The WAY to WOW Shows
Cocktails & The Saint
August 13, 2026
Automatically generated from YouTube captions; names and wording may contain errors.

[0:01] [music]

[0:02] >> And where are you going? What do you want?

[0:13] >> [music]

[0:16] >> Hello and welcome to [ __ ] Sis Place. I'm your host Kevin Bemmel and we're here every other Thursday at 5:00 p.m. to have a cocktail and a schmooze and today on on today's show I'm going to be talking about the legendary character The Saint. Now, for you know, for all of my Roman Catholic and Orthodox Christian viewers, I don't mean any of the saints that that are to whom you are you know, devoted in your faith. I'm talking about the character created by Leslie Charteris

[0:52] about whom I'll I'll talk once I've made the cocktail but he he you know, I started I've known about the Saint for quite a while. I've watched I think all of the TV shows from the British series starring Roger Moore but it was only I think the end of last year beginning of this year that I started reading the books and as is so often the case the books are so much better than the TV the movies all that kind of stuff. And so in honor of the

[1:28] Saint I first of all I'm wearing a jacket of structured jacket although this is this is still from 11T. It's a really nice camel colored soft wool wool jacket and and I'm but the cocktail I'm going to make is a variation of the corpse reviver and when I talk about the Saint you'll I I understand why and the reason it's a uh it's a a variation is because

[2:03] I think traditionally a Corpse Reviver was made with Lillet Blanc. Lillet Blanc is is not kosher and so I'm going to be making it with Blanc Vermouth uh which is one of the uh it's a variety of vermouth that I mean it you find it around but it's not one of the two main varieties of vermouth being French vermouth which is dry and Italian vermouth which is usually sweet and of a pinkish or reddish hue. So the saint being a British sir this is a gin cocktail and although

[2:42] admittedly my favorite gin is Citadelle which is made in France I'm going to be using Sipsmith which is a London Dry Gin made in London and it's it's just a great all around gin and then I'm also going to be using Cointreau which which is an orange liqueur for my for my money the best orange liqueur around and then I'm going to be using Cinzano vermouth blanco

[3:17] this this is a kosher variety that I got when I was in Israel and then some fresh squeezed lemon juice and then finally a dash of absinthe. This is Lucid absinthe. I found this quite a number of years ago now more than 10 years ago and it it this one for those of you who are keep kosher like me but are very strict uh the old version of this has has a certification on it the new version does not uh

[3:52] absinthe is not a liqueur, it is a liquor. And so, uh for for people who were not super strict about um you know, everything has to be certified. So, any any kind of absinthe that is of a high quality and doesn't have artificial colors in it uh will meet that standard. So, I have my uh my shaker, my coupe, and okay, so we're going to start out with 3/4 of an oz of gin. And this is actually a an an easy cocktail to make in the sense that um all the ingredients

[4:29] are uh 3/4 of an oz. So, it's a 1 1 1 1 uh variety. And so, there's that's the gin. And Woah. And then the Cointreau. Gosh. Here we go. Going to have to get some more soon, I think. Put that in there. And then next is the

[5:04] the blanc vermouth. This is a new bottle. Maybe not. I thought it was. And then 3/4 of an oz of fresh lemon juice, fresh squeezed, good stuff. And then just a dash of absinthe. So, have to do this carefully so I don't overdo it. There we go, just a little

[5:39] bit. And we're going to cover up the shaker and we're going to shake. And you know, as always, we're shaking not just to mix, but also to let some of the ice melt because the water brings out the flavor. Um this is You can see this is icing down quickly. Uh I I put a lot of ice in cuz I was almost out of my ice anyway, so I put whatever I had in here. Nice and frosty.

[6:17] Okay. And uh for those of you who know the movie Cocktail, no, I don't do all the fancy stuff that Tom Cruise did because I would end up spilling and knocking myself in the head. Okay. Take the cap off. And we're going to pour this. There we go. Looks a little bit like a nebula. Let's give this a taste.

[6:52] Ah. Very nice. Okay. I will see you over on the sofa.

