Let me introduce...Simon Templar by Gord Lacey (All reviews)
5/26/2002
Simon Templar made his first appearance in a book, not on TV as I had originally thought. In 1928 Leslie Charteris released his novel, "The Saint Meets The Tiger". This character would appear in over 100 novels and stories, 9 movies from RKO, radio dramatizations on the BBC, a movie staring Val Kilmer and, of course, a TV series lasting 118 episodes with Roger Moore as the title character.
I've always liked Roger Moore as James Bond and I've known that Sean Connery was the second choice (behind Moore) to start the series of movies, but it was rather interesting to find out that it was Moore who was the second choice to play The Saint. If Patrick McGoohan hadn't turned down the role it would have changed the feel of this series as well as the entire Bond franchise.
This set features the following episodes:
The Gadic Collection
The treasures of an Istanbul museum go missing, and The Saint is the prime suspect.
The Best Laid Schemes
A sea captain drowns, but was his death really an accident? Only The Saint can find out.
Invitation to Danger
A blonde beauty picks Simon up in casino. But exactly what game is she playing?
Legacy For The Saint
A murder caper, with a Saintly twist...
The Desperate Diplomat
A friend of Simon's in the diplomatic corps disappears-along with $1,000,000.
The Organisation Man
Simon enlists as a mercenary in order to stop a hijacking.
The Double Take
A businessman claims he is being ruined, and the perpetrator looks very familiar...
Video
As with their other "Cult TV" releases, A&E has done a nice job with the video. The colors in the video appear nice and bright and rich with color. The print contains dust and some minor flaws and the odd glitch here and there, but overall it's a nice transfer. The episodes of "The Saint" take place around the world and stock footage is shown for these locations. Unfortunately these are lower quality prints and contain quite a bit of dust and grain.
Audio
A mono audio track from the 60s isn't anything to jump up and down about, but it serves it's purpose. The audio is nice and clear and without any major problems. While a Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is great for a show like "Thunderbirds", I'm quite happy with a mono track.
Trailers
There are trailers for each episode in the set which last 1 min each.
Photo Gallery
There are 18 photos on the first disc and 23 on the second featuring scenes from the 7 episodes.
Roger Moore Biography
5 still frames with information on Roger Moore. This is found on disc 1.
Roger Moore Filmography
6 still frames with Roger Moore's filmography. This is found on disc 1.
History of "The Saint"
3 still frames containing the history of "The Saint". This is found on disc 2.
Summary
While I prefer the James Bond character over The Saint, this show is fun to watch. My only complaint is A&E has started with the first color season and not released the show in order. The episodes in this set have a new opening song from the 1968 season. Look for Paul Darrow (Blake's 7) in "The Gadic Collection".
