The Saint - The Complete Monochrome Series

This is a great release of the classic ITC series The Saint. This first DVD set contains all the black and white episodes. And although there is a further set in colour, this set is better.The Saint is a long running TV series starring Roger Moore as Simon Templar. The character, Simon Templar is a sort of Robin Hood like adventurer. He has wealth that enables him to travel the world helping people out of difficult situations. He is handsome and suave. His initials are ST, which is also an abbreviation for "Saint".Simon Templar often uses a disguise and sometimes used the name Sebastian Toombs. The series was based on the books by Leslie Charteris. This is particularly true of the first few episodes. The version of the story for this series was created by the series scriptwriters. The original books had been written in the 1920s and they had been adapted for film before.The stories in these black and white series are really good. There are some strong plot lines and the production style and acting is fabulous. There are many guest stars. Some were well established at the time and others became more famous after the time of The Saint. There are a few regular characters. Most notably Ivor Dean as Templar's nemesis/reluctant ally, Inspector Teal.Simon Templar usually works alone but occasionally joins forces with other characters.Later the series was made in colour and they changed a few things. But one thing that distinguishes these early episodes is that Simon Templar speaks to the audience at the start of every episode. (With the switch to colour this gimmick was replaced by simple narration) This gives a feeling of closeness to the character as he is talking to us. Then we are drawn into the background activity which will conclude in the pre credits when someone refers to the Saint as "the famous Simon Templar", at which point an animated halo appears above Templar's head as the actor usually looked at the camera or directly at the halo. Some episodes such as "Iris" broke away from this formula and had Templar address the audience for the entire pre-credits sequence, setting up the story that followed.The music soundtrack by composer Edwin Astley is fabulous.This is one of the best series from ITC and it is really entertaining. The series has style and originality and still gives pleasure despite being in black and white and nearly fifty years old. It is highly recommended.

I grew up with Roger Moore no not personally , i mean when i was a kid he was always on tv. I have most of his movies and shows on DVD and i always promised myself one day i would buy the box sets of The Saint on DVD. I put off as there are a lot of episodes and it would take a great deal of commitment to sit and watch all 118 ..And what if they were no good i would have wasted my money? some of the shows of that era are just not that good ,The Champions, Dep S . My opinion .Well what with the sad death of Sir Roger earlier this year i though i would take the plunge and bought the lot, all the B/W episodes and color episodes to.And i am pleased i did THEY ARE BRILLIANT!The episodes are stand alone so you dont need to watch them in order, i wont bore you about who Simon Templer is as you got this far so you must know something of the series right.They are cracking boys own stories well written and cast with some of the stars of the day. Crafted into 45 mini episodes you are never board.Roger Moore is simply brilliant in this roll he shines and clearly enjoys it. He i swarve debonair an capable as The Saint. In fact if i were in trouble i think i would seek out his help.The quality of the picture is simply outstanding and has been clearly re mastered from the 35mm negative. The sound is less good but come on they were made in the 1960sMy set came with a nice episode booklet not many extras on the discs just a few stills.All i can say is that if like me you have been holding back DONT!Buy Them Now!