[9:39] >> Mhm.

[11:26] >> How silly me. I've been talking all this time with my microphone uh muted. I'm so sorry. Um Okay, so anyway, I'm not going to repeat all the stuff I said about um thanking you for subscribing, but just so you know what happened in the last three or four minutes that I've been talking and you can't hear me. Uh earlier this week my YouTube channel uh went over 8,000 subscribers and I and I want to thank you very very much uh for subscribing. And uh it it it it really means a a lot to me. So,

[12:02] uh so this is this is the first of the Saint books. It's not Leslie Charteris's first book, but it's the first one with the Saint as a character, one of my favorites, and one of the main reasons is because we meet this character, Patricia Holm, uh who you see uh throughout the Saint books for the first mm 10 or 15 years that uh Charteris wrote the books. She's a wonderful character. Uh you know, would be that she were a

[12:37] real woman, I suppose, um because I think most men would uh she she's the kind of woman most most men would want to uh meet and marry. Which is of course much easier to do in a fictional character uh than it is in real life. But anyway, um so and then and another one of my favorites is The Saint in New York. So, the Saint is a British character, as I mentioned a moment ago, uh but he did eventually go uh fairly international. There are

[13:13] several Saint books uh set in the United States, and there are others set in other countries. Sometimes the country isn't exactly specified. There's one that I think must be set in Central or South America. Um it's not set in a country that uh that actually exists, but the way the place is described, it sounds like that. And if you like James Bond or if you more than like James Bond,

[13:48] uh whether it's the movies, the books by Ian Fleming, so The Saint pre dates James Bond by, you know, roughly 30 years, 35 years. He I think in many ways I I I never met Ian Fleming, unfortunately. Um I have read his biography to the best of or at least one of his biographies to the best of my recollection, it never mentions anything about him having read The Saint books, but I just suspect he probably has

[14:26] uh because there are um a number of similarities between The Saint and James Bond. Uh one of the main differences is The Saint is not as overtly a womanizer as James Bond. Um and and the other is, you know, James Bond works for His Majesty's Secret Service. I think it's MI5 if I'm not mistaken or MI6. Uh The Saint starts out as a criminal.

[15:01] Um uh more like a Robin Hood kind of criminal. He eventually sort of leaves his criminal past behind and becomes uh a kind of a reformed criminal, uh but he's never he never becomes a policeman or anything like that. He does at times work with law enforcement, but it's always a somewhat tense relationship. And so, the Saint is

[15:36] uh definitely a scoundrel in that sense. Uh but, he he is a scoundrel in the way that that Robin Hood uh was was a scoundrel. And he he also is someone who both lives within, but also kind of bucks social convention. And I think that stems from his creator, uh a man by the name of Leslie Charteris. So, uh Leslie Charteris, I've got some notes here because I want to make sure I give

[16:12] you accurate information. So, Leslie Charteris was born Leslie Charles Boyer Yin in Singapore in 1907. So, uh he his father was Chinese, and his mother was English. And he of course went on to become a British-American writer and screenwriter. He also he also wrote some screenplays. So, uh his the fact that he was mixed race, uh but really lived most of his life in

[16:48] Britain, I know we tend to think of the English as being very open-minded, and in some ways they certainly are. Uh you know, over 100 years ago, or 100 years ago when when Charteris was a teenager, uh it was difficult being uh you know, to have a Chinese father. And and so, he grew up both inside British society, but also is kind of an outsider which is again a trait that I think he gave to this great character,

[17:25] The Saint. So, he was an adventurer as well as a writer and he he was he he traveled all over the world. He was into automobiles and sailing and aviation. And while that did may not seem so amazing today, you know, 100 years ago when well when he was born, you know, the Wright brothers hadn't flown at Kitty Hawk yet. And so aviation didn't exist. Automobiles were relatively new invention. And and so to

[18:02] be involved in those kinds of activities was a very adventurous thing for someone to do. Uh and and um you you you see this this adventurous aspect of Leslie Charteris in how The Saint approaches his life. So, he attended King's College at Cambridge um but he left before completing his degree um in order to write and he I think it's

