Description

This wonderfully eerie film is based on three mysteries by Somerset Maugham, Roderick Wilkinson, and Brett Halliday.In the first tale, a doomed museum guard is magically transported into his favorite painting.In the second, two friends fall in love with the same woman, who is suddenly killed.The dramatic finale stars Orson Welles as a statesman driven mad by guilt after he destroys his political rival. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Wonderful
This is classic movies at their best. All three short story's are great, but the last one is a delight to watch over, and over again. Even if your not a Welles fan you'll like these stories (He is only in the last story.) ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Cartoonland...
"The Fiction Makers" originally was a two part episode from "The Saint" TV program, later packaged as a feature. By 1968, the series was winding down. Most of the original Saint stories had been adapted for the program, and the writers had been creating new original adventures for the character for some time. By then, most of the Saint's hard edge was gone, and what was left was just a shell, at times almost a cartoon character, especially in the hands of screenwriter John Kruse. There has always been an undertone of humor to the Saint, but here much too much is just played for laughs. For fans of the original Saint found in literature or even from the early days of the TV program, it is sad to see the decline of a once proud character.

That said, this comic book adventure, written by Kruse, features Roger Moore as Simon Templar, AKA "The Saint". "Amos Klein" is the reclusive author of James Bond type spy adventures. When a deluded band of crooks seek to make Klein's fictional world a reality, the Saint finds himself kidnapped, and mistaken for the famous author. The real Klein is actually a woman (Sylvia Syms), who is imprisoned with the Saint in a country manor. There, the gang plot the their upcoming caper, the robbery of a facility where valuables are stored. All that is needed to insure their success is the expertise and guidance from their creator (Klein). The Saint plays along with the deception until he can turn the tables on the gang and foil their criminal plans.

This is strictly lightweight entertainment. Fun, if your expectations are low. Production values are TV quality. Edwin Astley's main title music is good, and the opening credits are amusing. This adventure will be part of an up coming DVD boxed set of The Saint TV program, so if you are interested you may want to look there for it. If you are a fan of the Saint, you may want to see my other reviews of the DVD boxed sets of this program.

Ever So Saintly was Roger Moore...
While most remember Moore as Ian Fleming's super spy, James Bond, Moore was playing The Saint while Sean Connery hit the big screen as 007. This film was originally broadcast as a 2 part episode during the TV series. Then it saw release as a motion picture in several countries. Author & creator, Leslie Charteris, actually re-wrote the screen play into a novel by the same name in 1968.

Roger Moore's rendition of Simon Templar (The Saint) became the most famous. His tongue and cheek style was perfect for television (although he was never as ruthless as he was in the books).

In The Fiction Makers, Templar is hired by a publisher to protect his best selling authour, Amos Kline. Kline's books are a direct spoof of Fleming and Charteris' own stories, and the opening scene depicts Moore at a movie premiere poking fun of how predictable the "007-like" character was (how ironic).

Kline and Templar get kidnapped by S.W.O.R.D. (Secret World Organization for Retribution & Destruction) a take off on Fleming's "Spectre" organization and must write a plan for S.W.O.R.D. to break into the world's strongest bank (how very Goldfinger-esque...)

The film flows very well, with plenty of humour and Moore's perpetual raised eyebrow wit. A perfect addition for fans of the TV series, or fans of Moore in general. Great 60's spy soundtrack courtesy of Edwin Astley. My only complaint is that we only see Templar's car (his famous white Volvo 1800) for a few minutes.

The VHS transfer is excellent and the sound and picture quality are first rate. A steal at the price. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

El santo
Ya hay vodeos de "El santo" en existencia. ... Read more