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Saturday, July 5, 2008Fear In Fun Park Year: 1989Directed by Donald Crombie Simon Dutton, Ed Devereaux, Rebecca Gilling, Richard Roxburgh, Nikki Coghill Max Cullen, Anthony Wong, Ernie Dingo Music by Peter Best (Title theme by Serge Franklin) Based on characters created by Leslie Charteris As an Australian, I am particularly parochial about local productions. I like a good story where I recognise the landmarks and the settings in which the story takes place. To find out that there was a Saint tele-movie set in Australia delighted me no end and naturally I had to track it down – and that search has taken me quite a while – but finally I have got my opportunity. Now there’s a reason that it has taken me so long to find this film; namely that it hasn’t been available. Why would a series based on a popular character like The Saint be held back and made unavailable I ask? Watching the first ten minutes of Fear In Fun Park gave me the answer. It’s bloody terrible. In my reviews for The Software Murders and The Blue Dulac, I have been fairly scathing of the acting on display; and let’s be honest, I watch a lot of shit, so I am quite forgiving of shortcomings in low-budget productions. But here the acting reaches the bottom of the barrel. And I am not talking about hack actors – most of the Australian cast have been around the traps for quite a while – and capable of much better than this. Even the accents seemed to be bunged on. Look I grew up in rural Australia, and would suggest I have a very broad ‘Aussie’ accent, but the characters in this film make me seem like an English language professor. I am guessing they are trying to ‘ocker’ up the show to make Simon Templar seem even more like a fish out of water. Maybe there is even a bit of an attempt to latch onto the memory of Crocodile Dundee which was a massive hit in 1985. The show starts off in Sydney airport and a myriad of characters arrive of various flights from around the world. Naturally, one of these characters is Simon Templar; AKA The Saint (Simon Dutton). He has flown in from Hong Kong, on the request of a Chinese Businessman, whose daughter has gone missing in Sydney. Templar believes she has been snatched up by the Chinese underworld and drugged and forced to work in a brothel. Also arriving from France are Harry and Aileen Brampton. Harry is the head of the powerful Brampton business empire, but recently his company has slumped, and it looks like he may have to sell off some of his companies assets. One of these assets is Sydney’s Luna Park - called Fun Park in this show (I am sure for legal reasons). Waiting to greet Harry and Aileen, is Harry’s daughter from a previous marriage, Fiona (Nikki Coghill). Another recent arrival is a young confused Chinese girl who speaks no English. As she waits in the arrivals lounge, Templar offers her assistance. But before she can respond, she is approached by some Chinese business people and shuffled outside the terminal to a waiting car. At this point Simon bumps into Fiona, who used to be a jetsetter and knows Templar from her old days in London. Their reunion is a pleasant one, and Simon is invited back that evening to have dinner with Harry, Aileen and Fiona. Simon accepts but must check into his hotel first. Fiona offers to drive him into town. As they leave the airport, Templar spots the young Chinese girl, looking rather distressed, ensconced in the back of a black Mercedes Benz as it weaves through the traffic. Templar asks Fiona to follow the car, which she does up until a certain point, where the car gets blocked behind a truck in Chinatown. Templar leaps from the car and tries to follow on foot, but loses the car in a maze of side streets. Later that evening, as Templar dines with the Bramptons, he meets Fiona’s new fiancé, Justin (an incredibly youthful Richard Roxburgh). Justin is a real estate agent and has been asked to arrange the sale of Fun Park to get the Brampton company out of trouble. The thing is, secretly, Justin has a gambling problem and owes the Chinese underworld $954,000. The only way he can repay his debt is to arrange that Fun Park is sold to the Chinese. The fly in the ointment, however, is that Fun Park is the legacy of Harry’s first wife, and Fiona would rather take out a loan to keep Fun Park as a family asset that can be handed down from generation to generation, rather than sold off for short term gain. Justin is caught is the middle – if he sells Fun Park, he gets out of trouble with the underworld, but risks losing Fiona. If he doesn’t sell it, then he keeps Fiona, but what good is that, when the Chinese underworld have a mark on your head. As the story progresses, the threads of the Brampton family’s financial problems and Templar’s investigation into the white slavery ring come together, and this results in some chases through the streets of Sydney, on and over every conceivable landmark the film-makers could get permission to climb (these include the newly constructed Darling Harbour and Sydney Monorail). At times the movie feels more like an advert for the Australian Tourist Commission than a Saint episode (it even includes throwing ‘prawns on the barbie’). Fear In Fun Park is an amateurish production despite the people in front and behind the camera, which is such a shame, because Sydney is a great setting for a Saint story. The white slavery story itself isn’t too bad, but there are a few too many story threads that probably only resonate with Sydneysiders who were there in the late eighties. One such is the ‘Save Luna Park’ thread, which was an issue when the Park had been left abandoned for years after a fire on one of the rides killed some children. It looked as if the derelict Park would be sold off to foreign investors, who would redevelop the land. Viewers from other parts of the world, particularly now (nearly twenty years later), may wonder what the hell the characters are talking about. Why? What protesters? As I seem to do with all the Simon Dutton Saint movies, I 'llsign off by saying that Saint fans may feel compelled to watch this episode, but it really isn’t very good at all. Others should stay clear.  Labels: Character: The Saint posted by David at 3:01 PM | 0 Comments | Links to this post The Blue Dulac Year: 1989Directed by Dennis Berry Simon Dutton, John Astin, Camille Naud, Sabine Naud, Patricia Barzyk Music by Serge Franklin (with additional music by Tony Britten) Based on characters created by Leslie Charteris Umbrella Entertainment have finally released the 1989 The Saint series on DVD. Now this series isn’t particularly good, unsure of whether it’s a comedy, or a gritty crime series. Thankfully this entry brings back some of the jet-setting glamour that was missing from other episodes. The Blue Dulac is set in France and features some grand homes and architecture. It at least looks like Simon Templar is living the high-life; rather than just being an average Joe with a penchant for theft and beautiful women. The film opens in France. A young couple, Jack and Christine Coultar return to their palatial home only to find that is has been trashed. Red spray paint has been used on the painted art, walls and furniture; and all the mirrors, statues and vases have been shattered. The curtains and drapery have been shredded. The door to the safe lies open. Inside is a note saying that next time they come back when Christine is at home. Jack closes the door to the safe, but it has been wired to a bomb. The house is blown up and Jack and Christine killed. The man that police believe is behind the atrocity is George La Force (John Astin – but he’ll always be Gomez Adams to me). La Force is a big time gangster who blows up anyone or anything that stands in his way. La Force looks like he’ll be brought to trial for the murder of Jack and Christine, but at the last minute, the Judge decides not to proceed with the case due to a lack of evidence. In fact though, La Force had a team of thugs hold the Judge’s family held at gunpoint. If the Judge had proceeded, La Force would have killed his family. As so often happens in these Saintly adventures, Jack and Christine were friends with Simon Templar (Simon Dutton) AKA: The Saint. It is not long before The Saint is in France and attempting to bring down La Force’s empire of evil. La Force has one weakness which Templar plans to exploit – it is a fondness, verging on obsession, for sapphires. Posing as a jewel thief named Lamont, Templar intends to steal The Blue Dulac, a priceless sapphire necklace, and apportion the blame to La Force. Helping and hindering Templar in his quest are Sabine and Seraphin, a set of twins who’s father was killed in a bomb blast set off by La Force. As gorgeous as the twins are, their acting is sub-par. Bad acting seems to be a common fault in this series of The Saint. As likeable an actor as John Astin is, casting him as a bad guy in a movie set in France is doomed from the outset. I keep expecting him to say “Tish, you spoke French!” Simon Dutton, as always, cuts a fine figure as The Saint. His hairstyle may have dated slightly, but he certainly isn’t painful to watch, unlike some of the actors and actresses in this show. For my mind, The Blue Dulac is a step up from The Software Murders (but that isn’t hard), but it is hardly core Saint material. If you’re a fan of The Saint then this maybe worth a look just to tick it off your list, but other than that I’d probably give it a miss. Labels: Character: The Saint posted by David at 12:31 PM | 0 Comments | Links to this post The Saint In London Year: 1939Directed by John Paddy Carstairs George Sanders, Sally Gray, David Burns, Gordon McLeod, Athen Seyler, Henry Oscar, Ralph Truman, Ballard Berkeley, John Abbott Music by Marr Mackie Based on the short story, ‘The Million Pound Day’ by Leslie Charteris In some ways, The Saint In London is one of The Saint’s most espionage based stories, but to tell you why and how would ruin some of the twists and turns that this story has to offer. As The Saint films of this era where barely more than B-grade programmers with rather stripped down stories, to reveal the twist would be criminal, so I’ll refrain. You know, I like George Sanders as The Saint. He only made five Saint films, and then went on to become The Falcon (much