GREAT DETECTIVES & PEOPLE OF MYSTERY #21

THE SAINT

Simon Templar is known as the Saint because, however nefarious his schemes may be, his motives are absolutely pure.  The Saint is a modern day Robin Hood.  Like the bandit of Sherwood Forrest the Saint attempts to right injustices perpetrated against those unable to help themselves.  And also like Robin Hood, the Saint steals only from criminals and scoundrels, and there are no limits to the methods he will use to help their innocent victims.  He has broken the law so often that his constant adversary, Chief Inspector Claude Eustace Teal of Scotland Yard, is thrilled when Templar moves to New York, where he becomes the special headache of Inspector John Fernack.  But the Saint has also helped official law enforcement agencies with some of their biggest problems, wreaking his own brand of justice when legal means are impossible.

Templar, physically well-equipped for his adventurous life, is a muscular and athletic 6 feet 2 inches tall and is an expert at fighting, knife throwing, automobile racing, horseback riding, and flying.  In fact, he has almost all the skills one might need in any emergency.  His intellect is no less enviable, for he possesses a vast amount of specialized knowledge in diverse fields and is able to converse in several languages.  A spectacular dresser, he patronizes the most elegant tailors in London.  He appreciates the good life, from the best wines to the finest foods.  In a rugged, masculine sort of way, he is handsome, and women are instantly attracted to him, as he is to them - he frankly admits that his interest is not platonic.  Although he enjoys the company of many beautiful women he returns most often to Patricia Holm, who was present in his first adventure "Meet the Tiger" and many early exploits.  The Saint leaves his calling card so that his adversaries know whom they are up against.  The card bears no name, just a small stick figure with a halo above it's head.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Leslie Charteris (1907-1993) was the creator of the Saint.  He was born in Singapore, the son of an English mother and Chinese father, Dr. S. C. Yin, a physician and direct descendant of the emperors of the Shang dynasty (1766-1123 B.C.).  Charteris, whose original name was Leslie Charles Bowyer Yin, learned Chinese and Malay before he could speak English.  His education was provided largely by his parents and one year at Cambridge University.  He decided that a life of crime would be more exciting than a conventional career and he became an enthusiastic student of criminology.  He decided to try writing professionally.  He wrote his first novel during his year at Cambridge and then decided not to return to his studies after it was accepted for publication - much to the disgust of his conservative father.

Although his stories found a reasonably steady market in England, it was not a lucrative one and Charteris thus tried his hand at a variety of jobs diverse enough to satisfy even his taste for adventure.  At one time or another, he worked as a policeman, prospected for gold, drove a bus, fished for pearls, worked in a tin mine, on a rubber plantation, and in a wood distillation plant, tended bar in a country inn, was a seaman on a freighter, toured England with a carnival sideshow (his main job was to blow up balloons for dart throwers), and was a professional bridge player in a London club.

In 1926 he legally adopted the name Leslie Charteris.  About this time he published his first Saint novel "Meet the Tiger" in 1928.  His financial rewards were still meager and Charteris moved to America in 1932, becoming a naturalized citizen in 1946.  Soon after his move to the U.S. the saint books began selling in enormous quantities.  Soon there were endless reprints, paperbacks, and foreign editions.  In 1933 he was hired by Paramount as a scriptwriter.  He enjoyed life in Hollywood.  His book "Lady on a Train" (1945), a rare non-Saint novel, was filmed with Deanna Durbin.  The adventures of the Saint are told in a fast, breezy style familiar to readers of pulp magazines.  Charteris later moved to Europe, dividing his time between France and the British Isles with his fourth wife, actress Audrey Long, whom he married in 1952.  He had one daughter, Patricia Ann, from his first marriage.

