Hi

I'm new to watching the Saint series. I'm wondering who he is and how he funds his escapdes.  Is that part of the mystique?  Or is he a self-sufficient man of the world who uses his fortune to aid the distressed? Also, is theTV show character much different than Charteris' book(s)?

Thanks to all

Hello SimonTemplarEsq

I have only read one of the books, so I cannot give you an accurate account of where his finance comes from and if the tv eps are faithful to the books. But I have watched a good deal of the episodes (both b/w and colour)and can only tell you that I think where he gets his money from is a mystery. He also seems to be known by every cop throughout the world, so I'm thinking he has some sort of dark past, but I am not sure what it is. I think all this adds to the appeal of the show.

Sorry if I haven't been much help in answering your questions, but maybe someone more educated in Simon Templar can help.  Also, I am sure on the Net there are some sights purely devoted to JUST Simon Templar, so they might be able to help also.

Welcome to SimplyMoore, Simon Templar Esq!  :smt001

You might find these two topics interesting. The first one is about Literary Saint VS screen adaptations, and the second topic is about how he got his name, etc:

simplymoore-about56.html

simplymoore-about57.html

I don't recall LC ever mentioning the Saint's past or how he got started. But since he was often called "The Robin Hood of Modern Crime", I gather than he stole from the rich to give to the poor and got wealthy in the process as well, and that's how his adventures were funded.

It needs updating but you can find it at http://www.saint.org and soon at http://www.lesliecharteris.com. For the sake of brevity I'll not post it all here, just the bits that may be of interest.

1. Who is the Saint?
Very little is known about Simon Templar's background, or how he became the Saint. If his origin and circumstances of his youth seem to be shrouded in mystery, it is because he chooses not to reveal it. He has a great sense of humor as well as a great zest for life. He is well-to-do, well dressed, drives fast cars, goes to the best places with the most attractive girls, all without any visible means of support.

The police, particularly Chief Inspector Claud Eustace Teal, have their own ideas about the sources of his apparent wealth and for years have been unsuccessfully trying to prove it.

But behind the Saint's sopisticated facade there is a very different man.

Had he lived in the Middle Ages you would see him as a knight in shining armour--a Sir Lancelot, a Robin Hood, a Don Juan, or in the great western tradition, a one man vigilante.

His enemy is not so much crime, but injustice. His impetus, the plight of the innocent soul in need of a patron Saint.

In achieving his objectives he can be cold, hard and always independant. Behind the casual banter there is always the aura of a coiled spring. Hating violence, he will not only turn the other cheek­he will turn it so fast that all you are going to hit is the wall you thought he was up against.

Simon Templar faces doom with a cavalier disdain. Yet this is not to say he isn't in constant jeopardy. For if he moves in dangerous places and is himself, the most dangerous of men, he is nonetheless only a man. Mortal.

His adventures have been documented in books, films, radio shows, comic strips and television series.

a. So what does he do?
The Saint is an adventurer, but a gentleman above all else. He reads the paper, eager to find a cause exciting to involve himself in. His moral code is strong, and is motives are also good: he would never hurt, steal from, or kill anyone who doesn't completely deserve it. The Saint is the Robin Hood of modern crime: he robs from the evil and heartless rich, and gives to the wronged and deserving poor--in the process, keeping a percentage for his own expenses. He doesn't work for the law, the government, or anyone else. He is a lone wolf, but he doesn't hesitate to team up or collaborate with anyone, including official agencies, when the need arises. He is also a romantic who believes in the excitement of living.

b. Does he break the law?
Yes. When the law, or circumstances of the law create an injustice, the Saint will not hesitate to break the law to make right the situation.

2. Who was Leslie Charteris?
Leslie Charteris was one of the world's greatest story-tellers; as with every born story-teller he had a vivid imagination but the colorful atmosphere of his stories stems, in many respects, from personal experience.

He worked in a tin mine, on a rubber plantation, and as a gold prospector in the jungle; a pearl fisherman, a seaman on a freighter and as a bar tender in an English country pub; he worked at a wood distillation plant and as a blower-up of balloons at a fairground sideshow. He has been a professional bridge player in a London Club and studied bull fighting in Spain.

