The Pearls of Peace

I have to disagree with kmoh-1 (although I liked his review): I rather liked this episode.

It's a bit slower than most and, unusually, the Saint is really only a bit part in the story until the last 15 minutes or so; but it has some elements of the two Humphrey Bogart "Sierra" movies: greed, avarice, double-cross, disfigurement, pity, caring, and the nature of beauty.

Perhaps a bit much for a one-hour show, but I though it was an honest try - although I have to admit, I could have done without the last 2 minutes of syrupy "summing up".

Perhaps kmoh isn't quite as old as me - I started watching 'the Saint' around 1965 - so what he sees as "sexist" I just see as 1962 (the year this episode came out). Perhaps if he could look past that, he'd see what I did: a nicely-crafted story, well played.

I doubt if he'd say the same if it was a Bogie movie he'd been watching. :-)

Before it got into its stride, the early episodes of The Saint were somewhat patchy, sometimes excellent, sometimes poor. This extended meditation on the skin-depth of beauty is decidedly on the poor end of the spectrum.

The plot centres around an ill-fated expedition for pearls in Mexico, led by an old friend of Simon's. The friend, Brad, played without charm by Bob Kanter, is about as cretinous as it is possible for a character to be, just about able to tie his shoelaces without help but no more. It is virtually impossible to imagine how smooth Simon and this schmuck ever got together. Of course the expedition goes wrong, with results closer to mawkish than tragic.

The story is told in flashback, and Simon hardly appears in the first half. We ache for his appearance, but when he does finally turn up, he is crude rather than urbane, with his treatment of Brad's scheming girlfriend particularly scandalous. She is certainly mercenary, but her point of view is completely reasonable - she is castigated by Simon for not accompanying her idiot boyfriend on his hare-brained jaunt to a remote spot in Mexico, as if it is the duty of any girl to indulge her man's whims however moronic. She (being an evil bitch) wants to stay in New York to continue pursuing her career - appalling! And Simon is never witty in his put-downs, only ever rude - completely out of character.

Simon's resolution of the difficulties is supposed to be rough justice - though actually unjust and criminal. And then - unforgivably, since the whole tale is a flashback - we don't get the end of the story.

I think they were trying to be a little bit thought-provoking, but the end result is sexist, sentimental, morally dubious and tedious in the extreme.

But showcases one of the most despicable characters ever portrayed: Joss Hendry. This lowlife would steal the change from a blind beggar's cup and then complain that it still wasn't enough for her Starbucks coffee. Truly horrible.

It lacks the action that dominated the series, but this episode featured the finest story The Saint ever presented.

The true beauty capable in the human spirit is the dominant theme of the episode, and toward the end, that spirit is sent soaring. Along the way, those obsessed with material things are shown in all their sallowness, and more importantly, those who value what is truly dear, reveal the height of their character.

This truth is summed up in the coda scene, where perhaps some of the wisest counsel is served up in the closing narration.

For me this is not really the saint.... Erica Rogers is good as the only character of interest in this unsaintly episode. He's at his best battling the ungodly! Here we get a discussion of true beauty real versus surface deep!! Jess ( Erica Rogers ) is surface deep, Consuelo is true beauty!!