to the chagrin of Leslie Charteris, who sued RKO claiming that The Falcon was The Saint in all but name). But Sanders as The Saint is very effective, even though some of the stories used (or the adaptations at any rate) were sub standard. Sanders shines through. He was a class act, and this shows through in his portrayal of the character. The film opens with Simon Templar, AKA The Saint (George Sanders) arriving by car at the exclusive Restaurant Maxy. As he is about to enter, a man at the door asks for a cigarette. The Saint obliges, but as he lights the cigarette, the man who happens to be a thief, lifts Templar’s watch. As he does so, a police officer notices and tries to intervene on Templars behalf. The Saint protests that the officer must be mistaken and produces a watch from his pocket. It is in fact the pickpockets watch, which The Saint had swiped, as recompense for the pickpocket taking his. Once inside the restaurant, The Saint orders a drink and a meal. Then rather sheepishly, the pickpocket makes his way into the restaurant and to The Saint’s table. He introduces himself as Dugan (David Burns), and trades watches with The Saint. The Saint offers Dugan a meal and a job as his valet. But Templar isn’t at the restaurant to meet Dugan. He has a prearranged dinner engagement with old chum Richard Blake (Ballard Berkeley). Berkeley has been having a spot of bother with a gentleman named Bruno Lang (Henry Oscar). And it turns out with good reason. Lang is in fact an underworld mob boss. Templar agrees to help Blake and arranges to meet Lang at a party. Along with Lang, he also meets Penny Parker (Sally Gray), who realises that Templar is up to something, and the ‘nosey’ side of her nature wants to find out what it is. Templar first notifies Bruno Lang that he is on to him, by leaving a calling card on the steering wheel of Langs Car. The card say ‘Bruno Lang Vs. The Saint’. Lang shrugs it off as a joke, but Templar makes his way to Lang’s home, breaks in and riffles through the documents in the safe. He finds what he is looking for, and then makes a hasty exit. On his way out, he runs into a security guard who has been walking the perimeter of Lang’s estate. Templar knocks the guard down and makes a run for it. Luckily for The Saint, the very, very nosey Ms. Parker has followed him to Lang’s. She hears the gunshots as the guard fires after Templar. She gets into Templar’s car and starts the engine. By the time Templar comes bounding out, the car is moving and he hitches a ride on the running boards. As they speed along the road, away from the scene of the crime, they come across a beaten man running down the road, fearing for his life. Templar offers assistance, firstly by hiding the scared man in his car. And then by secondly raising his boot into the chest of the goon who was chasing the poor guy. Templar and Parker take the man to a hotel and The Saint arranges for a doctor to come and see the man. Once he is patched up, the man reveals himself to be Count Duni. Duni is a foreign diplomat who was sent to England to oversee the printing of new currency for his country. Unfortunately he had been captured by some of Bruno Lang’s goon and was forced to sign over for the printing of an extra million pounds. Lang and his mobsters intend to ruch this new money into circulation as the new currency is released. That way it would be untraceable. As complicated as all that seems, it is even more so. You see, when Templar rescued the Count, and clobbered Lang’s goon, a police officer noticed. Well he noticed Templar clobbering the goon then making a quick getaway. The officer wrote down the car number plate and passed it onto his superiors. It isn’t long before it crosses the desk of Inspector Claud Teal (Gordon McLeod) of Scotland Yard. Naturally Teal has been trying to catch The Saint for years, and is soon investigating. The Saint In London is a pacey little thriller with a fine resolution. The one strange thing about this episode, is usually a character like The Saint, has one ‘hanger on’ who acts as comic relief. In this episode, he has three – Penney parker, Dugan, and even Inspector Teal. I suppose this only serves to make The Saint seem even more dashing. All in all, this is not bad.  Labels: Character: The Saint posted by David at 12:27 PM | 0 Comments | Links to this post Tuesday, April 22, 2008The Brazillian Connection (1989)Directed by Ian ToyntonSimon Dutton, David Ryall, Gayle Hunnicutt, Jennifer Landor, Joseph Long, Niall Padden, Danny Webb. Frédérique Charbonneau Music by Serge Franklin Based on characters created by Leslie Charteris The Brazilian Connection is another of The Saint TV movies, featuring Simon Dutton as Leslie Charteris’ character, Simon Templar. In this film, The Saint comes up against an international ring of black market baby traders. They are hardly SPECTRE or THRUSH, but they are pretty despicable people and must be stopped. This production has a terrific opening sequence. I can see why it was chosen to be the first in this series. It opens with two thieves climbing a staircase to the top of a multistorey building under construction. These crims have just stolen