[18:40] reasonable to say he didn't really fit into Cambridge. Again, partly because of his mixed-race background. So, he began writing in the 1920s and he wrote several novels before he he conceived of The Saint. Uh they were, you know, not particularly uh successful. And then in 1928 he published the first Saint novel, uh Meet the Tiger. It was uh um sometimes uh um on it was The Saint

[19:16] meets the tiger, uh, the tiger being the villain. And and it was successful. And so, uh, Charteris realized he had hit upon a character that people liked and and wanted to read uh, more about him. And so, that that set him on really the work that absorbed the rest of his life. Um, but he was not just involved in writing novels. Um, he The Saint character appeared serialized in magazines, which was

[19:52] pretty common in the 30s and even into the 40s. So, often times a story would be serialized in a a a magazine first and then the novel would come out later. Uh, he was also involved in radio, film, television, um, and and and uh, other media. So, uh, he worked in Hollywood. Most notably, for those of you like me who are fans of uh, radio uh, shows, so he wrote some of the episodes of the Sherlock Holmes

[20:28] radio show uh, with Basil Rathbone, which again, to my from my perspective is the best uh, Ra- Basil Rathbone was the best uh, of the radio uh, Sherlock Holmes. Um, Nigel Bruce played uh, Dr. Watson and I think Nigel Bruce, too, was the best uh, Dr. Watson. So, as as he wrote The Saint, eventually he transitioned from writing the books himself to overseeing the writing of of The Saint

[21:04] books. So, other people wrote them under his direction. I I think the last one he wrote, I want to say it was 1965, thereabouts. Um even though the character continued on for another 10 or 15 uh yeah, 10 or 15 years, there thereabouts. Um he died in 1993 um on April 15th. And uh just just shy of his uh 94th birthday um in Windsor, England. And by then

[21:40] The Saint Simon Templar was internationally known. Uh the the Saint books have been published in numerous countries in the world besides the UK and the United States, including France, Germany, Italy uh the Netherlands, Spain um Mexico um I I'm not sure if if any of the um Asian countries, Japan. I think Japan actually did uh uh publish the Saint books. So uh The Saint is known as a character all

[22:17] over the world. As well, he should be because he was an international adventurer. Okay. Uh so I talked a little bit about who The Saint was as a character already. So he he never was a conventional detective. So he's not a a a Nero Wolfe. Uh he's not an Ellery Queen. He is in fact

[22:53] a very very clever criminal. Uh and when I say very clever uh one of his chief rivals, uh, Inspector Claude Eustace of Scotland Yard, in many cases is absolutely certain that the Saint has committed the crime that's been committed, but he can never get the evidence to convict him. And and that's part of the the the Saint

[23:28] gestalt is he he has this sort of love-hate relationship with, uh, Claude, or as he calls him, Claude Eustace. It's actually, I'm sorry, it's Claude Eustace Teal, Claude Teal. He calls him Claude Eustace, uh, who's a rather rotund fellow who works for Scotland Yard. And, uh, Inspector Teal, I I you know, I I I don't recall him ever coming out and saying this, but I think he has kind of a begrudging respect for the Saint because,

[24:03] despite being a criminal, the Saint is always on the side of what's right and just. So, he is a criminal who prays on other criminals who are harming other people, innocent people. He's the criminal who will steal the jewels from a jewel thief. He is the criminal. Now, he won't return the jewels, okay? Um, that's why he's like Robin Hood. Uh, on the other hand,

[24:39] if the victim is a a poor person, he is the person who will see to it that justice is served by the criminal being caught or, in some time in some cases, killed. Um, and the the poor person uh receiving um recompense. And so it it's it's I I think, you know, the 1930s was a period of um well, we're talking the post-World War I

[25:16] period. There was a lot of um uh chaos is too strong a word. There was there was a lot of social unrest. The Nazis were beginning to rise in Germany. Uh um there was a lot of there militant socialism was uh developing in places like England and the United States. And so I think in many ways the Saint was a character born out of the desire for people to on

