gentlemen, poison doesn’t always come in bottles. And it isn’t always marked with the skull and crossbones of danger. Poison can take the form of words and phrases and acts: the venom of racial and religious hatred. Here in the United States, perhaps more than ever before, we must learn to recognize the poison of prejudice and to discover the antidote to its dangerous effects. Evidences of racial and religious hatred in our country place a potent weapon in the hands of our enemies, providing them with the ammunition of criticism. Moreover, group hatred menaces the entire fabric of democratic life. As for the antidote: you can fight prejudice, first by recognizing it for what it is, and second by actively accepting or rejecting people on their individual worth, and by speaking up against prejudice and for understanding. Remember, freedom and prejudice can’t exist side by side. If you choose freedom, fight prejudice.
YouTube has a number of videos related to the Saint. They have the intro's do the various shows, and a couple of trailers for the video releases. Enjoy!
You can now visit Volvo's site and give a Volvo to The Saint! As noted in Seth Godin's Blog Simon Templar won't actually get a Volvo from your deeds. The idea is just to get you thinking about who in your life deserves a Saintly Volvo. I wonder where the link to the Volvo 1800 is? How about a nice white C70 for the new TV series starring Geoffrey Moore?
This is a very young Roger Moore talking about The Saint in an early black and white television interview. This is part one of the interview in which Roger talks about The Saint.
This is part two of the interview, and features a very funny blooper at the end.
Someone's just pointed me in the direction of www.librarything.com, which is a fascinating website that allows you to catalogue your books online.
A search on Leslie Charteris shows that 67 users own 441 books by Charteris, which is an average of 6.5 books per user.
It seems that the most popular title is The Saint in New York with The Saint: Good as Gold (one of those pesky American only anthologies) bringing up the rear.
There's a loads more interesting stats you can find off this site--I suspect you to have to keep in mind that this is a cross-section of users who've taken the time to enter their collection details on the web--but what made me smile was "16 members have the book in their library. There are 44,729 books more popular."
For fans of The Saint, starring Roger Moore, who are looking for very similar TV shows to watch, check out The Baron! The Baron was written by John Creasey, and is a gentleman thief with a strong morale code just like Simon Templar. The TV show was produced by the same company as the Roger Moore series, at the same time, in the same studio, and stars many of the same actors and actresses!
This TV show is a little different than Creasey's Barron books, in that John Mannering, alias The Baron, is an American cattle baron who runs an antique store and sometimes helps out the British Secret Service -- just to make him for respectable for the 1960's television audience.
Having been unsuccessfully touted for the part of 007 by his father, it seems Roger Moore's son Geoffrey, right, is set to reprise another of his dad's top roles.
Restaurateur Geoffrey, 40, who was championed by his old man as the "ideal" successor to Pierce Brosnan before Daniel Craig landed the part, has bought the rights to cult TV series The Saint, in which his father played Simon Templar in the Sixties.
It is understood that Moore junior, who did some minor acting part in his youth, could take on the guise of Templar in the future.
Roger, 78, who has long insisted his son is "much more talented" than himself, says: "The rights have been optioned by various companies and are now with Geoffrey and his business partner. Watch this space."
Within the last week, Return of the Saint star, Ian Ogilvy has had two books published: Measle and the Slithergoul is now out in the UK from Oxford University Press, and in the US today sees the publication of Measle and the Dragodon in paperback by HarperTrophy.
Synopsis: Measle and the Slithergoul A blob of slime has broken out of the prison in which it has been kept for years. As it slithers in escape, it slurps up everything in its path. Nothing is safe. Especially not Measle Stubbs. For, the slippery stomach has gobbled up a gaggle of wrathmonks, and in doing so has ingested their dislike of Measle. Now the blob is after him. And nothing can stop it. Not Iggy Niggle. Not Nanny Flannel. Not Tinker the dog. But it has enjoyed eating them...Can Measle gulp down his fear and beat the Slitherghoul...before the Slitherghoul gulps him down?
Synopsis: Measle and the Dragodon This is the second exciting adventure story about Measle, following on from "Measle and the Wrathmonk". In this story Measle is up against not one Wrathmonk, but a whole gang of them. Measle and his dog, Tinker, also have to outwit numerous fairground creatures which come alive in a most alarming way, and the evil Dragodon and his dragon, Arcturion. Will Measle be in time to save his mum from the Dragodon's evil clutches? Can he triumph once again? The high-profile author - Ian Ogilvy is an actor best-known for his takeover of the role of the Saint from Roger Moore. It contains quirky black and white illustrations by Chris Mould that bring the story vividly to life.
