I think Roger Moore did fine as the Saint, but his 007 was pathetic. The Saint wasn't the killer/tough guy Bond was supposed to be and Roger looks like you could merely blow on him to topple him. A very weak Bond, a good Saint though.

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Regarding Roger Moore, I've always felt that Sean Connery was James Bond. Roger Moore was The Saint. Even when Roger was playing 007, I still think he was playing The Saint...
-Dan

Hmmm, when I was a wee child my mother told me "Sean is James Bond, Roger is the Saint"

I didn't know what she meant until I saw late night reruns of the real Saint series.

As for why the books haven't been reprinted, I am bewildered. Perhaps they are considered too intelligent for the average reader. My vocabulary increases with each new Saint title I read!

I think the real, and only, Saint is George Saunders.

Fran 8-)

Jerry, Jerry, Jerry... whil I respect everyone's right to an opinion, what Saint have you been reading about? The Saint is on occasions a very nasty downright coldblooded. Kills on some very slim provocations! Of course he only knocks off bad guys, but frankly he seems to have far fewer qualms about it than James Bond (remember the opening chapter of Dr. No when James goes all soft about killing a man?) As for tough, James Bond has nothing on our Simon for endurance and skill! So I am one eyed! So what?

Fran, I cannot agree with you more. George Sanders is the one and only Saint. When I first saw Roger Moore as the Saint I shuttered. (Same way as when I saw him first play Bond.) Though Rog- did do fine playing opposite the Muppets, he and Miss Piggy are most definitely equal caliber actors. Viva Sanders and Sean!

The Saint is all new to me...we rented the Val Kilmer movie last night just at random. What a great movie! I remembered dimly that the movie was based on previous work, so while at work today I looked around and ended up here. This movie was just the kind I like to watch--a great mix of action and romance. So are the original books still in print or no? I would love to read a couple.

For what it's worth, Leslie Charteris, who after all, ought to know, always thought Moore was the closest to his conception of the character (I agree, by the way), while he detested George Sanders in the part. In fact he once said (I'm paraphrasing) that no one could be farther from the part than Sanders. As for Bond, I think Moore was the least of the five actors who've played Bond the Saltzman/Broccoli series, but that isn't the same as saying he was bad. I enjoyed him in the part. I just enjoyed Connery, Lazenby, Dalton, and Brosnan more (especially Connery). To some degree this was less because of Moore than because of the scripts. Moore is certainly a technically superior actor to George Lazenby, but *On Her Majesty's Secret Service* is one of the best movies in the series. Moore's Bond films, on the other hand, were often written with a view towards comic relief rather than action-adventure. He was acceptable as Bond, his films less so.

I don't find Roger Moore much like the Saint of the books. Sure he was very good-looking in the series, but the real Saint is supposed to be tan, athletic and had steely blue eyes that could probably burn a hole through your skull. Moore looked like a rich kid who hadn't done a day of hard work in his life.

Val Kilmer's Saint was, of course, even further from the truth. They had to make him politically-correct and acceptable to the 90's audience: non-smoking, non-violent, sensitive, full of angst and regret, fragile even! *GASP*

I've seen one or two models who might pass for the real Saint, but I can't think of any famous actors who could. Maybe it'll take a perfectionist like James Cameron to make a Saint movie anything like the real thing.

As to the books, it's a real pity they didn't reprint any to follow up with the recent movie. I find reading the Saint books such an uplifting, almost spiritual, experience! He could be all tied up and beaten to a pulp, for instance, and still he'd be smiling! Too bad not many people will get to know the real Simon Templar! :-)

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