Two of the biggest movie stars of the 1970s (Roger Moore and Oliver Reed) square off on the small screen.
The Saint is vacationing in "Greece" (which means some phony Grecian accents by the likes of Imogene Hassall) when a poor innkeeper and his lovely daughter are visited by their "rich" cousin from America.
That he's tied in with organized crime is suggested by his mention of juke boxes. At the time the "juke box" racket was a variation on the protection racket. Store owners had to "buy juke boxes" to make sure they weren't damaged. Reed's character is probably hiding out.
Oliver Reed, who at the height of his fame spoke in nothing but a whisper and made it menacing, does a creditable American accent (I'm an American). Kudos.
Still, the fake accents of the others stick in my craw. I don't care if actors are "too old" for their parts or whether they're from where they pretend to be, so long as the acting is good. Here Hassall and the rest are far over the top. What might've been a great episode becomes a curiosity piece.
Reed, more renowned for his fabulous underplaying in the movies, gets a bit frantic but it's justifiable under the circumstances.
Why wasn't Reed a Bond villain?