New release: The original black and white seasons of The Saint starring Roger Moore (Seasons 1 & 2) were released in a 10-disc box set this week by Shout Factory in the States. From the press release: "All 39 heavenly episodes from Season 1 & 2 of THE SAINT:Modern-day Robin Hood. Wealthy man of mystery. Debonair rogue. Call Simon Templar what you will, but never cross THE SAINT. A timeless figure of adventure since his creation by Leslie Charteris in 1928, The Saint has thrilled adventure aficionados with his exploits in a variety of media, including novels, movies, and radio: but nowhere was the dashing Mr. Templar more indelibly realized than in his 1960s television series, starring the perfectly cast Roger Moore in the title role. Seasons One and Two of The Saint set the stage for what would become a six season run on television, and paved the way for the dashing Roger Moore to take on the role of an even more famous man of action later in his career. With guest starring appearances by such notables as Oliver Reed (Tommy, Gladiator), Academy Award-winning actress Julie Christie (Darling, Doctor Zhivago) and a pair of beauties from the spy classic Goldfinger (Honor Blackman and Shirley Eaton), The Saint is a wild and witty adventure that is every bit as fun and exciting today as it was when it first aired." Bonus Features include: Audio Commentary On "The Talented Husband" And "The Saint Plays With Fire" By Roger Moore, Robert S. Baker (Executive Producer), and Johnny Goodman (Associate Producer); Audio Commentary On "Luella" By Roy Ward Backer (Director) and Sue Lloyd (Guest Star). 39 episodes. Black and White. US fans will be excited to see the series again for a reasonable price, especially if you've balked at the high cost of A&E's out-of-print editions. Spy Vibers can pick up the set for under $40. More info at the distributor's website here. Shout Factory also released a Complete Series box set last May. Enjoy! Also, don't miss out on Spy Vibe's contest to win a SIGNED copy of the new book, The Man With the Golden Typewriter: Ian Fleming's James Bond Letters,by Fergus Fleming. Two days left to enter! Details below.
Contest: Two days left to enter! Win a signed copy of The Man With the Golden Typewriter: Ian Fleming's James Bond Letters! One of the highlights of the summer was spending time with writer Fergus Fleming (Ian Fleming's nephew) and hearing about his upcoming anthology of his uncle's James Bond-related letters. The Man With the Golden Typewriter will contain numerous unpublished letters by Ian Fleming, which have been sourced from the Fleming Archive, the Cape Archive and private collections from around the world. I've been waiting eagerly for his book for many years and am so excited to see Fergus completing the task and keeping the project within the family. Bloomsbury has just released the book and I have three signed copies to give away to readers! That's right, you can win a copy of The Man With the Golden Typewriter: Ian Fleming's James Bond Letters signed by Fergus Fleming. Directions: All you have to do is email me at spyvibe[at]gmail.com with 1) "Letters" in the subject heading, 2) your mailing address, and 3) your favorite Ian Fleming quote. Winners will be chosen at random on October 18th. E-mails and addresses will not be kept on file. Good luck Spy Vibers! More details on our CONTEST POST here.
If your vibe is die-cast replicas of famous cars from cult spy TV programs, you'll want to take a look at some amazing little toys showing up on eBay these days. Someone has produced great versions of The Saint Volvo P1800, The Prisoner Lotus 7, The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Oldsmobile, Danger Man Mini and many others. One of the fun aspects of the line is that they have released interesting vehicles from specific episodes and films, rather than just focusing on the top few cars we've seen produced over and over. For example, I've seen quite a few Emma Peel-related cars from different episodes, like "Dead Man's Treasure", "The Hidden Tiger", "From Venus With Love", "The See Through Man", and more. The Danger Man site mentioned many models last year as limited-edition creations by Jim Wilson (there may by others who create such editions). According to auction photos, each car comes with a very well-designed display box with cool art and facsimile signatures. They are marked as "Code 3" creations, which specifies the toys as refinished and altered models, basically customized to match designs based on classic programs. Thank you to Agent Jones of The Prisoner group for his intel about Code 3 models. Prices tend be quite high (over $100), as each car may be limited to about 5 pieces in the run. Search for eBay seller "sticklogo" for current listings and happy collecting. Click for larger view. Enjoy!
Take a Sunday drive with Spy Vibe and THE SAINT! Roger Moore as Simon Templar put his Volvo P1800 through the paces in a high-speed chase through 1963 London- not only a thrill of editing, but a wonderful time-capsule of the cars, fashion, and architecture of the time. The scene is from "The Rough Diamonds" (season 2, episode 10), which co-starred Douglas Wilmer (The Avengers, Sherlock Holmes, HG Welles' Invisible Man, A Shot in the Dark, The Baron, Hammerhead, UFO, The Protectors). Moore and Wilmer were reunited in Octopussy in 1983. Next up, Jay Leno's Garage takes us on a tour of the famous Volvo P1800 from The Saint. Wrap up your morning of motoring with XCar and their documentary about The Saint. Enjoy!
Take a trip back in time with Roger Moore in his Volvo P1800 and hear about his career and experiences making The Saint. It's a wonderful 13-minute 1960s interview from the French TV archives (in English), where they even ask Moore to sing and to draw a caricature.Link here. Thanks to agent Thierry for putting this on our radar! Images below: publicity photo with Roger Moore, vintage P1800 from the Volvo Museum.
Take a drive in a vintage Volvo P1800! Hop in as XCAR takes viewers daytripping down the motorway to explore the history and handling of this classic auto, made famous by Roger Moore in The Saint (1962-1969). Edited in lovely black and white, 8 minutes. Enjoy!
Still need to enter Spy Vibe's summer contest to win vintage prizes? The deadline has been extended to August 16th. Details here. Get ready to meet MIKI ZERO, a Japanese fashion model and spy from 1965! I've written a novel inspired by Spy Vibe. More info at my website here.
