Puppet on a Chain is a British thriller film directed by Geoffrey Reeve and starring Sven-Bertil Taube, Barbara Parkins and Alexander Knox. It is based on.
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During the Hungarian uprising, an American mercenary is hired to smuggle a Hungarian resistance leader out of Soviet-occupied Budapest. John Deakin is being transported, as a prisoner, on a train with supplies and medicine to Fort Humboldt, Nevada. An adventurer Hamilton decides to go in search of the lost city in the Amazon jungle. A motley crew of other people with reasons of their own decide to join him for the wealth of the lost Following a triple professional hit a U.
He finds a city rife with drugs and a police force unable or unwilling to do much about it. With his incognito female fellow agent the American is soon stirring things up. Don't you just love it when you stumble across an unknown movie and discover it to be an instant favourite? Sven-Bertil Taube is the solid lead, playing an American agent dispatched to the Netherlands to break up a drug-smuggling ring. Once there he finds himself pursued by an assassin while investigating some shady business ventures that may well be the front for heroin smuggling on a grand scale.
The story is fine, but it's the action that makes this a class act: Director Don Sharp, famous from his work for Hammer Studios, contributes to the action and stunts, in particular helping shoot the aforementioned speedboat chase which is the definite highlight and might be the best thing Sharp ever did. Elsewhere, a decent cast of character actors has been assembled, with unique-looking faces filling the cast list. The only thing this film needs now is a decent Blu-ray release Enjoy a night in with these popular movies available to stream now with Prime Video.
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Puppet on a Chain
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You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. Learn more More Like This. When Eight Bells Toll GP Action Adventure Crime. Fear Is the Key The Satan Bug Caravan to Vaccares The Secret Ways Ice Station Zebra River of Death Edit Cast Complete credited cast: The music grows more intense and the dangers more sadistic and aggressive.
Several villains watch with delighted reactions. Paul is later tortured by being tied up and having headphones placed on him that plays clanging bells at an inhuman level. The idea is that within half an hour he will go insane and then fall into a coma and die. He is in agony for several pages while writhing next to the body of a man who has been killed in the same way.
Paul gets into numerous fights where stabbing, pistol-whipping and brutal fisticuffs are involved—sometimes Paul is on the receiving end. There are some few details involving drug addicts. Their ill, helpless state is portrayed and there are numerous views of marked arms that have been scared by continual injections.
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At one point Paul visits a morgue and views several bodies that have all been killed by various incidents—but which the police believe are really addicts. Overall, it ended up being a very dark and disturbing book, without enough plot or excitement to make up for it. View all 4 comments. Breathtaking Suspence This novel starts with a bang then proceeds at breakneck speed to a dizzying climax. This book should come equipped with seatbelts. This was my introduction to this author's work. If his other books are this good he'll have a new fan.
Aug 23, Len Northfield rated it it was ok Shelves: Load of old pish. But with flashes of Maclean's genius. Feb 07, VijayaRaghavan S N rated it really liked it. I never took the saying 'Do not judge a book by it's cover' even for it's face value. But, after this book, I have come with peace with the very same saying. Never before have I ever read or even seen a book which was as shabby as this one. It's shabbiness was understandable because it was taken out of a public library. But I failed to account for the punch that very same book packed. As said above, this book was taken from a public library.
Not by me buy my dad on my request that I need a thril I never took the saying 'Do not judge a book by it's cover' even for it's face value. Not by me buy my dad on my request that I need a thriller. I saw its cover and was like 'this doesn't look so cool'.
But I didn't have any other books in my hand after the Foundation series. So unwillingly I took up the book. I opened it and found that writing was crammed and concluded that this is gonna take some time even though it's just odd pages. The first couple of pages proved me right.
Puppet on a Chain - Wikipedia
But from then on it was one of the exhilaration rides. Mr MacLean has got a unique way of writing the thoughts going on through his character's mind. It is kind of realistic as if you are in the character's shoe and facing what he was facing. More than the story that was what took me by surprise. But then every book has its lows too. The author goes into too much of details for me that in particular intervals you find two or three pages without any dialogues. This gives a dry feeling to the book and the only reason why one star is missing from the ratings.
Overall, one of the best thrillers I read. Right till the end. Even though you can guess what might happen next, it's not going to dampen the thrill. I did see a bit of myself in Sherman. Not that I am calling myself an ingenious detective with a future in the Narcotics Department of Interpol. But, with his character. Sep 08, John Freeman rated it it was ok Shelves: Mitchner…and of course, Alistair MacLean.
I will stop short of saying there is nothing likable about him, but he is far from charismatic. Perhaps in the word heroin , alone, was inherently evil enough to not require elucidation. But if Sherman has spent two years trying to crack this operation, I want to see the scourge that heroin is, in detail, not have one strung out junkie paraded out of the character rolls and then have me believe that Sherman is risking his life for that.