The 71 episodes contained in the COMPLETE MONOCHROME SERIES take an awful lot of commitment of your time to get through (and if you want more there are a further 47 featured in the COMPLETE COLOUR SERIES box) and as to whether you can really be bothered to will rather depend on quite how much you love the series.THE SAINT is one of those rather frustrating series that can be both a little bit brilliant and a little bit awful at the same time but is always at the very least entertaining and when it's good, it's very good indeed. Personally I think that the Black and White episodes are generally stronger than the later colour ones, but that might just be because they seem more atmospheric and the shortcomings of things like back projection can be more easily ignored. The monochrome era also differs from the colour era by having Simon Templar address the audience directly at the start of the show which is an unusual technique but went a long way towards engaging the audience with the character. Of course, the series dates from simpler times, so the storytelling is usually pretty straightforward as it comes from the days before ongoing story arcs became so popular in television action dramas, so every story is pretty self-contained and can stand alone if you're just in the mood for (just under) an hour of thrills and adventure, but of course this means that every episode has to stand or fall on its individual merits and some are obviously better than others.The ITC stable gave us many fine action/adventure series of a type no longer really made for modern audiences, but THE SAINT was pretty much the pick of the bunch. Of course, certain aspects of the show have seriously dated. The roles of women and foreigners are fairly typical of that era and may grate to modern sensibilities, and the world of the rich and wealthy that Mr Templar breezes through is probably lost forever (if it ever really existed at all) and every businessman seems to keep a revolver in his desk drawer. There is the occasional tendency towards the smug or the glib, and the fact that Simon Templar is so "famous" does tend to be glossed over when the story requires him not to be recognised but overall there's a real sense of charm if you look for it.The production is all on film and despite a lot of it being studio based there's a fair amount of location work too, although the extensive use of stock footage to represent the foreign locations does have to be glossed over in order to enjoy the stories fully, but, if you approach these episodes with an open mind, you'll find a lot to enjoy here.Roger Moore can be a very underrated actor, but he was almost born to play Simon Templar, and, as the other actors who have tried to follow in his footsteps have shown, nailed it completely, and played it absolutely pitch perfect, despite being quite far removed from the character in the books. Anyone who might have an attempt at playing Templar nowadays should really just try and be Roger Moore because, like Patrick MacNee as John Steed, it's just perfect casting that really can't be bettered.There's a whole galaxy of guest stars forming pretty much a cross section of the cream of British acting talent from the early 1960s, including some of the most iconic actors and actresses there have ever been, sometimes in very early roles. Occasionally they turn up again playing different roles a mere handful of episodes apart. Anyone who was anyone back than, it seems, appeared in THE SAINT. Ivor Dean eventually becomes the default and definitive Inspector Claud Eustace Teal after a couple of tryouts with other actors and forms a very engaging rapport with the thorn in his side that Templar seems to be. There are also early outings for directors who went on to greater things, like Peter Yates who takes his cameras out onto the gritty mean streets of post-war London to trial some of the car chase techniques he would later use so effectively in BULLITT.Extras include some excellent booklets, a shortish documentary which continues across other SAINT releases, and commentaries on some key episodes as well as a collection of other bits and pieces in a rather exhaustive and well produced release.

Excellent quality, arrived on time.Roger Moore before he was James Bond - FABULOUS series and well worth it.

I love this show and bought this after our beloved Roger Moore passed away. I have had this set about 6 years. The only problem is I just discovered this complete set is not complete. Season 5 episode 27 the gadic collection is missing. This made me very upset. I still give this 5 stars because The Saint is an excellent show and collection. Just remember it's the "complete" series minus one. Update.today I now own the COMPLETE Saint. I looked into older A&E box sets. The Saint volume 5 that has a purple box had my missing episode. All I can say episode's should not be suppressed. A disclaimer should be encluded. Let the viewer decide if he wants to see it or not. That's his right but don't stept on my right to see it. Don't make my choice for me.

Very likable, provided you are tuned to the age it was produced.Well packaged 📦

I came upon this series on YouTube of all places, never having heard of it before. I really enjoyed those few episodes that can be found there, so I decided to buy the series. If you like Roger Moore or the flair of TV from the sixties, than this is definitely for you! Roger Moore is brilliant, charming and charismatic as the "Saint" Simon Templar, a sort of modern Robin Hood or vigilante who fights criminals or just bad people in general on his own terms. The role is somewhat reminiscent of James Bond, a role Moore would later go on to play, as Templar is just as much a perfect gentleman, charming and stylish, but also a playboy and has rougish qualities. It is interesting to see Moore in his younger days. The episodes are mostly light-hearted, but very well written and entertaining and quite often very witty. The box set is also of very good quality, everything is as you would expect. As far as I can tell, there are no subtitles and the only available language is English, so you will need to be fairly fluent in English if you want to buy this. The video and audio quality is very good, the images are crisp and clear, as is the sound. The series is in monochrome and the audio is mono, ofcourse, but nothing is muffled or anything, quite the opposite in fact. Overall you get some very good value for your money!

Ceci est un 'must have' (on se doit de le regarder) - il ne manquait que ses premières histoires où il faisait parti d'un 'gang'