Leslie Charles Bowyer-Yin was born, the son of a noted Chinese surgeon and his English wife, in Singapore on May 12th, 1907. He changed his name to Leslie Charteris in 1926.

In his youth he studied law at Cambridge University before writing his first book whilst still in his teens. The first Saint adventure followed shortly after that.

By the time of his death, on 15th April 1993, he had chronicled the adventures of the Saint in nearly one hundred books.

A longer biography can be found at http://www.saint.org/lcbio.htm and a full length biography, "A Saint I Ain't," is in preparation.

3. How many portrayals have been done of The Saint?
There have been a number of portrayals of The Saint in books, films, television, radio, and comic strips.

a. Books:
Leslie Charteris wrote 50 English language books detailing the Saint's adventures. These fifty (&^% are comprised of 19 full-length novels, 48 novelettes or novellas, and 95 short stories (94 in the UK, where "The Uncritical Publisher" was left out of all editions of "The Saint Intervenes"). To muddy the situation, many of the 50 (&^% underwent (&^% changes, and most of the short stories and novelettes have been repackaged into various anthologies and compilations over the years.

The linguistic qualification regarding "English language" is required as Charteris also wrote a further 40 adventures in French which have never been translated into English-although some have been translated into Dutch.

A detailed list of the English adventures, plus many of the anthologies and non-Saint books by Leslie Charteris, can be found at http://www.saint.org/books.htm

b. Films:
The best remembered films are the series of black and white movies that were made during the Golden Age of Hollywood by RKO . Between 1938 and 1953, with the help of Louis Hayward, George Sanders and Hugh Sinclair, they made nine movies.

Two French films were made by different French production companies in the 1960s. Charteris disliked these so much that he stopped them from being shown in any English-language territories. Copies of both films do exist in their native country but on viewing only go to emphasize the extremely high quality of every other Saint production.

Two two-part stories from the Roger Moore TV series, and one two-parter from the Ian Ogilvy series, have been shown as films on a very limited theatrical basis, but very often crop up as TV movies.

c. Television:
The first TV series, starring Roger Moore, ran between 1962 and 1969. They made 118 hour long episodes: 71 in black and white and 47 in color. Two of these stories ("The Fiction Makers" and "Vendetta for the Saint") were two-parters and subsequently were released as films on a limited basis.

The second series, with Ian Ogilvy as the Saint, ran in the late 1970s. They made 24 hour-long episodes. One story, a two parter called "Collision Course", was packaged into a feature length movie called "The Saint and the Brave Goose".

The third series, with Simon Dutton taking over the halo, was made in the late 1980s. There were 6 two-hour films.

There was a failed one-hour pilot made and shown in 1987, with Australian Andrew Clarke as Simon Templar. Those who've seen it do their best to forget it.

d. Radio:
The Saint debuted on the radio in 1940, when Terence De Marney starred in six episodes, adapted from the original Charteris stories, for Radio Athlone. These six episodes were later repeated on the British Forces Band.

In 1945 the Saint came to American radio. Edgar Barrier made 13 episodes for NBC. Later that years Brian Aherne made 13 episodes for CBS. Vincent Price took over the halo in 1947, making 51 episodes for CBS. In July 1948 the show moved to the Mutual Broadcasting System where he made a further 47 episodes. The show moved to NBC in 1950 where Price made a final batch of 44 episodes. Barry Sullivan also starred as the Saint for two episodes whilst the show was at NBC. Tom Conway took over the role in May 1951 and starred in 23 episodes as Simon Templar before the show finished in October that year.

3 chapters of the Immortal Works were adapted for radio and broadcast on Radio Sottens, a Swiss based French language radio channel, in July 1949.

In 1995, the Saint returned to British radio for the first time in over 50 years when Paul Rhys starred as Simon Templar in three adaptations of original Charteris novels for BBC Radio 4.

e. Comic Strips:
From 1948 to 1961 Charteris wrote the scripts for a daily Saint comic strip which was syndicated around the world by the New York Herald Tribune. Many of these stories were later collected up and reprinted as comic books. There was a separate series of comic books published by Avon Comics (USA) in the late 1940s and early 1950s. And from 1968 to 1988 Semic Press, a Scandanavian publisher, printed a Saint comic book, the stories for which were vetted by Charteris before reaching publication.

