Simon Templar

Simon Templar is a fictional character in a long-running series of books by Leslie Charteris entitled The Saint.

Overview

Templar is known as The Saint due to his initials (ST), and also because of his tendency to do good deeds, despite his nefarious reputation. 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, which is the logo of both the book series and the later 1960s TV series. (This image is visible on the book cover reproduced at right.)

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 World War II, 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. A few Saint stories crossed into the realms of science fiction and fantasy. 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 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 pilot for a The Saint in Manhattan series starring Australian actor Andrew Clarke (who with his moustache bore a passing similarity to Tom Selleck) was shown in 1987, produced by Don Taffner, but it never progressed beyond the single pilot episode. That production featured another character from the Charteris book The Saint in New York, Insp John Fernack of the NYPD, while Templar got about in a black Lamborghini, also bearing the ST1 licence plate. In 1989, a series of six movies was made for Britain's ITV by Taffner, starring Simon Dutton.

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 Saint resorted to aliases which all had the initials S.T., Kilmer's character used names of Christian 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.

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.

In addition to the above, according to www.saint.org Charteris also wrote a number of Saint adventures in the French language, many of which have yet to be published in English.

Movies (and actors playing The Saint)

• The Saint in New York (1938 - Louis Hayward)
• The Saint Strikes Back (1939 - George Sanders)
• The Saint in London (1939 - Sanders)
• The Saint's Double Trouble (1940 - Sanders)
• The Saint Takes Over (1940 - Sanders)
• The Saint in Palm Springs (1941 - Sanders)
• The Saint Meets the Tiger (1941 - Hugh Sinclair)
• The Saint's Vacation (1941 - Sinclair)
• The Saint's Return (1953 - Hayward)
• The Saint's Girl Friday (1954 - Hayward)
• Le Saint mène la danse (1960 - Félix Marten)
• Le Saint prend l'affut (1966 - Jean Marais)
• The Fiction Makers (1968 - Roger Moore) - edited from episodes of The Saint
• Vendetta for the Saint (1969 - Moore) - edited from episodes of The Saint
• The Saint and the Brave Goose (1979 made for TV - Ian Ogilvy) - edited from episodes of Return of the Saint
• The Saint in Manhattan (1987 made for TV - Andrew Clarke)
• The Saint: Fear in Fun Park (1989 made for TV - Simon Dutton)
• The Saint: The Big Bang (1989 made for TV - Dutton)
• The Saint: The Blue Dulac (1989 made for TV - Dutton)
• The Saint: The Brazilian Connection (1989 made for TV - Dutton)
• The Saint: The Software Murders (1989 made for TV - Dutton)
• The Saint: Wrong Number (1989 made for TV - Dutton)
• The Saint (1997 - Val Kilmer)

Television series

• The Saint (1962-1969 - Roger Moore)
• Return of the Saint (1978-1979 - Ian Ogilvy)

Compare with:

James Bond, The Persuaders!, Matt Helm, The Avengers, To Catch a Thief, Robin Hood

External links

• The Saintly Bible Large website about Leslie Charteris' creation (http://www.saint.org)
• Official Website for Leslie Charteris (http://www.lesliecharteris.com)de:Simon Templar