''The Saint in Manhattan'' is a 1987

television pilot A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie), in United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television network or other distri ...

for an Australian-filmed, US-backed revival series based on ''

The Saint The Saint may refer to: Fiction * Simon Templar, also known as "The Saint", the protagonist of a book series by Leslie Charteris and subsequent adaptations: ** ''The Saint'' (film series) (1938–43), starring Louis Hayward, George Sanders an ...

'' starring Andrew Clarke as

Simon Templar ''The Saint'' is the nickname of the fictional character Simon Templar, featured in a series of novels and short stories by Leslie Charteris published between 1928 and 1963. After that date, other authors collaborated with Charteris on books unt ...

. The pilot was not picked up for a series but on June 12, 1987, it was broadcast as the first installment of ''

CBS Summer Playhouse ''CBS Summer Playhouse'' is an American anthology series that ran from June 12, 1987 to August 22, 1989 on CBS. It aired unsold television pilots during the summer season. Overview Tim Reid and Daphne Maxwell Reid acted as hosts during the first ...

'', a series that aired unsold television pilots during the summer season. In 2012, the pilot was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

Madman Entertainment Madman Entertainment Pty. Ltd., also known as Madman Films, is an Australian distribution and rights management company headquartered in East Melbourne, Victoria, specialising in feature films, documentaries and television series across theatri ...

in Australia. The DVD has since been out of print.

Plot

The Saint returns to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, feeling restless and bored. But the tedium is about to escalate to full-blown excitement when he is contacted by an old flame, Margo, a ballerina who is set to star in a high profile performance. She has received death threats in the guise of a mutilated doll being left in her dressing room, and as part of the ballet, she will don a million dollar tiara on opening night. The performance goes without mishap, however, upon leaving the stage the tiara has somehow been swapped with a fake, and The Saint's calling card has been left in its empty box. Someone has framed Simon, and his old adversary Inspector Fernack is quick to point the finger.

Production

The pilot was shot in Manhattan in April 1987.

Cast

* Andrew Clarke as Simon Templar *

Kevin Tighe Kevin () is the anglicized form of the Irish masculine given name (; mga, Caoimhghín ; sga, Cóemgein ; Latinized as ). It is composed of "dear; noble"; Old Irish and ("birth"; Old Irish ). The variant ''Kevan'' is anglicized from , an ...

as Inspector John Fernack * George Rose as Woods *

Christopher Marcantel Christopher is the English version of a Europe-wide name derived from the Greek name Χριστόφορος (''Christophoros'' or '' Christoforos''). The constituent parts are Χριστός (''Christós''), "Christ" or "Anointed", and φέρει� ...

as Joey *

Holland Taylor Holland Virginia Taylor (born January 14, 1943) is an American actress. She won the 1999 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her role as Judge Roberta Kittleson on ABC's ''The Practice'' (1998–2003). F ...

as Fran Grogan *

Caitlin Clarke Caitlin Clarke (born Katherine Anne Clarke, May 3, 1952 – September 9, 2004) was an American theater and film actress best known for her role as Valerian in the 1981 fantasy film ''Dragonslayer (1981 film), Dragonslayer'' and for her role ...

as Lily Palmer / Jessica Daniels *

Liliana Komorowska Liliana Komorowska (born 11 April 1956) is a Polish actress and filmmaker. She has appeared in more than fifty films since 1964. Selected filmography References External links * * 1956 births Living people Actresses from Gdańsk Po ...

as Margot Katka

Reception

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

'' wrote that Andrew Clarke was not well suited for the role, especially in contrast to

Roger Moore Sir Roger George Moore (14 October 192723 May 2017) was an English actor. He was the third actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond in the Eon Productions film series, playing the character in seven feature films between 19 ...

in the 1967 television series. ''

The Los Angeles Times ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' reported that most of the viewers who watched the pilot on

voted "yes". Despite this, the series was never picked up. Critics also compared The Saint's physical appearance to

Thomas Magnum Thomas Sullivan Magnum IV is a fictional character on the American television series ''Magnum, P.I.''. As the title suggests, the character Magnum is a private investigator. In the original series, Magnum was portrayed by Tom Selleck. Jay Herna ...

Magnum, P.I. ''Magnum, P.I.'' is an American crime drama television series starring Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum, a private investigator (P.I.) living on Oahu, Hawaii. The series ran from December 11, 1980 to May 8, 1988 during its first-run broadcast on ...

, especially with his mustache. Also, the black Lamborghini Countach 5000QV used by The Saint was compared to Magnum's red

Ferrari 308 GTS Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint in Manhattan 1987 American television episodes Television films as pilots Television pilots not picked up as a series 1980s American television specials