Apr 14, 2022
The Saint: The Effete Angler (1.9, ITC, 1962)
"Tranquillisers! You eat them like popcorn."
"If you had my nerves, you'd understand."
"You get any more tranquil and you'll be paralysed."
#the saint#the effete angler#1962#leslie charteris#itc#anthony bushell#Norman Borisoff#roger moore#shirley eaton#george pravda#patrick mcalinney#paul stassino#jack gwillim#roland brand#kevin scott#gladys taylor#ronald wilson#after a couple of strong episodes im sorry to say we hit a dip with this one; it livens up a little once the wonderful George Pravda and#Paul Stassino arrive on the scene (two long time favourites); but before that it's really a bit of a slog‚ as Simon spends his time in#Miami trying to rent a boat and objectifying women. once he gets the boat there's an interminably lengthy fishing sequence which#nearly kills the episode before the plot has really begun. oh we also get our second gratuitous bath scene so far! (i really wouldn't have#included the image except that it's a pretty neat BTS photo). once the fishing is done we get a minor smuggling mystery#it's fine‚ nothing very new or different‚ but this suffers simply from having Simon be pretty unlikeable throughout. the way he talks to#Shirley Eaton's character at times is pretty gross‚ and what was i suppose meant to be flirtatious often comes off as just a little creepy#Pravda's enjoyably agitated bad guy makes up for it a little‚ but considering this is a pretty low stakes case of smuggling it's weird#and kind of off putting just how hard Simon goes into Saint mode. i mean yeesh he had a very different view of smuggling in#the second episode‚ where he considered it a pretty minor issue in the grand scheme of things; here he's going out of his way to get#involved and bring 'justice' to those he deems deserving. chill out Simon. you're on holiday ffs.
