The Saint on TV

Episode 56: The Rhine Maiden

"THE RHINE MAIDEN"

The Saint sees a beautiful girl sitting at a table. Above her, a man is
about to push a heavy urn from a balcony. It is aimed at the girl....

And, once again, Roger Moore, as the Saint, finds himself rushing headlong
into hair-raising adventure, this time in Germany. It leads him through the
devious events surrounding a man who wants to become officially dead, with a
tremendous climax on an express train.

The girl is fair-haired actress Stephanie Randall, and the principal
supporting male roles are played by Nigel Davenport and Victor Beaumont.

The sight of a pretty girl is always sufficient to stir the interest of
Simon Templar, the Saint (ROGER MOORE) - especially if the girl is as
attractive as Julia Harrison (STEPHANIE RANDALL) and she is sitting alone at
a table on the cocktail terrace of an hotel in the Rhineland.

He knows she is looking for someone. The someone is named Charles Voyson
(NIGEL DAVENPORT). He has overheard her asking for him and has seen him
disappear abruptly when spotting her. Simon suddenly hears a sound above
them, and looks up in the nick of time. Voyson is on a balcony - and Simon
just succeeds in pulling Julia to safety as Voyson pushes a heavy urn which
comes crashing down just where she was sitting.

It is an unusual and dramatic introduction to a girl, and Julia is obviously
grateful. She's English, the daughter of a businessman whose death has left
her a half-share in the business of which Voyson was his partner. She
confides to Simon that she is worried about a sum of a quarter-of-a-million
pounds which Voyson is supposed to have taken to someone in Hamburg. But he
has failed to get there. Now she has tracked him down.

Simon takes her to Voyson, who is not only agitated but appears to be
desperately ill. He collapses just as his medical adviser, Dr. Schrieber
(VICTOR BEAUMONT) arrives. Later that day, Schreiber reports that Voyson
died in the ambulance.

But Simon is not satisfied. Why did Voyson try to kill Julia?

Yet Schreiber allows both Simon and Julia to see the body. There is no doubt
that the man is dead, and Julia definitely identifies him as Voyson.

Simon is still suspicious, however, and his investigations land him in dire
trouble when he breaks into Schreiber's clinic and discovers that the body
is that of another man with a skillfully made mask of Voyson placed over his
face. The pattern becomes clear. Voyson is planning to get away with the
money. Somehow, he has persuaded Dr. Schreiber to help him. Once he is
officially dead, no-one will bother any more about him.

Simon is caught and very nearly becomes the body to be disposed of,
ostensibly as Voyson. Julia tries to help him. When he succeeds in
outwitting Schreiber, it looks as though it is too late. Voyson is already
on his way by train to Switzerland.

The final chase brings a hair-raising climax on the train as it speeds
through the German countryside...................

PRODUCED BY ROBERT S. BAKER and MONTY BERMAN
DIRECTED BY JAMES HILL
SCRIPT SUPERVISION HARRY W JUNKIN

ROGER MOORE SIMON TEMPLAR
NIGEL DAVENPORT CHARLES VOYSON
VICTOR BEAUMONT DR SCHREIBER
STEPHANIE RANDALL JULIA HARRISON
ANTHONY BOOTH HANS
GEORGE PRAVDA INSPECTOR GLESSEN

ADLINA MANDLOVA HELGA
FREDERICK SCHILLER OTTO
ERNEST WALDER TRAIN STEWARD
ERNEST HARE ENGLISH MAN
TUTTI TRUMAN TAYLOR ENGLISH WOMAN
MICHAEL WOLF BARMAN