4. Weren't some Saint books written by other writers?
Yes... and no. Knowing that The Saint would probaby continue on after his death (as have Sherlock Holmes, Raffles, James Bond, and other literary characters), Leslie Charteris decided to collaborate with other writers while he was still alive. This way, he could not only share in any monetary gains, but he could also comment on, direct, plot, edit, amend, rewrite, and otherwise put some genuine Charteris polish on the continuing adventures of The Saint. These collaborations include the last 14 English language Saint (&^% dated from 1964 to 1983, and the 40 French adventures.

5. What was the first Saint book?
"Meet-The Tiger!", published in Great Britan by Ward Lock in September, 1928, is the first we hear of the adventures of Simon Templar. It was first published in the United States by The Crime Club in July 1929.

6. Who played the Saint on film/radio/television?
Nineteen different actors have played Simon Templar over the years.

Louis Hayward, George Sanders, Hugh Sinclair, Felix Marten, Jean Marais, and Val Kilmer have played the Saint on the big screen.

Roger Moore, Ian Ogilvy, Andrew Clarke and Simon Dutton, are the TV Saints.

Terence De Marney, Edgar Barrier, Brian Aherne, Vincent Price, Barry Sullivan, Tom Conway, Larry Dobkin, and Paul Rhys were heard as the radio Saints.

Leslie Charteris played the Saint in a photostory for LIFE magazine.

12. In what langages has the Saint been translated into?
The Saint books have been translated into French, German, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, Greek, Italian, Turkish, Portugese, Afrikaans, Czech, Danish, Hungarian, Finnish, Serbo-Kroat, Hebrew, Arabic, Japanese, Norwegian, Polish, and Braille.

The Saint television show was dubbed into German, Swedish, Dutch, Japanese, Spanish, Polish, and probably others. It has been shown in Aden, Argentina, Austria, Australia, Belgium, Bermuda, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Canada, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Denmark, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Finland, Formosa, France, Ghana, Gibraltar, Guatemala, Holland, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, Iran, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Kuwait, Lebanon, Liberia, Luxembourg, Malta, Malaya, Mexico, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Norway, Panama, Pakistan Philippines, Puerto Rico, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Rhodesia, Rumania, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, U.A.R, USA (syndication and network), Uruguay, Venezuela, West Germany, Yugoslavia, and Zambia.

17. Were the TV shows based on the books?
Yes, the first few seasons of The Saint, starring Roger Moore, were based on specific short stories or novelettes by Leslie Charteris. The show was such a success, however, that they eventually ran out of stories that were suitable for adaptation. At this point, the TV writers started sending synopses of new plots to Charteris for his opinion, approval, and criticisms. At the same time, Charteris was running out of Saint stories for The Saint Magazine, and arranged to have some of the better scripts adapted into book format under his supervision. Therefore, the fact is that while some of the TV shows are based on the books, the reverse is also true: some of the books are based on the TV shows.

19. Was the Saint British or American?
The first Saint books feature an extremely British Saint, but over the years Simon became much more cosmopolitan. The reason for this subtle change is that Leslie Charteris moved to the United States, and spent many years in Hollywood, Palm Springs, and Florida. As Charteris himself became more American, so did the Saint. Now, it's rather difficult to lose your roots, so the Saint is truly British, but his lifestyle, mannerisms, and other outward appearances are that of a citizen of the world; not tied to one country or another, the Saint comfortably fits into in any city or country that he visits.

Goodnight007.2 wrote: think where he gets his money from is a mystery. He also seems to be known by every cop throughout the world, so I'm thinking he has some sort of dark past, but I am not sure what it is.

Yes, according to the books he is indeed like Robin Hood - he relieves crooks of their ill-gotten gains, gives 90 percent to charity and keeps 10 percent for himself and his friends.  He did intend to retire once he got 100,000 pounds, in "The Melancholy Journey of Mr Teal", but the lure of adventure keeps getting the better of him!