The Arrow of God

The Saint goes to sunny Bahamas to investigate waspish gossip columnist Floyd Vosper.

Vosper is a guest of Lucy Wexall. Her husband is getting a big business deal together and also plans to run off with pretty Pauline Stone.

When Vosper is found dead, any number of guests could be the murderer. Vosper had a file on everyone and they all had a secret to hide.

This really is a Agatha Christie murder mystery. It starts off with library footage of the Bahamas. Then it settles with studio interiors.

It is rather plodding as it takes ages for the murder to occur.

Anthony Dawson steals it as Vosper. He is having fun. Honor Blackman is the other Bond alumni.

Anthony Dawson as the annoying Floyd Vosper is the big star of this show. Every line he has is sharp, witty and evil, and he backs it up visually. In particular, Dawson vs Moore is great!

Otherwise, the story is a classic crime story, with a considerable amount of Agatha Cristie style. Just like in Christie stories, it is not about action but about individuals and relationships.

With Anthony Dawson, Honor Blackman and Roger Moore in the same show, it is certainly a must-see for Bond fans. (Blackman was Pussy Galore in "Goldfinger", and Dawson was both professor Dent in "Dr No" and was Blofeld in both "From Russia with love" and "Thunderball".)

Complete pedestrian episode in the series, with no action at all, Simon never even gets to hit anyone or get his hair mussed! A slimy gossip columnist is killed and it's up to our hero to find the true murderer from the list of subjects. Everyone, as the newspaper man was loathed by all. But it doesn't take long to work it all out in this rather tired and lethargic story.

Stock footage at the start of the Bahamas is followed by set bound studio filming as was usual in this programme, although it seems even more obvious when the story doesn't hold the interest.

Honour Blackman is mildly distracting as the eye candy here and the rest of the cast do well with what they have to work with but it never rises above the routine.

Simon is invited by an old friend to spend some time with her family and friends at their home in the Bahamas. Among the group is a nasty piece of work named Floyd Vosper (Anthony Dawson). He's a journalist who enjoys exposing the secrets of the rich and powerful. It seems he has something on every guest. So, it's not terribly surprising when Vosper turns up dead.

I've about decided that a lot of these early episodes have a different sort of "feel" to them. In the case of The Arrow of God, it has more in common with an Agatha Christie story than what I expect from The Saint. You know, everyone in the household had a reason to kill the victim, but everyone has an alibi. Here, though, instead of a stuffy detective, Simon solves the case and delivers what amounts to the drawing room denouement. And much like Christie, the solution to whodunit is riddled with holes. But seriously, I could care less. It was so much fun watching Simon get to the bottom of things that I wasn't overly bothered with a plot issue or two.

One of the things that makes this one so good is the acting. I'll start with Anthony Dawson. His portrayal of Vosper is an absolute blast to watch. Every word out of his mouth is like acid. It's no wonder he meets his untimely demise. Good stuff. I was also impressed with Elspeth March as Simon's friend Lucy. I thought she did a nice job of expressing an array of emotions throughout the episode. Finally, I'll mention Honor Blackman. She's solid. It's pretty cool to see three actors (Dawson, Blackman, and Moore) who would go on to memorable performances in the James Bond films sharing screen time in an early episode of The Saint.

7/10

Fairly pedestrian addition to the excellent first series,with the storyline - one guest gets bumped off on an idyllic tropical island, a small group of potentially indictable suspects, a very English detective, assemble all the suspects together in a room before the big reveal- hang on, this is Death in Paradise isn't it?, Nevertheless great to see a very interesting gathering of Brit TV and film actors of the time, with Anthony Dawson (a much underrated actor) giving it large as the obnoxious celeb gossip columnist.