[25:54] the one hand see justice done uh and being frustrated with conventional law enforcement not being able to do that. And yet uh sort of having a a fond place in their heart uh for someone who would work outside the conventional justice system in order to bring that about. So, I think that has a lot to do with the popularity of the Saint. Uh I think people across He wasn't just

[26:29] sort of a you know, a middle-class icon in that sense. I think people across the, you know, uh the social strata uh looked to Saint as as someone who was worthy of their admiration. And you you see this reflected in the books. So, when, you know, the Saint meets, you know, a member of the British aristocracy, often times he finds that they know all about his exploits and although they may be the, you know, the conservative of the conservatives, uh

[27:06] they still respect the fact that someone like the Saint exists and can see to it that justice is served and that uh people who have been uh who have been taken advantage of are not left, uh you know, destitute or bereft of some sense that what happened to them shouldn't be allowed to happen unchallenged. And, you know, so if you have if you have a sense of of

[27:43] feeling like justice should prevail, in that sense I think you will find the Saint to be uh a a very nourishing character. Um look, he he will not uh blanch from killing someone if that person very badly needs to be killed because they are an evil person to the core. They have committed despicable acts and they have demonstrated they are will

[28:21] not repent. And and while this is not a call, uh of course, for violence or anything like that, uh I I I think we we can all acknowledge that we want evil to to to get its due and and in the Saint books, uh it surely does. So, let's see. Um

[28:50] >> [clears throat]

[28:52] >> what else do I have here that I want to tell you? Uh Yeah, so um the the sort of golden age of the Saint was the 1930s. Uh Charteris in in some cases wrote more than one book a year. Some two, I think I think in one case he wrote three books. He was tremendously prolific in the 1930s and into the early 1940s. Now, it is it's interesting to note that uh as the Saint

[29:29] matures in the books his perspective matures as well. So, as we head into the early 1940s, which of course by 1939 England was involved in fighting Nazi Germany in World War II, we see the Saint transition from being this kind of s- you know, Robin Hood scoundrel criminal who to a certain extent will stop at nothing to achieve justice to someone committed to

[30:04] uh defeating the Nazi scourge. And some of those books, so The Saint in Miami, which I I recently finished reading is one of those books. And it it, you know, if you are at all a student of World War II, it's a great period piece to get a sense of how people viewed what was going on at that time. I didn't pull The Saint in in in Miami from from my bookshelf, but it's another

[30:40] one of my because it combines World War II with with with the Saint. Uh and and and another thing and that that that reveals another thing, another aspect of the Saint books that I that I find so interesting, which is they they on the one hand feel contemporary and yet on the other hand, they do give a window into historic you know, past past times, the

[31:17] '30s, '40s, '50s, et cetera. And I think it's good for us to know how people looked at life and lived in previous times. I think there's a a tendency to think that we live in the worst of all times or that you know, people of whatever the '30s, '40s, '50s, whatever you know, they they lived lives that were manifestly better than ours. And they they certainly well, I shouldn't say certainly, but one can make the argument that they lived

[31:53] lives that were less complicated than ours. I I don't know that we could sustain the argument that they lived better lives. And while we can read non-fiction about you know, whatever time period we want that is different than experiencing the that time period through fiction which in in many ways is seeking to capture the emotion, the gestalt of that time period and gives a much better feeling

[32:30] for for for the people, how people lived, how they what they thought, uh you know, in during that time. Uh so, uh Okay, so, I I I want to wrap up. If you're not into reading books, and I know there are people who aren't, there are people I love dearly who are not. There are many ways to uh come in contact with the Saint character. So, uh there were a number of movies made. Uh the first uh major movie

[33:07] made was The Saint in New York. It starred uh Louis Hayward. He played Simon Templar in RKO's adaptation of the 1935 novel. Uh RKO, if you recall, was Howard Hughes's production company, did just a whole slew of great, great movies. Um and it was it was successful and it launched a rapid succession um of movies. Um the uh and then uh Louis Hayward was followed by George Sanders, um and he

