What did you like / dislike about The Saint episode "The Man Who Gambled With Life"? Share most memorable moments from the episode, its characters and actors.  :smt001

A very unusual episode, about a powerful, rich business man who  was dying. He was experimenting  with having his body frozen, and brought back to life at some later date,  when a suitable cure was found. He chose Simon to try it out first for 24 hours, being " a perfect specimen." Well who would argue with that? Only problem, Simon  naturally refused to co-operate.

I liked the funny interaction between Simon and the very amorous female lead. Also he was given a white mouse called "Mimi" that had previously been frozen and brought back to life. It would sit   in the palms of his hands, or on his shoulder as he was driving his car. All the while Simon would keep up a conversation with Mimi as if she were a woman. A wonderful comedy touch! At the end of the story Simon released Mimi into the wild.

I hate to say this, but I must confess, this wasn't one of my favourite Saint eps - I thought it was a bit silly really.

But who was to know in the future it could be quite prophetic as to what they are doing these days.

I like science-fiction, and thought that the idea behind this episode was very intriguing. I do believe that in the future with all the research in science, we'll be able to achieve what the guy in the episode was trying to do. But while this episode had a lot of interesting moment, I didn't understand some of the man's reasoning. Like, why would he insist on none other than the Saint to be his guinea pig, and waste a lot of resources on "conditioning", etc. Simon to do it willingly? He could have easily picked someone else and finished his experiment before having to get into the cryogenic chamber himself.

LOL, the scientists all looked like refugees from Star Trek (uniforms are almost identical to the 60's Star Trek series).

The silliest part for me was when Simon kept talking to the mouse. I am not partial to rodents - yuck! And I think the Saint spent a little too much time fooling with that thing, lol.

Sunny, I've always wanted a little white pet mouse just like "Mimi" but never got around to it.

The part of this episode that really creased me, was seeing the gorilla. It was so obviously fake! I know they're not going to use a real one, but just the sight of it in the chamber with it's mouth open, lol.

I agree, the costumes were very much like something out of a tv space show. Maybe they did that because the subject was a very futuristic one.

Amber wrote:Sunny, I've always wanted a little white pet mouse just like "Mimi" but never got around to it.

You're kidding, right?! I mean, what would you do with a rodent? Would make a nice snack for one of your dogs.  :smt002  :smt002  But if you are serious, you should have come to visit our local pet store. Recently they had cages upon cages full of white mice and rats (Albinos with red eyes...and long hairless pink tails...brrr...).

I've always thought they're cute. You're right though, I wouldn't reckon much on its chances of surviving in my house - I'll just stick to keeping my dogs instead!

I've just been watching this one, and the sight of that gorilla, which was obviously a man in a suit was well, a little on the silly side.

On the plus side, I thought Roger looked particularly good. Maybe he had resigned himself to the fact that the story wasn't a  good one, and played it very tongue-in-cheek, with witty dialogue. I enjoyed  how he attempted to escape the advances of the romantic leading lady. Can't blame her for trying though!

I thought that bringing the coffin with a dummy inside was not a smart move when you are trying to get a person to agree to a crazy dangerous scheme where he'd most likely end up dead. You'd think that showing someone a coffin would have an opposite effect. Maybe a sack filled with money would have done the trick.  :smt004
The gorilla looked silly, so did the scene with the Saint and the mouse. The girl was a little too hyper, too easy, too irritating, but at least in the end she dummied up and decided to help him and go against her father's wishes. It's not one of my favorite episodes, but it wasn't the worst, and like all Saint episodes it wasn't without a few positive attributes.

Simon is enjoying a glass of champagne in the countryside when he is approached by a deputation from the rich industrailist, who has chosen him to be frozen.





Simon and Mimi the mouse!



When Simon gets home he discovers a coffin in his living room, and when opened there is a model of himself. (Obviously Roger wearing a lot of grease on his face!)



Simon discovers that Stella, the very amorous daughter of the  industrialist is already in his home, and  tells him that he is to be frozen as an experiment by her father, and brought back to life. He will be paid a million £££'s.



Simon discovers the home and laboratory of the industrialist, but is eventually captured while there.



Just Simon's luck to wake up after being attacked with nerve gas - to discover the amorous Stella has also been kept a prisoner in the same room, because she disagreed with her father's treatment of Simon.



Oh dear, here we have the gorilla who is frozen, but dies shortly afterwards.  He surely needs urgent dental work there! The industrialist suffers another heart attack and he is frozen just as Simon and Stella escape.

I do like his shirt. Very nice! The girl was over the top a little.

It may just be a man in a suit but that gorilla is scary.  :smt005

I love this pic!  It was taken while Roger was filming this episode. The kids look thrilled to be  getting his autograph.

I always noticed that Roger connects marvellously with kids, be it in a "Saint" episode or working for Unicef. Thanks for the pic Amber.

Incidentally, in the first pics Roger looks like he is wearing a St Christopher medal. Wonder if it is the same one he wore in "The Persuaders?"