The Saint Lies in Wait (French: Le Saint prend l'affût, Italian: Il santo prende la mira) is a 1966 French-Italian comedy crime film directed by Christian-Jaque and starring Jean Marais, Jess Hahn and Jean Yanne.Curti p.220 It is an adaptation of a French only Simon Templar novel Le Saint prend l'affût (1960), credited to Leslie Charteris, but in fact ghostwritten.Goble p.938 It was shot at the Billancourt Studios in Paris. The film's sets were designed by the art director Jean Mandaroux. At the time the British television series The Saint starring Roger Moore was at the height of its popularity.
Synopsis Simon Templar is staying at a Scottish castle with his friend Hoppy Uniatz, but is called into action when another friend Oscar Chartier involves him in a complex scheme to steal secret documents. His adventures take him to Paris and Sicily and he becomes the protector of Oscar's daughter Sophie.
Cast Jean Marais as Simon Templar Jess Hahn as Hoppy Uniatz Jean Yanne as Mueller-Strasse Danièle Évenou as Sophie Chartier Raffaella Carrà as Mrs Anita Pavone Tiberio Murgia as Tonio Cotone Henri Virlogeux as Oscar Chartier Claudio Gora as Cesare Pavone Nerio Bernardi as esare Pavone, le Commandatore Darío Moreno as Slimane Maria Brockerhoff as Monica Roger Carel as The professor Reinhard Kolldehoff as Schmutz Henri Guégan as un homme de main allemand Carlo Pisacane as Agatino Camaleonte Siegfried Rauch as Johnny K.W. Mest Katia Christine as Mary
Production The film was known under the title The Saint Lies in Wait (USA), (Italy), (West Germany), (Portugal).
During the making of the film, the stunt arranger Gil(bert-Yves) Delamare was killed doubling for Marais. A doyen of French stunt drivers, DelamareBaxter, John (1974). Stunt: the Story of the Great Movie Stunt Men, p. 245. was skidding a Renault Floride S convertible for a twilight scene on a new patch of freeway when its back axle snapped rolling him and his passengers into a barrier. He was mortally injured when he struck his head on the windscreen.Illustrated Weekly of Pakistan, vol. 12~25, 1967, p. 33. The stunt passengers were thrown clear and survived.
References
Bibliography Curti, Roberto. Riccardo Freda: The Life and Works of a Born Filmmaker. McFarland, 2017. Goble, Alan. The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film. Walter de Gruyter, 1999.
External links
The Saint Lies in Wait (1966) at Films de France