1078 replies to this topic

[Simon]

In and amongst my whining of a lack of product fulfilment, customer service or any form of communication as manifested above, I still have interest in the character and its history.

To this end, a squash friend's friend owns Leslie Charteris' old car and took a few pictures knowing I would be interested.

There is some history on the Leslie Charteris site but David Cree is still looking for further information about it.

I didn't know anything about this car but I did wonder upon hearing about it in the pub whether it could have provided inspiration for the Hirondel...?

[Dustin]

A beauty!

[Ian Dickerson]

Simon,

I'm only dropping in here occasionally at the moment as I'm on deadline for some other writing work.

I signed with Hirst back in May 2010 which, as you may know, was significantly prior to his problems. My criteria were based on his ability to get his books into the major shops (such as Foyle's and Waterstone's) and his desire to pretty much let me do my own thing with regard to content - I'd talked at length with another publisher who was keen but had differing views on what should go in the book.

Glad to see that David has still got Leslie's old car. I'm afraid that particular car is significantly younger than the Hirondel--Leslie took delivery of it in March 1935 to celebrate publication of The Saint in New York--but I have no doubt that the Hirondel was inspired by Leslie's fondness for Lagondas in general.

Ian

[marktmurphy]

That is a gorgeous Lagonda.

[St Louis]

It might have been more ruthless than his portrayal of James Bond, but is irrelevant if we are looking to compare with the brutality of the original literary character.

I am not sure why this comparison was brought up. For all intents and purposes we could also bring in Mickey Mouse for discussion.

Let's stick to the point, then. By your own argument, you're implying Hugh Sinclair was more authentic as Simon Templar than Roger Moore, and any of the actors who followed him. To my mind, you're placing too much emphasis on the one aspect; the televisions restrictions. Taken as a whole, I feel Roger Moore was far closer to the Saint than any other actor. ROTS is actually my favourite series, and the one I'm closest too (I'm a big Ogilvy fan), but I just think Moore was near perfect casting.

The literary Saint also changed, or at least evolved. Templar became more refined. This is an important point because, in my view, the later 1950s Templar suited Moore (and the other TV Saints) better than the earlier pre-war Saint.

Thanks for the pictures. I knew nothing about this at all. I hope this features in Ian's LC biography. By the way, does anybody know what car George Sanders drove in The Saint in London?

Edited by St Louis, 01 May 2012 - 12:00 AM.

[Simon]

As for the Saint on TV book, Paypal reversed the funds from Hirst so am credited and the matter resolved.

Sorry Ian, perhaps I will get to read your book some other time.

[marktmurphy]

Hirst have a terrible reputation on a Dr Who forum I'm on; you'll notice he claims to sell loads of Who books.

[Simon]

Yeah - I did note that when I did a random search for Hirst and Forum, figuring that that would unearth such problems.

Cheers.

[marktmurphy]

Perhaps there's a way of making books for those whose copies never arrived? Through one of those internet things, Lulu or the like? I'd suggest sending a pdf, but I suppose there could be piracy issues with that.

[Simon]

As for the Saint on TV book, Paypal reversed the funds from Hirst so am credited and the matter resolved.

Sorry Ian, perhaps I will get to read your book some other time.

You lucky man/woman I guess I am stuck with the Succes of mr Dickerson since there is no other way seemingly to contact Hirst publications, I guess I lost my money and NO copy of the book. I'll guess I have to keep an eye on Ebay.

I am a man, and I may or may not be lucky. I just followed the Paypal Resolution Centre stuff in the allotted times and it all just worked.

Didn't need any special intervention from me other than the opening of a case and then the escalating of same case, to be sure.

I still hope the book can be found via some other means.

[Ian Dickerson]

There will be a US edition of the book available later this year.

Ian

[Simon]

Not, I hope, through the Hirst US branch...

[Brisco]

There will be a US edition of the book available later this year.

Ian

Fantastic news! Can't wait.

[Bond Bombshell]

Deleted.

Edited by Bond Bombshell, 17 May 2012 - 02:20 AM.

[scaramunga]

There will be a US edition of the book available later this year.

Ian

Great news! Thanks for the update Ian!!!

[scaramunga]

Is there any further updates on a new Saint series?

I also am curious if there are any new DVD or blu ray plans for The Saint. I believe Network was going to issue the series on blu ray in Region B only. They made an announcement when they announced The Persauders! blu ray box set for Region B only.

I believe The Saint series is out of print in the US on DVD (A&E Home Video) and there are no announced plans for blu ray.

Thanks!

[Ian Dickerson]

No updates that I can share at the moment however some interesting development work is ongoing and I really hope we can go public soon, for things are slowly but surely shaping up.

I'm not aware of any plans for any blu ray releases at the moment, but that's not to say things won't change.

Ian

[marktmurphy]

Breath not being held!

[scaramunga]

No updates that I can share at the moment however some interesting development work is ongoing and I really hope we can go public soon, for things are slowly but surely shaping up.

I'm not aware of any plans for any blu ray releases at the moment, but that's not to say things won't change.

Ian

Darn on pretty much all fronts!

Isn't Network still involved with mastering for a blu ray release of the series? I believe this was the original announced idea when The Persuaders! was announced along with the Action blu ray sampler discs?

Thanks Ian!

Edited by scaramunga, 18 June 2012 - 06:32 PM.

[Guy Haines]

Have any Saint fans out there seen the pair of two part episodes in the colour TV series? They are "Vendetta For The Saint" & "The Saint And The Fiction Makers". Both have, in my view, elements of Templar and Bond, but in different ways.

