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The Saint



         


Simon Templar is a fictional character in a series of books by Leslie Charteris. He is also known as "The Saint" due to his initials. He sometimes uses the nom de guerre Sebastian Tombs and also calls himself by sundry other names, all with the initials S.T., such as Sullivan Titwillow and Sugarman Treacle - the Saint has a boyish sense of humour. He frequently leaves a 'calling card' at the scenes of his 'crimes', consisting of a stick drawing of a man with a halo.

Simon Templar started his career as a criminal, and burglary is often alluded to in the books. It is clear from the texts, however, that at the time of the books, all of his income derives from the pockets of the 'ungodly' (as he terms those who live by a less moral code than his own). There are several references to a 'ten percent collection fee' as he extracts large sums of money from his victims, the remainder being returned to its owners or given away. These unworthies include bent politicians, warmongers, indeed all the nastier forms of low life. "He claims he's a Robin Hood," bleats one of his victims, "but to me he's just a robbing hood."

The Saint has many partners in his escapades in the books, though none that lasted throughout the series. In the early books the most frequently recurring was Patricia Holm. Inspector Claude Eustace Teal could often be found attempting to put the Saint behind bars, although in the later books they can be found working in partnership. In the very earliest stories the Saint had a veritable band of compatriots, including Patricia Holm, Norman Kent, Archie Sheridan, Dicky Tremain (a character name that later appeared in Twin Peaks -- coincidence?), and Roger Conway. When most of these dropped out of the stories, the dimwitted but reliable thug Hoppy Uniatz (who gulped down Vat 69 like it was lemonade) was frequently found at Simon's side.

The time period of the books begins in the 1920s and moves through the 1930s and 1940s quite recognisably as the series of about 45 books by Charteris progresses. In the early books most of the Saint's activities are clearly illegal (though directed at much worse characters). In the later books this becomes less true. In the books written during the period of WW2, The Saint (in common with many fictional maverick heroes) was recruited by the government to help with the war effort by tracking down spies and similar undercover work. The quality of writing also changes; early books have a freshness of spirit which becomes replaced to an extent by an air of cynicism in the later works. Charteris started to step back from writing the books in the early 1960s. The last few titles released carried his name but he didn't write them; the last Saint novel to carry his name was published in 1973 but a number of additional books have appeared since then. Charteris died in 1993. A few additional Saint novels appeared around the time of the 1990s film starring Val Kilmer.

The character appeared in a string of movies in the 1930s and 40s, frequently portrayed by George Sanders. (He later appeared as a very similar character called The Falcon in a string of Falcon movies.) Many years later Roger Moore revived the role in a long-running television show The Saint (1962 - driving a Volvo P1800 with licence plates ST1). Since then there have been several other actors who played him in less successful TV series, most notably Return of the Saint (1978) starring Ian Ogilvy (who outdid Moore in his interpretation of the Saint, in the view of some fans). In the 1980s, a series of TV-movies were made for Australian television with a local actor in the role. In the mid-1980s, the National Enquirer tabloid and other newspapers reported that Moore was planning to produce a movie based upon The Saint with Pierce Brosnan as Templar, but it was never made.

A film with Val Kilmer in the title role was finally made in 1997, but diverged far from the Charteris books, though it did revive Templar's use of aliases. Whereas the original The Saint resorted to aliases which all had the initials S.T., Kilmer's Saint used names of Saints. The film mirrored some aspects of Charteris's own life, notably his origins in the Far East though not in an orphanage as the film portrayed.

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The Saint book series

By Leslie Charteris unless otherwise noted. Most Saint books were collections of novellas or short stories, some of which were published separately. Many of the books have also been published under different titles over the years; the titles used here are the more common ones for each book.

  1. The Saint Meets the Tiger (1928)
  2. The Saint Closes the Case (1929)
  3. Enter the Saint (1930)
  4. The Avenging Saint (1930)
  5. Featuring the Saint (1931)
  6. Alias the Saint (1931)
  7. The Saint Meets His Match (1932)
  8. The Saint vs. Scotland Yard (1932)
  9. The Saint's Getaway (1932)
  10. The Saint and Mr. Teal (1933)
  11. The Brighter Buccaneer (1933)
  12. The Saint in London (1934)
  13. The Saint Intervenes (1934)
  14. The Saint Goes On (1934)
  15. The Saint in New York (1935)
  16. Saint Overboard (1936)
  17. The Ace of Knaves (1937)
  18. The Saint Bids Diamonds (1937)
  19. The Saint Plays with Fire (1938)
  20. Follow the Saint (1939)
  21. The Happy Highwayman (1939)
  22. The Saint in Miami (1941)
  23. The Saint Goes West (1942)
  24. The Saint Steps In (1944)
  25. The Saint On Guard (1945)
  26. The Saint Sees it Through (1947)
  27. Call for the Saint (1948)
  28. Saint Errant (1949)
  29. The Saint in Europe (1954)
  30. The Saint on the Spanish Main (1955)
  31. The Saint Around the World (1957)
  32. Thanks to the Saint (1958)
  33. Senor Saint (1959)
  34. The Saint to the Rescue (1961)
  35. Trust the Saint (1962)
  36. The Saint in the Sun (1964)
  37. Vendetta for the Saint (1965) (by Leslie Charteris and Harry Harrison)
  38. The Saint on TV (1968) (by Flemming Lee and John Kurse)
  39. The Saint Returns (1969) (by Flemming Lee, "Dr. Motton", Leigh Vance, and John Kurse)
  40. The Saint and the Fiction Makers (1969) (by Flemming Lee and John Kurse)
  41. The Saint Abroad (1970) (by Flemming Lee and Michael Pertwee)
  42. The Saint in Pursuit (1970) (by Flemming Lee and Leslie Charteris)
  43. The Saint and the People Importers (1973) (by Flemming Lee and Leslie Charteris)
  44. Saints Alive (1974) (by ?)
  45. Catch the Saint (1975) (by Flemming Lee and Norman Worker)
  46. The Saint and the Hapsburg Necklace (1976) (by Christopher Short)
  47. Send for the Saint (1977) (by Peter Bloxsom, John Kurse, and Donald James)
  48. The Saint in Trouble (1979) (by Graham Weaver, John Kurse, and Terence Feely)
  49. The Saint and the Templar Treasure (1979) (by Graham Weaver and Donna Avenell)
  50. Count on the Saint (1980) (by Graham Weaver and Donna Avenell)
  51. Salvage for the Saint (1983) (by Peter Bloxsom and John Kurse)
  52. The Fantastic Saint (1983) (by ?)
  53. The Saint (1997) (movie novelization by Burl Barer and James Bond, The Persuaders
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See also





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