a priceless jewelled Russian tiara, and waiting on the top level is their fence who will ‘move’ the stolen goods. As the exchange is about to take place, The Saint alights from the elevator. He confidently walks over and picks up the tiara. The crims are baffled. Who is this guy? One of the thieves pulls a pistol from his jacket and is about to shoot The Saint, when Templar announces that they have exactly 55 seconds until the police arrive. And arrive they do. A whole squad of police officers starts milling around at the base of the building, before proceeding to move up the stairs. The crims begin to panic. Templar makes a suggestion – he’ll take the tiara. That way the police will have no evidence to arrest the crims. But the three crims can’t decide what to do. As The Saint nonchalantly counts down to the police’s arrival, the crims begin to fight amongst themselves. The fence tries to run off with the tiara, but the other two chase and pull him down. At that moment the police arrive at the top. They arrest the three crims as they wrestle on the ground, and then retrieve the case that the tiara was in. Not surprisingly, the case is empty, and Templar is nowhere to be seen. When one of the crims starts babbling about a fourth man who has disappeared into thin air, the police are sceptical. All except one. Claude Teal (David Ryall) has seen this sort of stunt before, and he believes it is the work of The Saint. When we next see Templar, he is travelling away from the scene, riding on the hook of a giant building crane. It’s a good opening scene and showcases the one thing that I liked about The Software Murders, which I reviewed yesterday – and that is that The Saint is a criminal. He’s not a malicious cold blooded killer, or anything like that, but none-the-less he is a privateer. The Saint’s next port of call is Knightsbridge. Exiting a shop, he holds open the door for a lady, Jenny (Jennifer Landor) pushing a pram. The pram is adorned with an American flag. Templar and the girl engage in some innocent banter, before Templar moves on. Next he goes into an art gallery in Knightsbridge. The gallery is showcasing exquisite ancient Chinese ceramics valued at tens of thousands of dollars. Templar drops and breaks a few of these rare treasures, shocking the curator and the buyers gathered in the gallery. Then he denounces the vendor as a fraud. The vendor tries to leave rather hastily, but Claude Teal from Scotland Yard enters the door and blocks his escape. Meanwhile, outside Jenny enters a shop to buy a magazine. She is a nanny looking after the five month old baby inside the pram. Accompanying her is the babies mother. As jenny makes the purchase, the mother stands watching the pram. At that moment, one of the mother’s friends passes by. For a split second ‘mum’ takes her eyes off the pram to talk to the friend. When she returns her gaze, the pram and the baby have disappeared. Templar is still in the gallery tying up loose ends. From the second floor window he notices the pram going by in a different direction. He recognises it by the miniature American flag. He also notices that it is being pushed by a different man and woman. Then as he leaves and is out on the street, he see this ‘new’ couple driving off in a small van. Adorning the sides and rear door of the van is a logo depicting the Aztec God Quetzaquotal. Once information about the baby napping reaches the media, and Simon realises he can help, he approaches Jenny. Initially she is sceptical, wondering what is ‘in it’ for The Saint. He soon convinces her of his good intentions. This entry in The Saint series is so much better than The Software Murders. Sure it is still encumbered with some of the same problems as The Software Murders, such as a gritty low budget look, and a dreadful score by Serge Franklin. But this production has a decent plot, courtesy of Anthony Horowitz. The script not only has a good central plot, but it also features some great interplay between Teal and Templar. The Brazilian Connection is far from perfect, but this time I’d have no hesitation in recommending it to Saint fans. It is fast paced, and even though the production isn’t action heavy, it has good and engaging dialogue. Labels: Character: The Saint posted by David at 10:06 PM | 0 Comments | Links to this post Monday, April 21, 2008The Software Murders (1989) Directed by Henry HerbertSimon Dutton, Shane Rimmer, David Ryall, Dinsdale Landen, Malcolm Stoddard, Pamela Sue Martin Music by Serge Franklin In 1989, The Saint was revived for six, two hour (90 minutes with ads) tele-movies. Simon Dutton plays the debonair Simon Templar (AKA The Saint), but got lumbered with some clunky scripts. One of the tele-movies, The Brazillian Connection was even written by Anthony Horowitz, who would later find fame as the best selling author of a string of children’s books, especially the Alex Rider series. The show opens on a beachfront property in California. Jack Rushden is looking into the deaths of three prominent scientists for his friend Simon Templar. He is doing his research by entering all the information into his computer. The computer finds a connection: all