Leslie Charteris in California.

The Desert Sun newspaper looks at the role of Palm Springs in the life and work of Saint creator Leslie Charteris, including the difficulties he experienced because of the Chinese Exclusion Act (Charteris had Chinese and British heritage).

Leslie Charteris, Hindenburg passenger.

Mystery authors can show up in remarkable places, and Saint creator Leslie Charteris is no exception. He was a passenger on the Hindenburg for its maiden voyage in 1936. He talks about the trip in this brief clip (and yes, he did wear a monocle in his youth).

Mystery goodies on EUscreen.

EUscreen offers free online access to thousands of videos, stills, and other materials from European broadcasters. A quick tiptoe through the archives yielded the following:

• An August 1962 interview with Alfred Hitchcock regarding The Birds (in French and English) in which he refutes the idea of working with Grace Kelly again ("Ce n'est pas possible")

• On location in Ireland in 1966 for the film Casino Royale with John Huston and Deborah Kerr

• Two interviews (in French) with Georges Simenon (1959, 1967)

• A July 1958 interview (in French) with Leslie Charteris, creator of the Saint

• Still from a 1955 Dutch TV production of Gaslight

(Thanks to Critical Studies in Television)

Happy birthday, Leslie Charteris.

Leslie Charteris, the creator of "The Saint," aka the "Robin Hood of modern crime," was born today in Singapore in 1907. He became an American citizen in 1946 and died in 1993.

The Saint, aka Simon Templar, debuted in Meet the Tiger (1928). He was played on film by Louis Hayward, George Sanders, and Val Kilmer, among others; on radio by Brian Aherne, Vincent Price, and Sanders's brother Tom Conway; and on TV by a pre-James Bond Roger Moore.

About the image: George Sanders in The Saint's Double Trouble (dir. Jack Hively, 1940).

007 beats The Saint at auction.

There's not much mystery related to report from Bloomsbury's April 2nd bibliophile auction. The Leslie Charteris books featuring Simon Templar, aka The Saint—Trust the Saint, Saint Overboard, and The Saint on the Spanish Main—went unsold. There were a few Ian Fleming titles that did respectably: A first edition of From Russia, with Love, £320 (approximately $470); a first edition of Goldfinger, £300 (approximately $440); copies of Octopussy and The Living Daylights, signed (respectively) by Maud Adams and Maryam D'Abo (who appeared in the respective films), £280 (approximately $411).

Perhaps the copies of The Saint vs. Scotland Yard and The Saint and Mr. Teal, which will be offered for sale on April 23rd, will do better. They are each estimated at a minimum of £200.

Simon Templar: Saint or Soldier?

Over on the Great War Fiction blog, George Simmers speculates about the possible wartime service of Leslie Charteris's Simon Templar (aka The Saint) and compares him to Sapper's ex-captain Bulldog Drummond.

About the photo: A Christmas card from The Saint Club.

Happy belated birthday, Leslie Charteris.

Leslie Charteris, the creator of "The Saint," that "Robin Hood of modern crime," was born on May 12, 1907, making this year his 100th birthday. He died in 1993.

The Saint, aka Simon Templar, was played on radio by Brian Aherne, Vincent Price, and George Sanders's brother Tom Conway but probably most memorably by a pre-James Bond Roger Moore on television in the 1960s.

For a fun retrospective of the Saint logo, go here.