"Vendetta" pits Simon Templar against the Sicilian Mafia, and in particular an imposter, played by Ian Hendry, who is attempting to become the Mafia chief. The two episodes are probably amongst the most violent in the whole of The Saint series, and Templar's characteristic sense of humour is less evident than usual (In one heated moment, Simon threatens to kill the Mafia mobster played by Hendry, and isn't joking.). It also has less dialogue than usual - there are whole stretches in the second part when Templar is being persued by Mafia hoodlums when hardly any dialogue is used.

"Fiction Makers", on the other hand, is almost a Bond send up - Simon Templar gets involved with a female author (Sylvia Syms) who writes Bond like novels which have been turned into a successful series of Bond like films (The first episode starts with Templar at the premiere of one of these, and in his opening monologue it's clear that he is deeply unimpressed with the movie!) The films feature a SPECTRE type crime syndicate, and a gang of real life criminals have modelled their organisation down to the last detail on this, and kidnap the woman writer to get her to devise a plot to break into a high security establishment. Needless to say, Templar foils the plot.

The DVD set features two versions of "Vendetta" and "Fiction Makers" - the episodes as originally shown in two parts on TV, and as full length feature films made up of the two respective sets of episodes - something the makers of "The Man From UNCLE" also did with some of their TV episodes.

It is clear which versions had been more cared for - the feature films. The two part episode versions clearly show signs of wear and tear, which is a pity.

They are both curiosities, though, and well worth watching if you want to see Templar in a hard hitting story, or a Bond style romp.

[scaramunga]

Have any Saint fans out there seen the pair of two part episodes in the colour TV series? They are "Vendetta For The Saint" & "The Saint And The Fiction Makers". Both have, in my view, elements of Templar and Bond, but in different ways.

"Vendetta" pits Simon Templar against the Sicilian Mafia, and in particular an imposter, played by Ian Hendry, who is attempting to become the Mafia chief. The two episodes are probably amongst the most violent in the whole of The Saint series, and Templar's characteristic sense of humour is less evident than usual (In one heated moment, Simon threatens to kill the Mafia mobster played by Hendry, and isn't joking.). It also has less dialogue than usual - there are whole stretches in the second part when Templar is being persued by Mafia hoodlums when hardly any dialogue is used.

"Fiction Makers", on the other hand, is almost a Bond send up - Simon Templar gets involved with a female author (Sylvia Syms) who writes Bond like novels which have been turned into a successful series of Bond like films (The first episode starts with Templar at the premiere of one of these, and in his opening monologue it's clear that he is deeply unimpressed with the movie!) The films feature a SPECTRE type crime syndicate, and a gang of real life criminals have modelled their organisation down to the last detail on this, and kidnap the woman writer to get her to devise a plot to break into a high security establishment. Needless to say, Templar foils the plot.

The DVD set features two versions of "Vendetta" and "Fiction Makers" - the episodes as originally shown in two parts on TV, and as full length feature films made up of the two respective sets of episodes - something the makers of "The Man From UNCLE" also did with some of their TV episodes.

It is clear which versions had been more cared for - the feature films. The two part episode versions clearly show signs of wear and tear, which is a pity.

They are both curiosities, though, and well worth watching if you want to see Templar in a hard hitting story, or a Bond style romp.

The Fiction Makers has always been my favorite of the 2. The Network DVD set of The Saint includes both the tv episode version and the film version. In the US they also released a stand alone version of Vendetta on DVD from MPI. It also includes an audio commentary by Roger Moore for the film.

http://www.amazon.co...e/dp/B0001Z35LU

Any further news on The Saint series coming to blu ray?

Edited by scaramunga, 08 July 2012 - 08:23 PM.

[St Louis]

Ian has let know on the Saint forum that The Saint in Manhattan, starring -- one time only -- Andrew Clarke: http://www.madman.co...nt-in-manhattan

I found this surprinsgly positive and in depth review by a poster on another forum: http://www.zetaminor.com/roobarb/showthread.php?41235-Review-The-Saint-In-Manhattan-%28Madman-Entertainment%29

Also, if you in the UK, BBC 2 are showing the RKO Saint movies all this week in a random order. We had The Saint in London, followed by Palm Springs today.

[Ian Dickerson]

Just in case anyone's interested we've just announced a reprint programme in partnership with Hodders. Their Mulholland Books imprint will be republishing 35 of the original Saint books, with introductions and other extras, in digital and paperback, within the next 12 months.

http://www.thebookse...eslie-charteris

[Simon]

Splendid - good luck.

Why just the 35 titles and not the full 50! Does the 35 represent those that only Charteris wrote?

[Ian Dickerson]

Pretty much. They didn't want to commit to the full 50 (and possibly others beyond) but wanted to do a lot, so I suggested the first 36--being those before Leslie started collaborating with people. And then I lost the argument about whether we could do Meet the Tiger so we're down to 35. It's enough for now, trust me...

[Simon]

Meet the Tiger is not included!?

A curious title to exclude bearing in mind the obvious.

Can I ask what was the essence of Tiger's detraction and argument?

[Ian Dickerson]

It was excluded at the request of Leslie's widow.

[Simon]

Ok, and can I ask what she had against it?

Not fussed one way or the other, just interested in the machinations of dealing making over hand-me-down ownerships.

(As an aside, if she had any real clout or discerning tastes, I would have thought she would have had more to say over any further Barer offerings, in the fictional sense. (I know your hands are tied in this last))

[Ian Dickerson]

She's intent on honoring Leslie's wishes. But we're working on changing her mind...

And as for the latter point, well, there's a reason there haven't been any further books...

[Simon]

Ah, Leslie himself restricted future printings of Tiger! Wasn't aware of this. (If this is in fact the case)

And if 'she' is the reason, well she should hold her head high. (Again, if this is in fact the case - since both cases are left a little unclarified)

(And if not, please could you clarify sir)