The Saint (1997 film)
| The Saint | |
|---|---|
| File:The Saint Poster.jpg The Saint promotional poster | |
| Directed by | Phillip Noyce |
| Written by | Leslie Charteris (character) Jonathan Hensleigh Wesley Strick |
| Produced by | David Brown Robert Evans William J. MacDonald Mace Neufeld |
| Starring | Val Kilmer Elisabeth Shue |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release date | April 4 1997 (USA) |
Running time | 116 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $70,000,000 (est.) |
The Saint is a 1997 film based on the character of Simon Templar created by Leslie Charteris in the 1920s for a series of books published as "The Saint." The character was initially featured in a series of Hollywood movies made between 1938 and 1954. In the 1960s, a popular British television series called The Saint (with a catchy introductory song) featured a then relatively unknown actor named Roger Moore as Simon Templar. Moore went on to play a similar role when he became the long term replacement for Sean Connery as James Bond. The film stars Val Kilmer, Elisabeth Shue, and Rade Serbedzija. It was directed by Phillip Noyce and written by Jonathan Hensleigh .
It should be noted that in this version, Kilmer's character does not claim to be the Simon Templar created by Charteris. He is, in fact, an orphan whose name is unknown, and has created a parallel life in the image of his childhood hero, whose adventures he read about. He refers to himself as Templar only during a childhood flashback sequence.
Plot
Simon Templar is a professional thief nicknamed "The Saint." To throw off law enforcement, he assumes the names of dead saints, who are people recognized by the Roman Catholic Church as having verifiably witnessed three miracles. Templar's usual modus operandi is mentioning that he was named after a saint.
Templar is hired by Ivan Tretiak, a Russian dictator-turned-billionaire oil baron who once again has his eye on the presidency of the Russian Federation, to steal the formula for cold fusion being developed by the eccentric Dr. Emma Russell. Theoretically, cold fusion could create heat and energy from open air, and it would be cleaner than petroleum and safer than nuclear power. And it would be far, far more inexpensive.
The deal would put Templar at the $50 million mark in his Swiss bank accounts and allow him to retire from the life of thievery.
However, Tretiak wants the formula solely to prevent Dr. Russell's theoretical design from becoming reality, and to aid this, he has engineered a heating oil shortage during the harsh Russian winter to force the Russian people to side against the nation's honest president.
Templar, in the guise of St. Thomas More, has developed a crush on Dr. Russell, but he reluctantly steals her formula and turns it over to Tretiak. However, the formula is incomplete, and Tretiak's becomes intent on capturing both Templar and Russell to force her to complete it. However, Templar, normally a loner, and Dr. Russell have fallen in love with each other. Templar then has to save both of them while having Tretiak exposed as a criminal.
As Dr. Russell works to complete the formula, Templar confronts the president in his home and tells him to admit to Tretiak's accusations publicly. However, it is Tretiak who is exposed as the fraud as the failed cold fusion reactor Tretiak presents as evidence begins working.
Ironically, the man who is known as "The Saint," arguably becomes one for witnessing three miracles: falling in love, doing something for reasons other than money, and for a man who made stealing his life's work suddenly discovering that fighting for what's right is more far satisfying than money.
Cast
- Val Kilmer - Simon Templar
- Elisabeth Shue - Dr. Emma Russell
- Rade Serbedzija - Ivan Tretiak
- Valeri Nikolayev - Ilya Tretiak
- Henry Goodman - Dr. Lev Botvin
- Alun Armstrong - Inspector Teal
- Michael Byrne - Vereshagin, Tretiak's Aide
- Yevgeni Lazarev - President Karpov
- Irina Apeksimova - Frankie
- Lev Prygunov - General Sklarov
- Charlotte Cornwell - Inspector Rabineau
The voice of Roger Moore, who played Simon Templar in the 1960s TV series, can be heard on a radio.
Production history
Paramount's attempt to make a film of The Saint started with the powerhouse above-the-line team of Robert Evans as producer, Steven Zaillian as writer and Sydney Pollack as director. Ralph Fiennes - hot from Schindler's List and Quiz Show was offered $1 million for the lead. In a 1994 interview for Premiere magazine, Fiennes said the screenplay - racing fast cars, breaking into Swiss banks - was nothing he hadn't seen before.
Robert Evans left the project - although, contractually, his name remains on the final film's credits - and David Brown (Jaws, Driving Miss Daisy) took over. A new story was commissioned from Jonathan Hensleigh (Die Hard With a Vengeance) which cast Simon Templar as a mercenary hired by a billionaire Russian oil and gas tycoon to steal the secret of cold fusion from an eccentric but beautiful American scientist. The story would take place in Washington, D.C., Upstate New York, St. Petersburg and Moscow. Setpieces included Dr. Russell skydiving while strapped into a wheelchair and a plane landing in Red Square. Darwin Mayflower described it as one of the top unproduced screenplays. [1] Phillip Noyce was hired to direct.
In a 1997 interview with Des O'Connor for his ITV show, Hugh Grant says he passed on the role after a meeting with Noyce because he felt it didn't sound too much like the original character. Mel Gibson, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Kevin Costner and Johnny Depp all said no to the role. Schwarzenegger later said he was sorry he didn't do it. Val Kilmer was cast and the script was rewritten by Wesley Strick to suit his style.
Strick's rewrite relocated the action to London and Oxford and merged two villains together by having Tretiak running for president himself rather than endorsing a puppet candidate. Kilmer was constantly pressing for more disguises in the film, although Paramount wanted to keep that idea for their Mission: Impossible franchise.
When the final film was test screened, audiences reacted badly to the death of Dr. Emma Russell.
Template:Spoiler In the original version of the film - as in the original Jonathan Hensleigh script - Dr. Russell, having escaped Russia via the American embassy, collapses while giving a lecture and dies in The Saint's arms. Watching the videotape back, he sees Tretiak, Jr. stabbing her in the leg with the tip of his cane. The final half-hour has the Saint returning to Moscow to destroy the villains' plans and avenge her death. With Dr. Botvin's help, he switches the formulas around and humiliates Tretiak during his show trial of the Russian president. The Tretiaks shoot their way out of the crowd and escape back to their mansion, with The Saint and the Russian army in pursuit. Tretiak shoots the treacherous Dr. Botvin. The Saint arrives and finds the bodies of Botvin and Tretiak, killed by his own son. The Saint battles Dr. Russell's killer on the stairwell as Russian tanks pound the mansion walls, exposing and setting fire to the vast stockpile of heating oil in the basement. With the stairwell disintegrating around them, the fight spills out on to the chandelier, suspended above the blazing oil. The Saint teases Treatiak, Jr. with the disc containing the formula for cold fusion. As he reaches out for it, The Saint cuts the rope and Tretiak, Jr. plummets to a fiery death. Returning to Dr. Russell's home, the Saint finds a letter from her, a tear fills his eye and he vows from now on to use his skills only for good.
Test audiences didn't like the way Dr. Russell died three-quarters of the way into the film; it was a little confusing as to what had happened to her. The novelization features an alternate version in which Dr. Russell lives and The Saint and Tretiak, Jr. still battle on the chandelier. In the end, however, the producers decided to cut Dr. Russell's death scene, chopped off the action-packed climax, inserted footage of the Tretiak's being arrested and filmed a new epilogue at Oxford. (Footage from the original ending features prominently in the film's trailer.) Director Phillip Noyce hopes one day to be able to restore the original version for DVD.