three were working on ‘explosive detection devices’. Jack rings up Templar (Simon Dutton) in London and tells him the news. Then he proceeds to send the information via modem (don’t know if they were using an early version of the internet?) to Simon. Halfway through the upload, Jack’s doorbell rings. He breaks off transmission to answer the door. A man is waiting with a drawn pistol. He shoots Jack. The killer then gets on Jack’s computer and sends the message ‘Jack fell down and broke his crown’. Then he follows it up with ‘And ? came tumbling after’. The killer knows that The Saint is on the other end of the transmission, because he then flashes the Saint symbol up on the screen. We next see The Saint packing his suitcase and donning a fake moustache and glasses. As he is set to leave, his doorbell rings. At the door is Inspector Claude Teal of Scotland Yard. Teale asks Templar about his telephone call from Rushden. Templar evades the question and asks how Jack died. Teal now wants to know how Templar knew that Rushden was dead. As it is impossible for Templar to have flown to California and back to kill Rushden, he isn’t really a suspect, but Teal gives him a hard time any way. After the usual by-play, the Saint is free to leave. Somehow, it is never really explained satisfactorily, The Saint’s investigations lead him to a conference being held at Willard House in the English Countryside. The Saint joins the conference and investigates the people there. I think Simon Dutton is quite good in the role of The Saint, but in this adventure he is lumbered with some amateurish supporting actors, a sluggish script, and a low budget look and feel. With The Saint we expect a certain amount of glamour, colour and high-life (maybe even a touch of jet-setting). But this production is pretty bland. The best thing about this production is that they have made The Saint a criminal again; a privateer who robs from the rich, or manipulates events for his benefit and financial gain. In earlier incarnations of The Saint (on television), his criminal dealings could only be hinted at, in fear of upsetting the viewing audience. But by the late 80’s times had changed significantly enough that The Saint could be portrayed slightly more like the character as originally written. But generally this story is slow paced and not particularly involving. It would have been better if it had been edited down to an hour. Any story with a plotline revolving around computers is going to date quickly. What seems cutting edge today, will seem clunky in a few year’s time. The same with this production. The phosphorescent monitors and use of a modem across the Atlantic may have seemed cutting edge in 1989, but today it is laughable and obsolete. Speaking of obsolete, Serge Franklin’s synth rock score hasn’t stood the test of time either. In fact, I don’t think it was any good to begin with, but giving him the benefit of the doubt, it now sounds quite dated. It is so bad it is almost distracting. If you are a Saint fan, you may feel that you have to watch this, and whatever I say will not stop you. While I am hardly a Saint completist, I have seen my fare share of Saint adventures, and would have to rate this as the worst I have seen. Despite Dutton’s performance, this one is for the fans only. Labels: Character: The Saint posted by David at 10:02 PM | 0 Comments | Links to this post Sunday, April 20, 2008The Debt Collectors (1978) Directed by Les NormanIan Ogilvy, Anton Rodgers, Mary Tamm, Geoffry Keen, Diane Keen I know that Simon Templar isn't a spy. But you know me - I have to turn everything into a spy film or televison show. Thankfully for me, The Return Of The Saint kindly met me halfway. It has a great many espionage episodes. The blurbs from several episodes on the Umbrella DVD release read like this: The Judas Game British Intelligence send THE SAINT to rescue Selma Morell who has been kidnapped by the Albanian Secret Police... One Black September THE SAINT teams with a lovely Israeli agent to track down a defecting top member of the Black September terrorist movement.... Murder Cartel An assassination attempt on a powerful oil sheik precipitates THE SAINT’s undercover work for the CIA. You get the idea. By the mid seventies, international globe trotting wasn’t enough for The Saint. He had become more than a loveable rogue. He was a tool. Sometimes even a killer. With television shows like The Sweeney in England, and The Six Million Dollar Man in America, the Saint couldn't remain an overgrown boy scout. The producers had the choice of toughening up The Saint, by showing his more criminal activities, or exaggerating his good deeds. The chose the latter. Ian Ogilvy was the man who replaced Roger Moore and the man who toughened up The Saint’s image. For me, The Debt Collectors is one of the highlights of the Return Of The Saint series. It has all the elements we expect in a Saint story plus it has a few very interesting additions, which to a spy enthusiast give it an extra dimension. The episode starts with Simon Templar (Ian Ogilvy) going for a leisurely horse ride. Another rider, Gerri Hanson (Mary Tamm) loses control of her