1928 "Meet the Tiger"/  1930 "The Last Hero"/  1930 "Enter the Saint" (3 novelettes)/  1930 "The Avenging Saint"/  1931 "Featuring the Saint" (3 novelettes)/  1931 "Alias the Saint" (3 novelettes)/  1931 "Angels of Doom" aka "She Was a Lady"/  1931 "Wanted for Murder" (The U.S. title for "Featuring the Saint" and "Alias the Saint")/  1932 "The Saint vs. Scotland Yard"/  1932 "Getaway"/  1933 "The Saint and Mr. Teal"/  1933 "The Bright Buccaneer" (s.s.)/  1934 "The Misfortunes of Mr. Teal" (3 novelettes)/  1934 "The Saint Intervenes"/  1934 "The Saint Goes On" (3 novelettes)/  1935 "The Saint in New York" (American Magazine Sept 1934)/  1936 "Saint Overboard" (American Magazine Nov 1935)/  1937 "The Ace of Knaves" (3 novelettes)/  1937 "Thieves' Picnic"/  1938 "Prelude for War" (Cosmopolitan May 1938)/  1938 "Follow the Saint" (3 novelettes)/  1939 "The Happy Highwayman" (s.s.)/  1940 "The Saint in Miami" (Cosmopolitan Dec 1940)/  1942 "The Saint Goes West" (3 novelettes)/  1943 "The Saint Steps In" (serialized Liberty Nov 7-Dec 5, 1942)/  1944 "The Saint on Guard" (2 novelettes)/  1946 "The Saint Sees it Through" (Detective Mystery Novel Spring 1948)/  1948 "Call for the Saint" (2 novelettes)/  1948 "Saint Errant" (s.s.)/  1953 "The Saint in Europe" (s.s.)/  1955 "The Saint on the Spanish Main" (s.s.)/  1956 "The Saint Around the World" (s.s.)/  1957 "Thanks to the Saint" (s.s.)/  1958 "Senor Saint" (s.s.)/  1959 "The Saint to the Rescue" (s.s.)/  1962 "Trust the Saint" (s.s.)/  1963 "The Saint in the Sun" (s.s.)/  1964 "Vendetta for the Saint" (not by Charteris)/  1967 "The Saint on TV" (2 novelettes from teleplays)/  1968 "The Saint Returns" (2 novelettes from teleplays)/  1968 "The Saint and the Fiction Makers" (teleplay)/  1969 "The Saint Abroad" (2 teleplays)/  1970 "The Saint and the People Importers" (teleplay)/  1970 "The Saint in Pursuit" (not by Charteris)/  1974 "Catch the Saint" (2 novelettes from teleplays)/  1983 "Salvage for the Saint" (teleplay).

All of the novelettes that were based on teleplays from the successful TV series starring Roger Moore had final revisions by Charteris.  The teleplays were most often written by Norman Walker and Fleming Lee.  Beginning in the Spring of 1953 The Saint Detective Magazine began publication as a digest-sized periodical with a new short story by Charteris in every issue - which accounts for the many short story collections in book form throughout the 1950s & 60s.  It was retitled The Saint Mystery Magazine then simply The Saint Magazine before ceasing publication in October 1967.  But prior to his own magazine, many Saint short stories appeared in American magazines, and these are listed here:

"The Man Who Liked Toys" (American Sept 1933)/  "The Death Penalty" (Star Novels Fall 1933)/  "Judith" (American Jan 1934)/  "The Golden Journey" (Harper's Bazaar Sept 1934)/  "Date in the Dark" (American Dec 1935)/  "All Aboard for Shanghai" (American Feb 1936)/  "The Saint and the Siren" (American June 1936)/  "Don't Shoot the Mayor" (American Aug 1936)/  "The Saint in Hollywood" (American Oct 1936)/  "The Saint Sits In" (Double Detective Nov 1937)/  "The Man Who Liked Ants" (Double Detective Dec 1937)/  "The Invisible Millionaire" (Black Mask June 1938)/  "The Saint at Bay" (Detective Fiction Weekly Aug 6, 1938)/  "The Charitable Countess" (Detective Fiction Weekly Mar 4, 1938)/  "The Star Producers" (Detective Fiction Weekly Mar 18, 1939)/  "Palm Springs" (LIFE May 19, 1941 presented as a photoplay)/ "The Saint in Trouble" (Flynn's Detective Fiction Nov 1943)/  "The Black Market" (Black Mask Mar 1944)/  "Luella" (Rex Stout Mystery Magazine Oct 1946)/  "The King of Beggars" (American May 1947)/  "Lida" (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine Aug 1947)/  "The Darker Dick" (Thrilling Wonder Stories Oct 1947)/  "The Masked Angel" (Mystery Book Winter 1947)/  "Teresa" (New York News 1947)/  "Jeanine" (Argosy Feb 1948)/  "Emily" (EQMM Nov 1948)/  "Iris" (Mystery Book Winter 1948)/  "The Arrow of God" (EQMM Sept 1949)/  "The Loaded Tourist" (Manhunt Mar 1953).

