What are your opinions about "The Golden Journey?" That has to be one of my favourites.

The interaction between Roger and Erica Rogers was spot on. It had a similar theme to the later "Queen's Ransom" with Dawn Addams, another great one.

I see what you mean about the episode's similarities to that later episode with Dawn Adams, except Simon wouldn't have dared to inflict the same "infamous" technique on the queen as he did on the girl in "The Golden Journey".  :smt075
I bet THAT made a few feminists angry! Though Erica Rogers' character was so nasty and spoilt, and "asked" for it, I still hate that scene, and I don't consider myself a hardcore women's lib person.  :smt104

THAT scene, I thought it was very funny, the way the woodcutter in the forest was clapping his hands. Though I can understand  how it might have upset some.

The part where Erica Rogers ran to the woodcutter, thinking he was going to give her a lift, and sat down beside him, only to discover it was a stationary vehicle made me laugh!

Hi everyone,

I'm new here! Actually 'The Golden Journey' was the very first epidode that I ever saw. My sister & I had just put on the TV and were changing channels looking for something to watch, when we came right across THAT scene.

After veiwing the episode again years later, I too thought it was funny the way the woodcutter clapped his hands in time. I once saw Roger on a talk show and he was asked about that scene. He said that the show received a lot of mail complaining about the scene. But I agree that Erica Rogers' character really "asked" for it.

Kathy

Hi Kathy, welcome to Simply Moore, good to have you here.

"The Golden Journey" is one of my favourites. I loved it how at the beginning there was no love lost between Simon and Belinda, but towards the end, they both realised they were developing feelings for each other.  The last scene was very poignant, when they said goodbye after finishing their drinks in the bar, knowing that soon she would be getting married. It had lots of comedy moments, and as for THAT scene, I thought it was hilarious!

Here's some pics from the show, though not from that particular scene!

Hi Amber,

Thanks for the nice welcome and also for the photos!

Kathy

Welcome, Kathy!  :smt001

Kathy wrote:
I once saw Roger on a talk show and he was asked about that scene. He said that the show received a lot of mail complaining about the scene. But I agree that Erica Rogers' character really "asked" for it.

Kathy

It looks like all those complaints didn't do much good, since even in the later colour episodes, similar scenes took place again, like "To Kill A Saint" with Annette Andre.  :smt002  :smt002

Amber, wonderful images!  :smt023

Hello to All:

I do not usually post on message boards and I hope that you nice folks do not mind my adding my two cents in. However, since I have been lurking around at this nice board, I thought that perhaps I might try to clear something up regarding this post.

I am most likely a bit older than most of you (I am 82 years young). It seems that the strong sexism and misogynist behavior that sometimes seems to effect adventure shows like 'The Saint' may not really be as strong as it may appear to today's younger viewers.

Simon, who often rescued women from all kinds of danger, saw nothing wrong or contradictory in administering a spanking to a grown woman he believed had behaved badly. While this behavior would be seen as very sexist today, younger fans should be made aware that this was simply the temper of the times.

Since it was as inappropriate then as it is today for a man to punch a woman, spanking was seen as an acceptable alternative years ago.

It was also popular in movies and even in comics for decades. It most likely began in the very early days of the cinema and then continued with the great female slapstick silent film stars such as Mabel Normand. In her many comedy short films, Mabel was very often seen across the knees of an angry husband, boyfriend or father.

And this pastime continued into the early TV era with the great female clowns such as Joan Davis, Gale Storm, and of course Lucy!

I must also point out that there was also a female counterpart to this pastime that was a tad more violent. It was called 'rolling pin humor', and as the name implies, it involved the woman (almost always the wife) clobbering her husband with all manner of kitchen implements. Again, this was done with a burlesque kind of slapstick humor and often the man remained unscathed, or had a classic comedic black eye.

I hope that this post helps to clear things up a bit with the younger fans of 'The Saint'.

Good luck with this wonderful message board!

Hi Action & Adventure Fa,

A big welcome to Simply Moore, great to have you here, and many thanks for your kind comments about the forum.

You raise some very good points, and I agree, in those days - the early 60's -  life was so very different to what it is now. Things that were quite acceptable then as the norm, nowadays would not be considered, and I hate this expression - "politically correct."

In another episode, I can't quite remember the (&^%, but it was set in the south of France. Simon's friend was having problems with a stubborn girl-friend. The advice he gave was "maybe she needs a spanking!" This was said in a light-hearted manner too.

The spanking scene in "The Golden Journey"  wasn't done in a cruel way, and added to the humour of the story. In the scenes that followed, Belinda began to slowly change her attitude, and became a nicer person. You could say that Simon did her a favour.

amber wrote:You raise some very good points, and I agree, in those days - the early 60's -  life was so very different to what it is now. Things that were quite acceptable then as the norm, nowadays would not be considered, and I hate this expression - "politically correct."

In another episode, I can't quite remember the (&^%, but it was set in the south of France. Simon's friend was having problems with a stubborn girl-friend. The advice he gave was "maybe she needs a spanking!" This was said in a light-hearted manner too.

I actually found Simon's words to his friend worse than what he did in "The Golden Journey". At least he knew that Erica Rogers character was a nasty spoilt brat who "asked" to be treated with no respect. But he didn't know the woman in "The Death Penalty" very well, not to mention the man's to whom he made the suggestion childish attitude in that episode was also vividly shown at the beginning of "The Death Penalty" episode. So that kind of showed the Saint as a man with one questionable solution to every man-woman problem. This would be the only part of The Saint I didn't care for.

On the whole, this is an interesting subject that has many sides to it. On the one side you have women's lib, then there's the "sign of the times" issue, as well as where in your opinion the fine line lies. But placing these women's character aside, despite the sign of the times and whether or not you are an ardent women's lib or not (a whole another "hot" subject", lol), even for the 60's this was still not very ethical or appropriate, and that's what took the humour out of the scene for me.

Now things have made a complete turn around. If in those days some women were portrayed as child-like naiive creatures always running to men for help and guidance, today tables are reversed, and in many TV commercials and shows men are the ones being portrayed as big kids who don't know how to do anything besides flipping channels on a remote control and drinking beer. The way children are portrayed has also changed. While I am glad that women are no longer shown weak, I don't particularly enjoy seeing men shown from less becoming angles, or kids shown as rude mannerless brats. Guess can't have it all, lol.  :smt002  :smt002

I also thought that the scene in the Golden Journey where Belinda flirts with Simon and starts to kiss him on the beach and he mentions his wife and 7 children was hilarious.

The ending was very touching, when they had to part and it was obvious that the two had gotten attached to each other. In a way, I felt it was sad that the girl was going to marry Simon's friend, yet it was the Saint who got her to change her way of thinking and her life, which left me wondering if she was ready to get married at all at that time to anyone...?  :smt005