horse and it gallops away. Naturally, Templar rides to the rescue, and reaching across at full gallop brings the horse under control. Afterwards he drives Gerri home. Inside, waiting for her is her blind father, Paul Hanson (Esmond Knight). He is impatiently waiting for the mail, because he is expecting a letter from his other daughter, Christine, who is studying in the USA. Here, Simon witnesses a strange event. Gerri picks up a bill from the pile of letters and reads it, improvised, as if it were a letter from her sister. It seems that Gerri has been protecting her father from the truth. Christine isn’t in the USA. In fact she is in prison. She was sent there five years ago after being caught red handed passing on military secrets. Gerri, reading the fictitious letter says that Christine will be returning to the UK soon. In fact, this is because she is eligible for parole. She is due to be released on the next day. But as with only twenty four hours till her release, Christine does the unthinkable – she breaks out of prison. Waiting on the other side of the wall is her boyfriend. He is an American racing car driver and just the man to spirit Christine away, before the authorities cordon off the area. Meanwhile, The Saint himself is attracting a bit of unwanted attention. Two thugs who have been following Gerri, turn up on Templar’s doorstep. At gunpoint, they attempt to warn him against seeing Gerri anymore. Of course, the thugs threats do not dissuade Templar. The next time he sees Gerri, she engages him to help her find Christine. There are two reasons why I particularly like this particular episode of The Return Of The Saint. The first is the plot. Sure, it starts out as another ‘knight in shining armour’ episode, with Templar coming to the rescue of a damsel in distress. But from these beginnings it moves quickly into ‘spy’ territory. The story revolves around a mole in M.I.5 who has been selling secrets, and many of the seemingly innocent events that occur, are in fact ploys to force the traitor to reveal himself. The second reason why I like The Debt Collectors is that it stars Geoffrey Keen as Sir Charles Meadley, the head of M.I.5. Bond fans will recognise Keen as the character Frederick Gray (Minister Of Defense) from The Spy Who Loved Me, Moonraker, For Your Eyes Only, Octopussy, A View To A Kill and The Living Daylights. But it is not seeing a familiar face that makes it intriguing; it’s the dialogue between Sir Charles and Templar that give the story that extra punch. At the end of the episode, Sir Charles asks Templar to join M.I.5. Yep, The Saint is asked to become a professional spy. Needless to say, he turns down the offer. The Saint gives his reasons why he doesn’t want the job (I won’t reveal them here), but it is an interesting insight into Templar’s character and how he is different from the spies of the world. The Debt Collectors is a good example of why I keep posting reviews of the adventures of Simon Templar; Gentleman, Thief, Soldier Of Fortune. He may not be a spy himself (well, he had the chance), but his adventures certainly bring him into contact with some shady characters from the espionage community. Labels: Character: The Saint posted by David at 9:53 PM | 0 Comments | Links to this post Saturday, April 19, 2008The Saint And The Brave Goose (1979) Directed by Cyril FrankelIan Ogilvy, Gayle Hunnicutt, Stratford Johns, Derren Nesbitt, Joe Lynch Music by John Scott Based on characters created by Leslie Charteris Here’s another Saint movie, serving up another healthy dose of globe trotting and international crime. This time the story concerns a stolen shipment of gold bullion. The Saint And The Brave Goose is a two-part episode from the 1978 television series "The Return of the Saint," edited together and released as a feature film. The two original episodes were Collision Course: The Brave Goose and Collision Course: The Sixth Man. The first thing that’ll notice about this movie is that they have created a new title sequence. That in itself isn’t a bad thing, but they have discarded The Return Of The Saint theme music and in it’s place have used a dreadful piece of quasi-prog rock. The film opens with the Embassy Express Race, which is a 200 mile power boat ocean race. The two favourites for the race are Oscar West (Edward Brayshaw), an arrogant fellow who is only interested in winning, and Simon Templar AKA: The Saint (Ian Ogilvy). As the race progresses West and Templar fight it out for the lead, then there is an explosion on West’s boat. Through the billowing black smoke, Templar can see West and the co-driver fighting over a gun on deck. Then there is another explosion and the whole boat is destroyed. There is an inquest into the tragedy. Most of the inquiries centre around West’s co-driver Maurice Bonaparte. As far as the police are concerned, nobody by that name exists or can be traced. Simon, on the other hand, thinks something fishy is going on. He suspects West of being involved in a fifteen million pound gold bullion robbery, eight years previously. Templar has also ascertained a bit more information about the mysterious Maurice Bonaparte. Apparently