Because you have nothing better to do on All Saints Day, here’s a selection of the opening credits of The Saint, a Brit TV spy thriller starring a pre-Bond Roger Moore as a suave modern Robin Hood known as Simon Templar. He is described by his creator, author Leslie Charteris, as a “buccaneer in the suits of Savile Row, amused, cool, debonair, with hell-for-leather blue eyes and a saintly smile…” Though you wouldn’t know that from his graphic design.
The Saint boasts quite a mass media pedigree. He first appeared in books penned by Charteris dating back to the late 20s, which spawned comics and radio plays, a stage play, and sundry early film adaptations from the 30s onwards.
The Saint hit its zenith in a parade of TV versions that began in the early 60s and has been reincarnated at regular intervals to our present day (Moore himself is a producer on the latest, yet-to-be-released version). And lest we forget, Val Kilmer appeared as Templar in a 90s film version for some reason.
Though not as popular in the States as it is in the UK, The Saint is easily one of the most successful media franchises ever created that has spent, like, zero on logo design. A stick figure with a halo. Somehow it works as Templar’s calling card. As Da Vinci said, “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.?
