Oct 9, 2022
The Saint: The Saint Bids Diamonds (4.7, ITC, 1965)
"Ah, Felson! Good morning. You slept late."
"Do you mind?"
"Not in the least. Little touchy this morning, aren't we?"
"Just naturally unpleasant."
#the saint#the saint bids diamonds#1965#itc#leslie charteris#pat lasky#jesse lasky jr.#roger moore#eunice gayson#george murcell#jean st. clair#gerard heinz#peter illing#ed bishop#neville becker#laurence herder#ricardo montez#leslie norman#another of the comparatively rare full novel adaptations (and presumably the last; once the series hit colour‚ it became more dependent on#original scripts and relied much less on Charteris' work). Thieve's Picnic was first published in 1937 but had been given the title used by#this episode as early as the late 40s. i haven't read it as far as i can recall‚ but looking it up this appears to have been a relatively#faithful version‚ including most of the major plot beats. not entirely sure where the minor astrology subplot comes from and I'm even#less certain why Simon should be quite so sceptical (this is the man who experienced voodoo for real back in 3.21)#ed bishop spends almost the entire episode tied up in a cellar‚ so that Simon can impersonate him which can only mean... yep it's time for#another look at Roger Moore's American accents! he goes subtler here than he has in other eps so it's basically ok‚ tho it does wander in#one or two scenes. a fairly late role for Heinz (a great actor who never quite broke through like he deserved to) and a wonderfully#grotesque turn from the ever excellent Murcell‚ but this doesn't have the urgency or high stakes that the other novel adaptations have#shown. also Simon has been hired by a museum to get back some jewels? Simon Templar‚ viewed by most of the world as an infamous#jewel thief? quite a plan. this was the only Saint script from husband and wife team Pat and Jesse Lasky but both worked on#subsequent ITC productions including Danger Man and The Protectors.