In the recent season of the Mythbusters (season 3) there were two shows that featured some very familiar scenarios to fans of The Saint. In “Crimes and Myth-Demeanors part 1” the team busted all of the following movie myths while dressed in Val Kilmer black suits. Climbing through air ducts using magnets and suction cups; revealing laser alarms with powder; using Nightvision goggles to reveal laser alarms as in The Fiction-Makers; using another laser to point at the laser receiver; cutting and punching a perfect hole in glass a la Roger Moore; pressure sensor; and various Templar’ish safe-cracking techniques. The only myth that was plausible was a climbing up the outside of a 23-story building.
Episode 54: Crimes and Myth-Demeanors 1 The MythBusters put great movie heists to the test. Are Hollywood break-ins complete hocus pocus, or can you really crack the tightest security systems in the world with nothing more than tight-fitting black clothes and a great soundtrack? Adam and Jamie, with the help of a "surreptitious entry handbook," attempt to scale an air duct with hilarious results. The team then tries to tiptoe their way around a laser system before facing the mother of all safes. Premiere: July 12, 2006
Episode 59: Crimes and Myth-Demeanors 2 It's "lights, camera, action!" time again for the MythBusters, as they test more Hollywood heists. This time, our cat burglars Adam and Jamie go cold as they try to beat a heat-detecting alarm sensor. Then it's on to motion-detector alarms. They also attempt to crack a door guarded by fingerprint technology, and face a monster safe that can only be opened by — you guessed it — an underwater explosion. Premiere: Aug. 23, 2006
Wikipedia is a free encyclopedia that anyone can edit. It has grown over the years to be the largest encyclopedia in the world, and there are a few entries on Wikipedia devoted to The Saint and Leslie Charteris.
Many years ago Leslie Charteris signed a British pound note and donated it to a charity auction. I've now been asked to auction it--again for charity.
I expect to actually see the item in the next couple of weeks and will make a scan available to anyone interested but please consider this a warning, dust off your chequebooks (or checkbooks, we're not fussy!) and get ready to bid for what is a unique item of merchandise.
By clicking on one of the buttons below you can get The Saint's Blog added to your My Yahoo page, your Personalized Google Page, or your MSN Home Page. This way, you'll never miss any of the latest Saint news!
Jean-Marc Lofficier had done an incredible job on his website devoted to The Saint in French and has recently updated the site with even more great information.
You can cast your vote for this site on Starpages as one of the best sites devoted to Roger Moore. I certainly don't think we'll catch up with James Wilson's The Roger Moore Years site; I just hope to make it to number 3 on the list, right behind Roger's official site! Cheers!
I was watching Deadlier Than The Male today and it struck me that this very well could have been a Saint movie in the 1960's with Roger Moore. It was filmed at Pinewood studios during the same time period, and has that distinct feel. It also features a Volvo 1800 hiding in the background of two different scenes.
Bulldog Drummond was written by Sapper around the same time that Charteris started up The Saint. He is very much in the same genre, and is part of my suggested reading list for fans of The Saint.
Amazon USA and Amazon UK both carry extensive collections of Bulldog Drummond books, tapes, posters, and DVDs.
Here's a thought...my eldest son has recently discovered both Young James Bond and Alex Rider (he's only 7, so I'll give him a year or two before I let him discover the Saint).
Of course, I couldn't miss the opportunity to read the books either and they got me thinking. The Bond books in particular are rather splendidly written; Charlie Higson has done a superb job of taking Fleming's character to Eton and shows an excellent understanding of how to put together a Bond story.
It has been a long time in coming, and the new The Saint Radio Episodes Guide has finally been posted to this site. I have had this material in my manuscript for over 12 years, and it is finally time to make it public.
And of course you mustn't forget the UK DVD releases--the black and white episodes of the Roger Moore series are due this month, with other shows liable to appear next year--both of which include documentaries on the making of the shows.
Network DVD, the makers of the new Saint DVD's have a very fine site for their Saint collection that features many snippits and a complete listing of what is on the DVD's.
Well, there may be all sorts of new SAINT stuff in 2007 -- rumor has it that a big shot TV producer, currently helming one of the the highest rated shows in the history of the UK, may be launching a new SAINT television project. Burl Barer, Brilliant Author, intends penning more SAINT novels if publishing arrangements are finalized. In the meantime, I know Burl is researching a new true-crime book with the working title, MOM SAID KILL.
