User Reviews

During his seven hour flight from New York to Paris, Simon befriends a woman on her way to meet her long lost brother. Upon arrival, she learns that her brothe's been murdered. Fearing for her safety, Simon agrees to look into things. And wouldn't you know it, Simon's right. It's not long after Simon starts his investigation that the woman is kidnapped by a Nazi sympathizer.

The Covetous Headsman is easily the best episode I've seen so far. This one could have easily been fleshed out into a full length movie. There's a lot packed into the 49 minute runtime. The writing is very strong. There are plenty of twists and turns and a real sense of danger. The story kept me guessing until the very end. Roger Moore is on top of his game and is much more believable in the action scene that he would be later in his career. Barbara Shelley makes the perfect woman in peril. She's outstanding. The rest of the cast, especially George Pastell, are more than up for the task. Overall, a really nice piece of television.

Two more things before I end this:

1. Not unlike another IMDb comment I read, I was bothered throughout by the notion of Simon working with the French Resistance during WWII. Based on Moore's age in 1962, Simon would have been somewhere around 16 years old I'm not sure how realistic that might have been.

2. I always love seeing 1960s-era everyday life. In this episode, we're treated to some interesting shots of the now renamed Idlewild Airport and the streets of Paris. I can't seem to get enough of this stuff.

8/10

On a long flight from New York to Paris. The Saint sits next to an attractive woman who is off to Paris to see her long lost brother.

On arrival the woman is told that her brother was murdered. The Saint decides to help out.

Later some thieves try to steal a pendant around her neck. Her brother had a similar one.

The person behind it all is a Nazi collaborator who betrayed members of the French Resistance.

This is a more gritty episode with a substantial backstory. It is notable that it was made in an era where memories of collaborators would be raw.

More what we became used to in this episode of the series. Simon meets a damsel in distress while on the plane to Paris and after her brother is murdered, he sets out to help her. Beautiful women, colourful locations(even if stock footage of Paris!), an evil criminal mastermind, meddling policemen, fist fights, all add up to a pleasing story.

Setting the standard for what the formula would be in the future years, this is a fast paced tail of intrigue and hits the ground running, very little padding makes for an exciting tale.

However it does take a little leap of suspension of disbelief in the plot line to imagine the very youthful Simon Templar been a part of the French resistance in the 2nd World War! He must have been fighting the Nazis in a nappy/diaper.