[33:43] really became the definitive early movie Saint. He did several ones, including The Saint Strikes Back in 1939, The Saint in London in 1939, The Saint's Double Trouble 1940, The Saint Takes Over in 1940, and The Saint in Palm Springs in 1941. Now, I should note that not all of these movies are based directly on a book. In some cases, they were based on a book but given a different title. In other cases, they were given a different they were given a

[34:18] uh a original title. Uh or um and and and and a story was created from one of the books, um but but the title was changed. In other cases, uh Uh, they took a title from a book but basically did not follow the book at all. So, it was it was kind of a loose uh situation. Um, Charteris um uh was indeed often times not too happy about the liberties that Hollywood took uh when when they when it made movies from some of his books.

[34:53] Uh, but on the other hand, uh you know, he got a lot of money and and so uh I guess that was the the sort of recompense and the and the incentive to keep doing it. Um, Lewis uh sorry, Hugh Sinclair uh succeeded George Sanders um and he played the Saint in The Saint's Vacation 1941 and The Saint Meets the Tiger in 1943. Uh, Louis Hayward returned to playing Simon Templar, again the Saint, um in the '50s. He played The Saint's Girl Friday in 1954 and which was released in

[35:29] Britain as The Saint Returns. Uh, and and I I I I've I've never found a a book with with either one of those titles. Um, and then I think came the media effort that is probably the best known about the Saint and that is in the 1960s uh there was a television series um starring uh Roger Moore. It launched in 1963 and it was e- enormously popular. 118 episodes, 71 black and white, and 47

[36:07] color and it lasted until 1969. And uh a a short digression, many many years ago, I was involved in a wine and dinner club uh of which uh Roger Moore was a founding member. Uh, although at that point he was not a frequent attendee and this one particular dinner I was sitting at a table with the group of people that I with whom I normally sat and who do we see walk in but

[36:43] Roger Moore and his absolutely gorgeous wife it was I believe his second wife and her daughter she was some kind of British aristocracy as I recall and he looked just fantastic although this was pretty much after his career was over and you know I'm a fan you know of Roger Moore I love the Saint series I thought he was you know pretty good in the various James Bond movies he did

[37:18] but I would never I would never go and sort of intrude on his enjoyment of a dinner and lo and behold you know not not long after he came in we're sitting at the table talking and I feel somebody standing there and there's Roger Moore and he he he he said he said to us I hope you'll pardon me I I haven't been to a dinner in a while and I just wanted to come and say hello my name is Roger Moore and you know I'm very happy to see you and

[37:56] perhaps you'd introduce yourselves to me what a gracious way I mean there was no one at the table who did not know who he was and I was I was the first one cuz he was standing next to me and I I started to stand up he says no no please please stay seated and I I put out my hand and I shook his hand I said my My is Kevin Bemel it's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Moore. Simon Simon. I mean a Roger Roger. And he went around the table and he did that every single table. There were

[38:32] probably 10 of them at this particular dinner. Uh just just such a lovely lovely man. And he he he mentioned one of the wines he saw on the table. So I I think he he knew the wine or something. And toward the end of the dinner we had a little bit left. Um and so I asked the people I said, you know, should we give this to Roger? He said, oh, that's a great idea. So I brought the bottle of wine over to his table. And I said, you know, Mr. Moore, I thought you might like to share some of

[39:08] the wine that one of our people brought. He said, oh, that's that's so nice of you to bring this. And we said, well, since you're here, please meet my wife and this is her daughter.