FILMS

"The Saint in New York" RKO, 1938.  Louis Hayward (Templar), Kay Sutton, Jonathan Hale (Insp. Fernack), Jack Carson.  Director: Ben Holmes.  Based on the 1935 novel.  In his auspicious debut, Simon, an international adventurer known for his daring in dealing single-handedly with crime, is called to Manhattan by a citizen's committee to cope with six of the city's most vicious gangsters, most of whom he cheerfully kills.

"The Saint Strikes Back" RKO, 1939.  George Sanders (Templar), Wendy Barrie, Hale, Jerome Cowan, Neil Hamilton, Barry Fitzgerald.  Director: John Farrow.  Based on "Angels of Doom" (1931).  The Saint helps a girl who exists on the fringes of the underworld clear the name of her dead father - a policeman who had been accused of graft.

"The Saint in London" RKO, 1939.  Sanders, Sally Gray, David Burns, Gordon McLeod.  Director: John Paddy Carstairs.  Based on the short story "The Million Pound Day".  In London to ferret out spies, Simon learns that a foreign ambassador is in danger and hides him in a boardinghouse.  The ambassador is killed anyway, and the Saint must track down the murderers.

"The Saint's Double Trouble" RKO, 1940.  Sanders, Helene Whitney, Hale, Bela Lugosi.  Director: Jack Hively.  Gangster Duke Plato (also played by Sanders) the Saint's double, commits two murders and leaves Templar's calling card at the scene.  One of the victims is a professor who was an old friend of Simon's.

"The Saint Takes Over" RKO, 1940.  Sanders, Barrie, Hale, Paul Guilfoyle.  Director: Hively.  Simon tries to clear Inspector Fernack of false bribery charges, but his chief underworld suspects are being killed one by one.

"The Saint in Palm Springs" RKO, 1941.  Sanders, Barrie, Guilfoyle, Linda Hayes.  Director: Hively.  Original story by Charteris.  Simon is asked to deliver an inheritance - three rare stamps worth $65,000 apiece - to a girl in Palm Springs.  Shortly after he arrives, the stamps are taken from him and three people die.

"The Saint's Vacation" RKO, 1941. (Filmed in England with an all-British cast).  Hugh Sinclair (Templar), Sally Gray, Arthur Macrae, Cecil Parker.  Director: Leslie Fenton.  Based on "Getaway" (1932).  The Saint's peaceful vacation in Dover is interrupted by a bothersome girl reporter and spies looking for the plans for a valuable sound detector.

"The Saint Meets the Tiger" Republic, 1943. (Filmed in England). Sinclair, Jean Gillie, Gordon McLeod, Clifford Evans.  Director: Paul Stein.  Loosely based on "Meet the Tiger" (1928).  A man dying on the Saint's doorstep sends him to a small Cornish coastal village where, in an elaborate swindle, a gang led by "the Tiger" is using gold stolen from a bank to seed a defunct mine.

"The Saint's Girl Friday" RKO, 1954.  (Filmed in England).  Louis Hayward (Templar), Naomi Chance, Sidney Tafler, Charles Victor, Jane Carr, Diana Dors.  Director: Seymour Friedman.  A socialite lady friend of an older, more serious Saint crashes her car into the Thames.  Officially her death is considered an accident, but the Saint thinks otherwise.  His investigation brings him to an illegal gambling casino on a river barge.