Bill Krzastek is the proud owner of a 1967 Volvo 1800S that was used in The Saint TV series with Roger Moore. He has posted a number of pictures of it, and it is beautiful. Fully restored, it does indeed look like a giant-size Corgi Saint Volvo -- he just needs to build a giant Corgi box to put next to it! The story and pictures he has posted are great to see.
Ian of OzSaint reports: Due to changing circumstances, the website for OzSaint: The Saint Club in Australia has been taken down and is not expected to return, at least in its current form. There is some chance that it may be resurrected in a different form later in 2006.
Ian and Vince would like to thank the Saintly community for visiting and for its support.
As always, whether you're in Australia or elsewhere... WATCH FOR THE SIGN OF THE SAINT!
Please comment here and let me know of anything you've heard about the Saint in the new millennium. The Saint was in books in the 1920's, on film in the 30's, radio and film and books and magazines in the 40's and 50's. Roger Moore came along in the 1960's. Ian Ogilvy covered the 70's. Simon Dutton in the 80's, and Kilmer in the 90's. What's coming up in the 00's?
Using Blogger technology I have created The Saint's Blog at www.saint.org/blog to make it easier for multiple people to post news and rumors about The Saint and to allow all the Saint fans to comment on the posts! I think this will certainly be a lot easier to maintain than the manual text editing I have been doing since 1995 -- I apparently was blogging before it was even called blogging!
I will be converting all the news and rumors from 2004, 2005, and 2006 into this new blog format, and the rest of the news from previous years will remain in it's current archive and accessible.
Many of the Saint books by Leslie Charteris are long out of print, and hard to find. The Advanced Book Exchange (ABE) is a great resource for finding those rare titles that are still missing from your collection! You can search thousands of bookstores around the world all at the same time. It is a really great site.
If you like The Saint by Leslie Charteris, there are a number of other series that you might like that are in the same genre of the modern-day Robin Hood or Gentleman Thieves. I have put together an updated list of Suggested Books about Gentleman Thieves that I think you will greatly enjoy!
The saint.org website has been up and running for almost 4000 days (over 10 years!), and the log file contains about 20 million entries! Using Analog 6.0 for Macintosh, I have compiled and posted a complete statistical usage report for www.saint.org through August 26, 2006.
As many of you have noticed, this page has not been updated in quite some time. I have a bunch of updates stacked up, and will soon post them retroactively in the correct date range that they belong. I apologize for the great delay, and would love to hear from you if you have any news or updates that should be posted. Send your news and rumors in today!
Ian Dickerson has been known to Saint fans for over two decades. Dickerson became the Honorary Secretary of the Saint Club, and a personal friend of Leslie Charteris, back when Ian was still a teenager. Author Wes Britton of Spy Television talked with Ian and posted a wonderful interview on his website.
Kilmer returning as The Saint? Vine rumor of the week has Val Kilmer reprising his role as “The Saint”. The film didn’t do that much theatrically, but apparently the studio’s happy with the returns it’s made on DVD/VHS, and has had a couple of conversations with Iceman about coming back for another. I doubt Phil Noyce will direct. Kilmer’s a big spy fan – he was wrongfully linked to “MI:3” at one point, and then some Brit spy film with Naomi Watts – so he might even be interested. I guess if he refuses, they’ll go the ‘direct-to-video’ route and cast a soap star in his place. Personally, I’d like to see Kilmer do another “Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang”. It doesn’t have to be a sequel – just something as witty, smart and, well, different. Paramount might be better served doing this "Saint" sequel for video.
