The Saint: A Complete History in Print, Radio, Film and Television, 1928-1992
by Burl Barer
On This Page
Description
The now legendary character created by Leslie Charteris has survived nearly three-quarters of a century of perilous action and narrow escapes with nary a hair out of place nor the slightest jolt to his jauntily tipped halo. From his earliest days battling "crooks, blood suckers, traders in vice and damnation" (and cracking the occasional safe on the side), the Saint has captured the imaginations of millions. Using the voluminous correspondence and writings of author Leslie Charteris and show more examining the many incarnations of Simon Templar, alias "The Saint," in other media, a detailed history emerges. Includes plot synopses of the radio and television programs, with air dates and production credits; descriptions of the movies and their credits; a bibliography, reviews of the books, and quotes from the principals. show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
This book is indeed a good buy if you want to learn more about the character of The Saint and his creator Leslie Charteris. Most of the other reviewers already touched on the positive aspects of the book, but beware: It is not perfect!
The author had extensive access to Charteris' archives and at times comes across too much like the voice of The Saint's creator and takes his side too much. On the one hand, the Roger Moore TV series e.g. is not that bad; on the other hand - and quite frankly - the original Saint novels aren't always that good! A little bit of critical distance would have served the author much better.
Also, the book has an amazing 419 pages, though only 243 are proper text about the character in all its incarnations. The show more remaining 176 are appendices that primarily deal with extensive plot summaries of TV and radio shows. I am not a great fan of books that rely too heavily on synopsis to fill their pages.
Mind you, overall this *is* a book that can be recommended to anyone interested in this pulp hero, but please beware of the caveats. show less
The author had extensive access to Charteris' archives and at times comes across too much like the voice of The Saint's creator and takes his side too much. On the one hand, the Roger Moore TV series e.g. is not that bad; on the other hand - and quite frankly - the original Saint novels aren't always that good! A little bit of critical distance would have served the author much better.
Also, the book has an amazing 419 pages, though only 243 are proper text about the character in all its incarnations. The show more remaining 176 are appendices that primarily deal with extensive plot summaries of TV and radio shows. I am not a great fan of books that rely too heavily on synopsis to fill their pages.
Mind you, overall this *is* a book that can be recommended to anyone interested in this pulp hero, but please beware of the caveats. show less
Overwhelmingly complete reference text about The Saint and its authors, actors, publishers and producers
Ratings
Members
- Recently Added By
Author Information
Awards and Honors
Awards
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The Saint: A Complete History in Print, Radio, Film and Television, 1928-1992
- Original publication date
- 1993
- Important events
- 1928
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 24
- Popularity
- 1,106,916
- Reviews
- 2
- Rating
- (4.33)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 3
- UPCs
- 1
