Trivia for
The Saint (1997) More at IMDbPro »

• When Simon Templar is disguised as a long-haired artist, his accent is a passable imitation South African, specifically Capetonian. He refers to his "home in Africa" and uses the vernacular Afrikaans pronunciation of Jesus ("Yissus!") as an expletive. It is interesting to note that in the short story "The Man Who Was Clever", someone does describe the Saint as South African; however, since the Saint has resorted to deception in the past to achieve his goals, the reliability of this information remains questionable.
  
  
• Mel Gibson and Ralph Fiennes were both considered for the role of Simon Templar.
  
  
• At the end when Simon Templar is driving and listening to the radio news announcer state that $3 billion was donated to the American Red Cross and other charities, the reflection of sunlight in the windshield creates a halo around Simon's head.
  
  
• In the original version of the film, Dr. Russell collapses while giving a lecture and dies in The Saint's arms. The Saint sees Tretiak, Jr. stabbing her in the leg with the tip of his cane. Thus the final half-hour has him set 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 Saint battles Dr. Russell's killer on a stairwell as Russian tanks pound outside, 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. Footage from the original ending features prominently in the film's primary trailer. Director Phillip Noyce hopes one day to be able to restore the original version for a Director's Cut DVD.
  
  
• The voice of the radio announcer at the end of the film is Roger Moore, who played the Saint on British television in the 1960s before going on to greater fame as James Bond in the 1970s.
  
  
• While filming in Oxford, England, the producers had the Bodleian Library (the main library of The University of Oxford) closed to the public for several days. This caused much complaint in the University, as a large proportion of the students were studying for exams.
  
  
• First big-screen Saint film since the 1950s. Plans for a Saint film date back to the 1980s, when Pierce Brosnan was reported to be a leading contender for the Templar role in a Saint movie that was to be produced by Roger Moore. This project never materialized.
  
  
• The name of the production buyer, John Lanzer, appears as the author of the book, "The Knights of Templar - Their Crowning Crusade", which Simon is reading in secret at the beginning of the movie during class at the orphanage.
  
  
• The saint pin that Elisabeth Shue's character gives to Val Kilmer's character is a recreation of the original TV series' logo.
  
  
• The poetry written by Simon Templar's long-haired artist character, Thomas Moore, was actually written by Val Kilmer himself.
  
  
• Val Kilmer refused to return to the Batman franchise after the box office smash Batman Forever (1995) in order to headline this film.
  
  
• Hugh Grant was offered the lead.
  
  
• The song that is playing in the Russian community flat where Simon and Emma hide is a Turkmen song performed by Atabay Chariguliyev, "Ayrilsa".
  
  
• Ralph Fiennes was offered $1 million to take the lead.
  
  
• Early in the film's development, Sydney Pollack was first choice for director.
  
  
• The nickname "Boris The Spider" used by Ivan Tretiak to communicate with the Saint is a reference to a 1966 song by The Who, written by bassist John Entwistle.
  
  
• This film uses the classic 'Saint' theme tune that, though often thought of as starting with the 1960's television show, actually began in the 1930's and 1940's RKO Saint films and appeared in the radio show with _Vincent Price (I)_. This theme tune, having appeared in numerous post 1960's television adaptations of the Saint, serves as one of the most frequently and longest lasting theme tunes of a media franchise.
  
  
• On May 29, 1991 Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat wrote that Finnish director Renny Harlin had signed a contract with Paramount to direct the new film adaptation of The Saint with Robert Evans producing.
  
  

Related Links