"The Dance of Death" Lux, 1960.  Felix Marten (Templar).  Director: Jacques Nahum.  French film not shown in English-speaking countries, based on "Palm Springs".

"The Saint Against Agent 001" Intermonde, 1960.  Jean Marais (Templar).  Another French film not shown outside of France.

"The Saint" Paramount, 1996.  Val Kilmer (Templar), Elizabeth Shue.  Director: Phillip Noyce.  A film that many wish had not been shown anywhere outside of France.

RADIO

In 1940 six episodes of an Irish radio production with Terence DeMarney as the Saint was the first known radio drama.

"The Saint" NBC, January 4 - March 31, 1945.  Edgar Barrier as the Saint.  Sponsored by Bromo Seltzer.  13 episodes.

"The Saint" CBS, June 20 - September 12, 1945.  13 episodes, summer replacement for "The Jack Carson Show", starring Brian Aherne as the Saint.  Sponsored by Campbell's Soup.

"The Saint" CBS, July 9, 1947 - June 30, 1948.  Vincent Price as the Saint, sponsored by Lever Brothers.  Price would close the program with a brief, personal message - usually a plea for tolerance and acceptance, and against racial, ethnic and religious discrimination.  These appeals were heartfelt and sincere.

"The Saint" Mutual, July 10, 1949 - May 28, 1950.  Vincent Price, sponsored by the Ford Motor Company.

"The Saint" NBC, June 11, 1950 - October 14, 1951.  Vincent Price, again as the Saint, until he left in May 1951, to be replaced by Tom Conway, brother of George Sanders who had played the Saint in the RKO films.  Sponsored by the Ford Motor Company.

"The Saint" BBC, 1995.  Three episodes starring Paul Rhys as the Saint.

COMICS

The Saint made a single appearance in the February 1942 comic book "Silver Streak Comics" #18.  Avon Comics released 12 comic books of "The Saint" 1947-1952 that were reprints of the newspaper comic strip.

"The Saint" comic strip distributed by the New York Herald Tribune syndicate debuted on September 27, 1948 as a daily strip with a Sunday page added on March 20, 1949.  The early strips were written by Leslie Charteris who had previous experience writing for the "Secret Agent X-9" comic strip when Dashiell Hammett left.  Mike Roy was the original artist on "The Saint" and was replaced by John Spranger in 1951 who altered the Saint's appearance by giving him a beard (?).  Bob Lubbers did the art 1959-1960, and then Doug Wildey drew the strip until it ended on September 16, 1961.  Wildey went on to create "Jonny Quest" in 1964.

TELEVISION

"The Saint" ITV, October 4, 1962 - February 9, 1969.  118 syndicated episodes with Roger Moore as Simon Templar.  The show ran for six seasons and provided Moore with lots of swinging 60s actresses to pursue - Shirley Eaton, Kate O'Mara, Julie Christie, Dawn Addams, Samantha Eggar, Sue Lloyd, and Sylvia Sims among them.  Roger Moore went on to portray a secret agent in a little franchise called James Bond.

"Return of the Saint" ITV, 1978-1979.  24 episodes.  Ian Olgivy as Templar with Gayle Hunnicutt.

"The Saint in Manhattan" CBS, June 12, 1987.  Andrew Clarke as Templar.  Originally intended as a pilot for a new series, but the network didn't pick it up.  It aired as an episode of the "CBS Summer Playhouse".

"The Saint" Celtic Films, 1989.  6 made-for-TV movies starring Simon Dutton as the Saint.  Guest stars included Vince Edwards, Gayle Hunnicutt, and Pamela Sue Martin.

"The Saint" Silver Screen, 2013.  Made-for-TV movie with Adam Rayner as Templar.  Roger Moore was the executive producer of this project, hoping for it to serve as a pilot for a new series.  The film was so bad that it was reimagined and rebooted with additional scenes shot and re-released in 2017.  It was still bad.