he had spent the last seven years in a Moroccan prison. He had only been released a week ago. Meanwhile, Oscar West’s widow, Annabel (Gayle Hunnicutt) discovers that she is broke. Oscar left her no money. Her only asset is Oscar’s yacht, The Brave Goose, which is tied up in Marseilles. Soon she is on her way to France and into a whole mess of trouble. In fact the story is very reminiscent of the classic Cary Grant, Audrey Hepburn movie, Charade. Both productions feature men with shady pasts, who have mysteriously died and left their wives nothing. And both feature the shady associates of the dead husbands trying to track down and acquire large sums of money, which they believe has been secreted away by the widow. Finally both feature dashing leading men who partner up with the widows to help solve the mystery. In this, the suave dashing hero is Ian Ogilvy. Ogilvy is very good as The Saint. He’s not Roger Moore, but in some ways that is a plus. Ogilvy is a bit tougher than Moore. In the late seventies, television and the movies had changed and the simpler, more fantastical plots, such as The Fiction Makers were no longer in vogue. But having said all that, despite the toughening up of Templar, they haven’t taken away the glamour and sophistication. Another cast member worth mentioning is Derren Nesbitt. Over the years Nesbitt has played practically every nationality on the planet – most famously as the German SS-Sturmbannführer, Von Hapen in Where Eagles Dare and as the duplicitous French/Mexican reporter, Pallain in The High Commissioner. Here he plays Inspector Lebec, a French police officer. As the character is played by ‘Dirty Derren’ you can expect that all is not as it seems. This addition to The Saint canon is pretty good, if somewhat derivative of other mystery/adventure films. I have already mentioned Charade, but there is a bullfight scene, that plays like a hyped up version of the one featured in Fathom and there’s some underwater scenes that remind me of When Eight Bells Toll. But if you can overlook these similarities and just let the story, and the entertainment wash over you, then The Saint And The Brave Goose is a fine Saint film.
posted by David at 9:43 PM | 0 Comments | Links to this post Friday, April 18, 2008Vendetta For The Saint (1969) Directed by Jim O'ConnollyRoger Moore, Ian Hendry, Rosemary Dexter, Finlay Currie, Fulton Mackay, Aimi MacDonald Music by Edwin Astley As we make our way through various incarnations of The Saint, we come to possibly the most successful of all actors who have portrayed the character of Simon Templar: Roger Moore. Moore played the title role in The Saint television series from 1962 till 1969. The show's production company, ITC had a habit of taking a two part episode from one of their successful television series and releasing them in foreign markets as theatrical features. The Saint was no exception. This movie starts off in the usual Saintly fashion, with postcard shots of Naples. Then we cut to a swanky restaurant. As Simon Templar - AKA The Saint (Roger Moore) is walking in, a gangster, Alexander Destamio (Ian Hendry) and three goons are about to leave. As the mobsters walk towards the exit, Jim Euston (Fulton Mackay), who is sitting at the bar recognises Destamio. Euston calls out to the Distamio, who he believes is an old friend. He addresses him as 'Dino Cartelli'. Destamio tells the Euston that he must be mistaken. Euston insists that he is an old friend, but the goons intervene. As they are about to get rough, the Saint steps in (Hey, a great title for a book!) Distamio and his men leave the restaurant. Soon after, Euston decides to leave the restaurant. But outside in an alley, Distamio has left behind a couple of his men to take care of the meddlesome gentleman. The next day, Templar reads about Euston's death in the local paper. Naturally enough, he thinks that it seems very suspicious. Templar then makes a few subtle enquiries to find out who the mobster is, but doesn't get too far, because the mafia 'code of silence' holds strong. Eventually Templar finds out that the gangster is Alexander Destamio. And equally Destamio has done his research and knows who The Saint is as well. When Templar returns to his hotel room, he finds that it has been trashed. Soon after, Templar recieves an invitation to meet with Destamio and is whisked away by helicopter to the island of Capri. At the airport, he is met by Lilly (Aimi MacDonald). She drives a red sports car, and sports a pink bikini. Templar is taken to Destamio who tries to bribe The Saint. The bribe doesn't work and templar sets about baiting Destamio. He deliberately calls him 'Dino' and threatens to pull down his whole world. Naturally mafia heads, don't take kindly to be threatened in their own home. When a television series is turned into a movie, I expect a little more than an expanded television episode. Even though Vendetta For The Saint was originally a two part entry in the series, I still expect it to be the best two episodes. The Fiction Makers the other two parter that was released as a movie, was fairly pedestrian. There wasn’t anything in it that I couldn’t see regularly in the television show. But Vendetta For The Saint rectifies this. It is tougher than a regular episode, and having The Saint go up against the mafia makes this story more perilous and involving. Also utilising some actual ‘on location’ photography (Malta standing in for Italy), rather than using rear projection, adds greatly to the richness of this production. Obviously everyone has their own personal favourites, but for me (and my ‘Saint’ viewing is far from complete), this is the best Saint film I have seen – Highly recommended.  