The Revolution Racket

The Saint gets involved in a convoluted plot by two Americans to sell guns to revolutionaries in a vaguely South American country. But is all as it seems? C'mon, it's "The Saint." This road is full of twists.

Whether it's "The Saint" or "Danger Man/Secret Agent" or whatever, I despise episodes set in this milieu due to bad South American accents. This episode is no exception. I'm not one of those people guilty of ageism, insisting people are "too old" for a part; all I want are good performances. I don't think an actor needs to chain-saw his legs off to get a role in a wheelchair. I don't think an actor has to come from a region he's pretending to be to give a worthy performance. But in the 1960s Brit shows the South American accents are painful.

Co-star (and frequent guest) Suzanne Lloyd is indisputably beautiful, but she can't act. I dread to see her coming.

Peter Arne, on the other hand, us always welcome. He's usually Mr. Sleaze and he's great at it. But his accent is dreadful.

A nice, twisty script, but low marks.

THE REVOLUTION RACKET is a typical globetrotting adventure for Templar with a South American setting this time around. He shows up in town and is involved in a dodgy scheme by cop Eric Pohlmann, who guest starred numerous times in the show over the years. Suzanne Lloyd is the femme fatale who brings charm to her scenes, while the bad guy duties go to the recognisable Peter Arne and Ed Bishop, both of whom impress with their roles. This episode is more densely plotted than most which makes the action and danger scenes hit that little bit harder. Moore is clearly having a ball and his enjoyment rubs off on the viewer.

Simon Templar arrives in a South American country where a possible revolution might be in the air.

He soon lands in the clutches of gluttonous police chief Carlos Xavier who always wanted to meet the Saint.

Xavier also manages to send the Saint away with smell of a scent. They being the Enriquez brothers who are plotting an uprising. For that they need to buy weapons.

The people supplying them are American brother and sister partnership Sherm and Doris Inkler. Simon Templar has managed to save Doris from some unwanted attention.

He quickly learns that Sherm has hatched a deal for an arms sale, but they are con artists. Apart from a few guns on tops, the would be revolutionaries will be buying iron bars.

The Saint joins up with Sherm and Doris and their ever so generous cut. Fooling the Enriquez brothers will be no easy task.

A nice engaging story, lots of plot, several twists. People are not always what they seem. In the end Carlos Xavier cooked up a nice scheme. Roger Moore even name drops a charity that would be very close to his heart.