The Saint 6-DVD Box Set #5 Simon Templar is THE SAINT - adored by women, feared by his adversaries and a constant thorn in the side of police forces everywhere. A smooth-talking adventurer, THE SAINT goes in where angels fear to tread. Always where the action is, he courts danger with a smile, but his charm can sometimes be a lethal weapon. His code of conduct, however, is unfailingly constant - suave, chivalrous & utterly heroic. Roger Moore returns as THE SAINT in the series that set new trends in television adventure. Produced by ITC, THE SAINT became one of the hottest action series of the decade, running 118 episodes until 1969. This special collector's edition presents the final episodes of THE SAINT in colour, including the two SAINT theatrical releases "The Fiction Makers" & "Vendetta For The Saint", complete, uncut & digitally remastered for the first time. With special features including Audio Commentaries with Sir Roger Moore, Executive Producer Robert S. Baker & Associate Producer Johnny Goodman, plus original ITC publicity, episode trailers, memorabilia & extensive photo galleries, this is the definitive edition of a cult tv classic. Special Features:
Exclusive Audio Commentaries featuring Sir Roger Moore & Executive Producer
Robert S.Baker on "The Ex-King of Diamonds"
Audio Commentary with Sir Roger Moore, Executive Producer Robert S. Baker & Associate Producer Johnny Goodman on "Vendetta For The Saint"
Insert re-print of original "Vendetta For The Saint" Publicity Brochure
Original episode trailers & Textless Material
Theatrical Trailers for "The Fiction Makers" and "Vendetta For The Saint"
Episode Introduction by Guest Star Peter Wyngarde to "The Gadic Collection"
Original Commercial Break Bumpers
Memorabillia & Original Script PDF's
Released: Tuesday, 07 March 2006 Actors: Roger Moore Audio: Dolby Digital Mono Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Fullscreen Transfer Format: 4:3 Category: Box Sets Region: 1,2,3,4,5,6 Format: DVD Year: 1966 Distributor: Shock Rating: PG Languages: English Running Time: 1150 mins
Bill Krzastek, the owner of one of the Volvo 1800s used in the Roger Moore TV series, The Saint, writes: Hello and Happy New Year to all of you. It has been a busy end of the year for "ST1". It arrived in Virginia in late September then shipped out to California for a few weeks of fun in the sun! While there, it was displayed on the Volvo stand at the Anaheim Auto Show for the unveiling of Volvo's new C70 Coupe/Convertible.
While in California, Matt Stone, executive editor of Motor Trend Classic, a new high-quality classic car magazine, borrowed "ST1" for an article and photo shoot. I just received an advance copy of the issue (January/February 2006) and it is just superb. The article is seven (7) pages with lots of photographs taken while under power through a tunnel (reminds me of the tunnel at Monaco) and still photos taken in the same warehouse where Clint Eastwood's film "Million Dollar Baby" was filmed. Please pick up a copy as you won't be disappointed. Matt also included a few period shots of "ST1" with Sir Roger Moore in the article as well as a brief history of "The Saint".
As a long time fan of “The Saint” with a deep fascination in espionage and intrigue, I find myself fantasizing about a post-modern television saintly experience. Here is what I propose. The five season year old ABC hit drama series known as “Alias” created by JJ Abrams will air its last episode in May 2006. However ABC has hinted to a possible series spin off. My concern is that such an enterprise based entirely on a show that was cancelled for poor ratings will give any spin off a snowballs chance in Hell. Since I am also a fan of Alias, I sincerely do not want that to happen. Instead I do want the storyline to develop into something greater than anyone could have ever expected.
The Alias series has a reoccurring villainous character known as Julian Sark played by David Anders. The actor was born in America, but has always spoken on the show with a British accent. His character has been often portrayed as the hired lieutenant to the diabolical masterminds. The masterminds give him there objectives and he executes their wishes precisely. His skills as a spy are phenomenal, and usually anytime where Sark is involved Alias fails to complete her mission. Fortunately, the history of Sark is still shrouded in mystery very much like the Saint. We know that he grew up in England as a supposed orphan. He has a deep respect for all cultures and fine arts. He is very intelligent. It was insinuated for a time that Sark was the legacy of the only surviving member of the Romanoff royal family. Sark eventually meets the man who is supposed to be his father, and allegedly Sark is credited with ordering his father’s assassination. Of course, you can’t take anything for granted in good shows like these. In one of this season’s final episodes, Sark is found working solo. He seems to have softened his mercurial ways, and completely redeems himself as a nefarious character by committing several selfless to the bewilderment of all Alias fans.
Is he suitable for a Saint role?
Here are some interesting links that could persuade you to see the value of the scheme.
A nice collection of Saints were in London recently, where on December 7th, 2006, we had Robert S. Baker, Ian Ogilvy, Malcolm J. Christopher, Dan Bodenheimer, Ian Dickerson, and John Goldsmith all in the same DVD recording studio. The team at Network DVD is putting the final touches on the upcoming Return of The Saint DVD box set, and it is looking like a true winner with a number of great extras to look forward to watching.
I am using del.icio.us to bookmark various sites around the web and categorize them. By joining my network, you can help me find new bookmarks to be posted on various pages thoughout this site. For example, 
, in that John Mannering, alias The Baron, is an American cattle baron who runs an antique store and sometimes helps out the British Secret Service -- just to make him for respectable for the 1960's television audience. 
is now available and highly recommended!