Labels: Character: The Saint, Stars: Roger Moore posted by David at 9:34 PM | 0 Comments | Links to this post Thursday, April 17, 2008The Saint In Palm Springs (1941) Directed by Jack HivelyGeorge Sanders, Wendy Barrie, Paul Guilfoyle, Jonathan Hale, Linda Hayes, Edmond Elton Music by Roy Webb The Saint In Palm Springs is a highly entertaining entry in the RKO Saint series. The films opens with an ominous cable message. It reads ‘ARREST SIMON TEMPLAR...ARRIVIVING S.S. MONROVIA...WANTED FOR MURDER’. As Simon Tempar, AKA The Saint (George Sanders) arrives in New York, two polieman are waiting at the docks to arrest him. They clumsily try to put a set of handcuffs on Templar, but after some jostling, the two officers end up handcuffed to each other, while The Saint disappears into the night. Templar goes dirrectly to Inspector Henry Fernac (Jonathan Hale) to enquire about the murder charge. The charge is in fact a ruse. Fernac wanted to see Templar. He has a favour to ask. An old friend of his, Peter Johnson (Edmund Elton) is trying to transport $200,000 in rare stamps, which he has smuggled out of Europe, from New York to Palm Springs. Two attempts have been made on the man’s life, and Fernac would like The Saint to act as a body guard. The Saint goes to a hotel to meet Johnson and suggests it may be better if he carries the stamps. Johnson goes to the safe, which is in another room to retrieve them. As he opens the safe, a shadowy figure at the window fires a pistol. Johnson drops dead. At the sound of the shot Templar rushes in. The killer hasn’t had time to retrieve the stamps and tries to make it back to the window. A fight breaks out, but Templar is knocked back on the bed, giving the perpetrator time to escape. Despite Templar’s failure to protect Johnson, he decides to continue with the job. He will take the stamps to Johnson’s neice, Elna (Wendy Barrie) in Palm Springs. Templar makes the journey by train. On board in a saloon car, The Saint sees a attractive lady, Margaret Forbes (Linda Hayes) trying to write a letter with a broken pen. She has ink over her fingers. Templar offers her his pen, and she continues to write. Once finished she returns the pen. Templar uses the opportunity to ask her if she’d care to join him for a drink. She agrees, but first she must remove the ink stains from her fingers. Simon waits while she disappears for a few minutes. But her actions are not quite what you’d expect. First she rips up the note. It was just a ploy to meet Templar. Then next she goes to Templar's sleeping compartment and searches his baggage. She doesn’t find what she is looking for, and rejoins Templar in the saloon. In Palm Springs, Templar and Forbes, just happen to be staying at the same hotel, the Twin Palms. Also at the Hotel is an old friend of Templar’s, Clarence ‘Pearly' Gates (Paul Guilfoyle). Gates is the house detective, but prior to this, he was a pick-pocket and a thief. Naturally, there are also a host of other suspicious characters staying at the hotel too. After all, this film is essentially an old-fashioned ‘whodunnit’, with nobody quite who or what they seem. At first glance, this may seem like a mystery crime film, but as the story progresses, it becomes more obvious that this isn’t just a gang of hoodlums after the stamps, but a ring of foreign agents. It’s a little bit complicated to explain, but you have to look at why the $200,000 was converted into stamps in the first place. Simply, this film is set around the time of the Second World War (but America had had entered it yet). In Europe, Hitler would not allow anyone to take anything of value out of occupied Europe. Many Jewish people were forced to leave with nothing. By converting the cash to stamps, it was an easily concealable way to get his cash out of Europe. And therefore, it must be assumed that those chasing the stamps are Nazi agents, but his is never really mentioned or explained. The Saint In Palm Springs is one of the good entries in the series, aided considerably by George Sanders as Templar. Sanders has the right amount of wit and charm to play The Saint. These films did not have a whole lot of money thrown at them, and the sets weren’t too special, and the action set pieces were limited. This is why the films stand or fall on the dialogue, and the way it is delivered. This is where Sanders comes to the fore. It may only be a B-grade programmer, but I think it is a pretty good one. If you enjoy The Saint, this is one to seek out. Labels: Character: The Saint posted by David at 9:28 PM | 0 Comments | Links to this post |
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