The Saint (TV Series) The Elusive Ellshaw (1963) User Reviews

The Elusive Ellshaw

[Prismark10 · 6/10 · 10 July 2022]

Simon Templar is invited to go shooting for the weekend. He ends up hunting down an assassin.

While at a gunsmith with his latest girlfriend Anne Ripwell. Mrs Ellshaw suddenly rushes out as she spots her husband who left her a few years ago.

Later Mrs Ellshaw is killed. She used to be a cashier for businessman Sir John Ripwell who has invited The Saint for a weekend of shooting.

Later Sir John is shot and injured and Simon Templar must find a connection between the two. He suspects someone will try to finish Sir John off.

A solid episode with a whodunnit twist. It is all to do with the control of the company pne Sir John pops his clogs.

The Saint is inj detective mode and he suspects who the culprit is despite attempts to divert attention.

Inheritance shenanigans

[Leofwine_draca · 5/10 · 12 May 2018]

THE ELUSIVE ELLSHAW is an episode of THE SAINT with a plot involving the aristocracy and a valuable inheritance - the same kind of staples that proved essential to the British mystery film and novel throughout the 1930s to the 1950s. This is a late reworking of the plot, with modern aspects grafted in, including assassinations and the like. Templar feels like an extraneous player at times, but there are some solid character actors in support, including Richard Vernon and Philip Latham.

Has NOT Aged Well

[jethrojohn · 4/10 · 3 November 2022]

Most of The Saint has aged alright. Templar is suave and likable, the writing is pretty sharp, and the plots decent.

This episode, however, hasn't...

And it's all down to some very awful 50s-era sexism (even though this was aired in the 60s).

When a woman sees her husband, who she thought was in Canada, in London, she follows him to a run-down London apartment where he acts very strange indeed.

She goes to Simon for help who, and I am not going to mince my words here, acts like a despicable sexist pig and ends up getting the woman killed because of his stupid actions.

"This has all the hallmarks of a fantasy made up by a lonely, neurotic woman," the smug donkey's rear-end gleefully tells his love interest as they drive to see the woman - who has now been murdered.

It all leaves a bad taste, and you can clearly see the stupidity of the time showing through in the dismal writing. Because of course women are prone to flights of fancy and making up stories! They're women! Not as rational and solid as men.

Usually, I can stomach this kind of thing and take it as an "of the time" type of deal. But since Simon's arrogance indirectly leads to the woman getting shot because he wouldn't believe her, it's a lot harder to do that.

By about the 10 minute mark you'll want to smack Templar upside his stupid head.

Avoid this episode if you're doing a rematch. It isn't worth it in this day and age.