#Norman Borisoff

[mariocki]

The Saint: The Good Medicine (2.21, ITC, 1964)

"Alfredo, who is that man with David Stern?"

"I do not know, chéri."

"He's rather fascinating."

"I don't know why you should look at another man, chéri, when I am so pretty."

#the saint #the good medicine #leslie charteris #itc #1964 #norman borisoff #roy ward baker #roger moore #barbara murray #anthony newlands #jean marsh #bill nagy #john bennett #veronica turleigh #bruce montague #alexandra dane #jeanne roland #once again we've turned away from the worlds of crime and derring do back to a simpler morality tale; unfortunately this one comes with #an over sized helping of sexism. after yet another frightful opening monologue (about women and makeup‚ need i say any more) #Simon is introduced by old friend Bill Nagy to Lady Pame.. I mean to Denise Dumont‚ head of a cosmetics empire and all round maneater #Babs Murray is absolutely delightful as always‚ but here she really gets a meaty role to play with; variously manipulative‚ arrogant‚ #seductive‚ calculating or charming‚ Dumont is a peach of a part and she delivers wonderfully. a shame then that the episode should have #such a pervasive feeling of 'tut tut women!' about it. Simon's plan is unusually direct in its fraudulence (i feel like she could have sued #the pants off him if she tried). John Bennett gives a bizarre performance as the campy gigolo that Babs is currently seeing (it's fun but #it's weird). of note also‚ Nagy introduces Simon as Simon Tombs; I honestly can't remember if that pseudonym has been used yet in the #series (i feel like it hasn't) but it was a mainstay of the books whenever the Saint wanted to be incognito. if this were its first use in #the show‚ then it would seem to suggest the name originates not with Simon himself but with his journalist friend Stern #at least in this version of canon

[mariocki]

The Saint: The Ever-Loving Spouse (2.26, ITC, 1964)

"Is, uh, Mrs. Fennick with you?"

"No, she's home in New York, she hates conventions; she also thinks they're a waste of time."

"I didn't mean it that way."

"Oh, never mind. Liane hates anything to do with the candy industry - except the profits."

"I'm sorry."

"Well, so am I. But I like the profits too, so we have that much in common."

#the saint #the ever loving spouse #itc #1964 #leslie charteris #norman borisoff #ernest morris #roger moore #barry jones #jeanne moody #jacqueline ellis #paul carpenter #david bauer #alexis kanner #robert arden #janet brandes #max faulkner #hal galili #stuart nichol #john bloomfield #bartlett mullins #a grubby‚ dingy little tale of blackmail and counter blackmail‚ adultery and murder in San Francisco. there's a murkiness to this ep which #feels distinctly un ITC‚ or perhaps just not very Brit TV From This Era. Simon is on one of his moralising trips‚ getting very furious #about blackmail and punching people in the face. David Bauer (already on his fourth guest spot!) plays the seedy photographer type while a #young Alexis Kanner (only 22 at this point and yet unbelievably already a member of the RSC and shortly to play Hamlet) gives a very good #'unstable young man' performance‚ which was to become kind of his thing for a while. Ellis and Moody are both very good too but the real #fault in this episode perhaps lies in its inexplicably abrupt ending (made even stranger bc this one appears to run a minute or so shorter #than many others). the main plot is exposed but a lot of strands are left dangling and a lot of side characters (Kanner and Ellis among #them) have their stories unresolved. perhaps it's a reflection of the source material or simply a favouring of concise and contained story #telling‚ but for once I'd be quite happy with a little coda scene which explained just how events panned out for the supporting players

[mariocki]

The Saint: The Effete Angler (1.9, ITC, 1962)

"Tranquillisers! You eat them like popcorn."

"If you had my nerves, you'd understand."

"You get any more tranquil and you'll be paralysed."

#the saint #the effete angler #1962 #leslie charteris #itc #anthony bushell #Norman Borisoff #roger moore #shirley eaton #george pravda #patrick mcalinney #paul stassino #jack gwillim #roland brand #kevin scott #gladys taylor #ronald wilson #after a couple of strong episodes im sorry to say we hit a dip with this one; it livens up a little once the wonderful George Pravda and #Paul Stassino arrive on the scene (two long time favourites); but before that it's really a bit of a slog‚ as Simon spends his time in #Miami trying to rent a boat and objectifying women. once he gets the boat there's an interminably lengthy fishing sequence which #nearly kills the episode before the plot has really begun. oh we also get our second gratuitous bath scene so far! (i really wouldn't have #included the image except that it's a pretty neat BTS photo). once the fishing is done we get a minor smuggling mystery #it's fine‚ nothing very new or different‚ but this suffers simply from having Simon be pretty unlikeable throughout. the way he talks to #Shirley Eaton's character at times is pretty gross‚ and what was i suppose meant to be flirtatious often comes off as just a little creepy #Pravda's enjoyably agitated bad guy makes up for it a little‚ but considering this is a pretty low stakes case of smuggling it's weird #and kind of off putting just how hard Simon goes into Saint mode. i mean yeesh he had a very different view of smuggling in #the second episode‚ where he considered it a pretty minor issue in the grand scheme of things; here he's going out of his way to get #involved and bring 'justice' to those he deems deserving. chill out Simon. you're on holiday ffs.

[mariocki]

The Saint: The Element of Doubt (1.8, ITC, 1962)

"What about the cop?"

"So help me, Carl, I don't know! Look, the way I figure it is, the cop must have heard Agnes yelling for help after we'd gone and he rushed in to try and save her. It's the truth, Carl, on my word of honour!"

"Let's not be facetious."

#the saint #the element of doubt #itc #leslie charteris #Norman Borisoff #John Ainsworth #roger moore #david bauer #alan gifford #margaret vines #bill nagy #ken wayne #anita west #robert o'neil #stella bonheur #graydon gould #basil howes #alister williamson #john bloomfield #sarah brackett #victor chenet #Simon's back in New York and so we get our first returning character in Alan Gifford's long suffering detective John Henry (no sign yet of #the immortal Insp. Teal..). this is another morally grey outing (perhaps it's something about New York??) as the Saint once again plays the #bad guys into delivering swift justice upon themselves. another s1 highlight tho‚ perhaps because it agaon twists the format: Simon is #actually kind of backgrounded here (I wouldn't be surprised is this was a holiday ep for Moore) as we get lengthy courtroom drama scenes #i can see that being a plus or minus for different viewers‚ but i ate it up‚ and would quite happily have spent the full episode watching #the wonderful David Bauer perform legal gymnastics‚ no matter how shady. Bauer was a true american who left the US at the height of the #McCarthy witchhunts‚ trading a promising film career for a steady income in UK guest spots (a poor trade off for him perhaps‚ but certainly #our gain; he's a welcome face whenever he turns up). Bill Nagy (not american‚ but as was common in 60s tv‚ a Canadian playing USA parts) #provides solid support as the real meany of the piece. once again Simon tries out an accent (his USA is better than his italian for sure)