Episode #72 - 5-1

The Queen's Ransom

CAST:
Dawn Addams - Queen Adana
George Pastell - King Fallouda
Nora Nicholson - Hortense
Catherine Feller - Michele
Stanley Meadows - Georges
Gary Hope - Major Aboukir
Patrick Westwood - Saleb
Peter Madden - Farid
Neville Becker - Mahmoud
John Woodvine - Pilot
Larry Taylor - Mustafa
John Forbes-Robertson - Claude
John Serret - Bank Manager
Andre Charisse - First Gendarme
Ernst Ulman - Arab Servant

Directed by Roy Baker; Screenplay by Leigh Vance

STORY:
While in Monte Carlo Simon prevents an assassination attempt on King Fallouda. The latter one explains that he wants to regain his kingdom - all he needs are five million pounds which Queen Adana's jewels will provide. Fallouda asks Templar to accompany his wife Adana on the trip to Zurich where she will get the jewels from a safe deposit. The Saint can thwart the first attempt to rob the valuables on their way back to the Zurich airport. But when the plane pilots turn out as enemies Simon and Adana find themselves in the middle of nowhere somewhere in France... Fallouda's enemies on their track.

OPINION: Like the old lady says this episode is "smashing fun" - it reminds me of some of the old 1940's screwball comedies.

NOTES:
* Dawn Addams also appears in Episode #13 "The Fellow Traveller" and #32 "The Lawless Lady"
* George Pastell also appears in Episode #4 "The Covetous Headsman", #97 "When Spring is Sprung" and #113/114 "Vendetta for the Saint"
* Stanley Meadows also appears in Episode #18 "Marcia" and #35 "The High Fence"
* Stanley Meadows also appears in the episode "The Man in the Middle" of The Persuaders
* Patrick Westwood also appears in Episodes #28 "The Wonderful War" and #40 "The Miracle Tea Party"
* Peter Madden also appears in Episode #113/114 "Vendetta for the Saint"
* Neville Becker also appears in Episodes #12 "The Charitable Countess", #19 "The Work of Art" and #69 "The Saint Bids Diamonds"
* Larry Taylor also appears in Episodes #20 "Iris" (uncredited), #30 "The Romantic Matron" (as Laurence Taylor), #51 "The Unkind Philanthropist", #66 "The Smart Detective", #104 "The Double Take" (uncredited) and #117 "Portrait of Brenda"
* Larry Taylor appears in the series "The Persuaders" in the episode "Chain of Events".
* John Forbes-Robertson also appears in Episodes #11 "The Man Who Was Lucky" and #61 "The Crime of the Century"
* John Serret also appears in Episode #15 "Judith", #64 "The Abductors" and #90 "To Kill A Saint"
* This is the first broadcast episode of the 47 produced by Robert S. Baker and Roger Moore (BAMORE).
The Mercedes is used in several episodes as the bad guys' car, i.e. #2 "The Latin Touch"
Who's the strange man who gets into the car? ;-) (0:13)
  When they leave Templar sits on the right side of the rear seat - when they arrive at the bank, he's on the left (0:14).
If you look closely you'll notice that the back corridor ist just a painting (0:14). It would later be used in Episodes #75 "The Reluctant Revolution" and #76 "The Helpful Pirate".
Note the boom microphone visible in the upper right corner (0:15).
The shaking car is so obviously wrong... also note the lights on the windscreen - they are not moving (0:19).
  The tree in the background is the same in Nice as in Zurich (0:09 and 0:20).
The shadow of the camera is very visible here... (0:21)
  The exterior scenes with the Moore and Addams were filmed entirely in the studio. It's very obvious in this scene where Moore first walks away from Dawn Addams but you can still see the same trees on the (painted) horizon in the direction he walks to (0:27).
The shopfront with the "H.E. Donke" sign is a leftover from Episode #78 "The Angel's Eye" (0:40).
The "hole" in the window is just a "blob" on the windscreen (0:47).

AIRDATE:
UK: 30th September 1966

GERMAN TITLE:
S.T. und die Königin

AVAILABLE ON:
* VHS (PAL): ITC 1043 (1994)
* DVD (NTSC): AAE-70229 (2001)
* Blu-ray: retro-ACTION! Volume 2, network 7957031 (2011)

THE SAINT
www.simontemplar.de

Last Updated: 01/01/2018