[39:18] >> [laughter]

[39:19] >> Oh my gosh, you were perhaps the most beautiful woman I've ever seen, you know. So anyway, that's my digression about Roger Moore. Um you know, uh I yes, I guess I guess that makes Does that make me a fanboy? I don't I'm not even quite sure what that word means. But anyway, uh as far as I'm concerned, Roger Moore is the Saint. Uh if you if if you if I've intrigued you into wanting to know about the Saint, find the TV series first. If you like

[39:54] suave, intriguing beauty that it that is the the the television series, no doubt about it. Uh but there were other uh there were other versions. Oh, I I I That's right. I'm looking at my notes. So one of the iconic aspects of the TV show is the Saint drove a white Volvo P1800 and it is he just made that car iconic. I remember many, many years after this TV show cuz

[40:32] I think it was in the '80s I saw one of these cars with with my friend, I believe it was my friend Laura, and I said, "Oh, look, there goes a Saint car." Right? Because it was a a Volvo P1800. Yeah, it's a great sort of little coupe Volvo. But anyway, he made that car very, very popular. Um So, now he wasn't the only one to play The Saint on television. Ian Ogilvy played Simon Templar in the 1978-79 series. Um and he he he brought The Saint into a more contemporary setting.

[41:08] There were 20 episodes of that 24 episodes of that show. And you can see by the fact that it didn't last as long. I think I've never seen that show, but the Saint lives in a particular time. I don't think we can make The Saint modern without losing something about him. I mean we can take Robin Hood and make him a modern character, but we can't bring Robin Hood into 21st century, you know, America or England.

[41:43] It just It just doesn't work. Uh and um um there there were other attempts to revive The Saint. In 1987, there was a pilot starring Andrew Clark, and there were six 2-hour television movies in 1989-1990 featuring Simon Dutton as Templar. And then I think the last one uh that I'm aware of, Val Kilmer brought The Saint back to the big screen in 1997. It was directed by Philip Noyce. Um, and it it really kind of uh

[42:21] modernized uh Simon Templar. I did not see the movie, uh but that movie, but um his his his he played opposite Elizabeth Shue. She's a a a brilliant actress. Uh I mean, the movie I think I most love her in is Adventures in Babysitting. Um, I'm going to have to dig this movie up and and check it out. But, of course, Val Kilmer is a brilliant brilliant actor. If you have not seen Top Gun: Maverick, which is the last film he

[42:57] made, it is in some ways as much an homage uh to Val Kilmer as it is uh you know a a a a sequel to Top Gun. Uh I just, you know, Val Kilmer, just an an amazing amazing actor. If there is anyone who could fill uh Roger Moore's shoes, I I think it would be uh Val Kilmer. So, uh you know, I I talked a a couple weeks ago or maybe a month ago about romance and and and

[43:33] living a romantic life. And I think if if that's something that interests you, the Saint is is someone or is a character, I shouldn't say someone, he's not a real person, of course. He's a character about whom you want to know. Because he embodies the trait of justice. And again, I'm not suggesting we should go to extra-legal means uh to achieve justice. but

[44:09] I think it's valuable to read about a character who is committed to justice to inspire ourselves. And and and to be committed to justice with a bit of savoir-faire. And, you know, um, justice doesn't need to be brutality and violence. We can we can potentially achieve justice through verbal bantering and through,

[44:46] um, becoming successful uh, staying true to our values. And and I think the Saint typifies those kind of ideals. And I suspect that Leslie Charteris, that's what he was trying to convey. He was a man, uh, who was not 100% accepted into English society. And he achieved tremendous worldwide

[45:21] success and fame on his own terms.

[45:24] >> [snorts]

[45:24] >> And in a way, uh, without putting thumb to nose, did thumb his nose at the people who thought that because he was, you know, he had a Chinese father and a British mother, uh, was somehow lesser than other people. And so, I encourage you, I invite you to indulge in the Saint and and be inspired, uh, by, uh, his by by his commitment to these great ideals.

[45:59] I got one sip left here. Mhm. So I thank you so much for joining me here at Jigger's Place. And I really wish you a wonderful rest of the evening and a wonderful rest of the week and a restorative weekend. And hopefully I will see you again on one of the other shows or back here at Jigger's Place in 2 weeks. Thanks again. Signing off as I always do. Marie darling,

[46:35] you are my bell. Like Simon Templar, you inspire me to be the best version of myself. Courage at all times, my friends.