Right now I'm in the process of re-reading my small collection of MacLean's books. Last time I read them was probably 10 years ago They are, unfortunately, badly translated and I want to get my hands on originals , which I see now and which is kind of distracting. But it's not that bad. Anyway, to the book at hand I remembered "Puppet on a Chain" as a very disturbing story. I could vividly picture the three brutal deaths and it became the only MacLean's novel that I'd read only once Well I could vividly picture the three brutal deaths and it became the only MacLean's novel that I'd read only once.
Not that I didn't like it, but one can deal with just as much of such stuff. This time it was similar, except the story, that I liked then, and that didn't seem so good now. To be honest, by the end I felt that it would be a very short story if it wasn't for these cartoon villain-ish types of bad guys. Normally, a character like Paul Sherman would quickly find himself in a canal with a bullet hole in the back of the head and instead the bad guys play cat and mouse with him.
They catch him, play with him a bit and leave him alive to deal with him later. And tell him everything in the process. Somehow his accomplishes are punished quickly and severely but he's always given time to escape. There is, of course a little twist at the very end, but still For a high-ranked agent, Sherman is sometimes rather out of touch. So, on one hand it's a gripping book, but on the other, the complete unlikeliness of the story gets unbearable by the end.
Apr 23, Anne Earney rated it it was ok Shelves: Another I read because it's set in Amsterdam. Suspense is not my preferred genre - I'm not sure why, but I've never loved the genres of suspense or mystery. So I find it difficult to get into under the best of circumstances, and with this book, I felt only a mild sense of curiosity. When the whole thing was explained at the end, that was interesting in an intellectual way, but not exactly satisfying. On another note, this is possibly one of the most sexist novels I've ever read at least in the Another I read because it's set in Amsterdam.
On another note, this is possibly one of the most sexist novels I've ever read at least in the top The main character has two young, attractive female assistants, whom he continuously talks down to, treats as inferiors and generally denigrates their intelligence. Except for the end when suddenly he's in love with one of them and wants to marry her. The novel is in first person, so it could just be that this particular character was meant to feel that way, but it certainly didn't help me feel for him.
On the other hand, the book has its funny moments - the main character is always letting others take his gun from him mostly because he screws up and he can be endearingly forward about his faults, which include sometimes not being very good at his job. I probably won't be reading any more Alistair MacLean novels, although HMS Ulysses has been sitting on my shelves since college, and I have to admit I'm slightly more interested now, if only to see if it's any better. This is another MacLean I have elected to re-read after forty years.
My primary memories are the puppet images and the rather gristly murder of one character who is pitchforked to death. Being largely a police procedural and themed on drugs, I was curious to see if this story would hold up or seem dated. While it does not equal MacLean's spy thrillers of the late s, the story still works. In many ways it is very typical MacLean. It is also worth reading. May 25, David rated it did not like it. It's not a great entry. Too much sarcasm which for me is a lot. Many of the scenes where the protagonist is in danger, just don't come across as such.
It was later made into a movie. Can't comment on that.
Reviewed by, David Feeney, author; Terror on the high seas. Oct 10, Chris rated it liked it. I liked this book overall. It contains one of Alistair Maclean's iconic scenes the pitchfork scene, not to spoil it too much , but some of the techniques MacLean uses to maintain suspense are annoying. In this particular book, the overt withholding of critical information from the reader is used overmuch.
Jun 29, R. British Interpol agent Major Paul Sherman bulldozes through Amsterdam in his quest to uncover major drug dealers. That he manages to survive his headlong rushes into danger is more luck than pluck. The body count is high and the villain predictable. Jun 24, John rated it liked it. The European spy thriller without computers or cell phones. Phone booths, sending coded messages, attention to detail and working by your wits are tools from the past.
MacLean allows Major Paul Sherman to use these tools to combat the narcotics trade and it's associated murders in the streets of Amsterdam. Aug 26, Huw Evans rated it it was amazing Shelves: One of Macleans best stories which is remorseless in its plot line. He was prolific but few of his stories are as good as this. The characters are not wholly beleivable but the plotline is. A great relief read, which will pass the time on a plane or beach trip. Jan 02, Maria Stancheva rated it it was ok. Sep 11, Grace rated it really liked it. This was creepier than most of his books that I've read, but it was still really good.
Very dark, scary characters. The ending was a bit weird, but not completely unexpected. Feb 22, Ryan rated it really liked it Shelves: I really liked this Maclean book but can't remember why. Feb 26, Nigel Pinkus rated it really liked it. It's been written by someone who knows what they're doing and it's pages of hold on for life because this ol' train aint gonna be stopping anytime soon. It's an action- thriller rather a character driven story of course which only lets up when the story needs to to be told.
Predominantly, however, there's action action action with some unusual good humour as well.
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You'll find that the dutch police get involved, the girls who work for Sherman get involved and Sherman, himself, stays up late It's been written by someone who knows what they're doing and it's pages of hold on for life because this ol' train aint gonna be stopping anytime soon. You'll find that the dutch police get involved, the girls who work for Sherman get involved and Sherman, himself, stays up late chasing loose ends.
Actually, he doesn't give too much away, but you have the feeling that, he's a lot closer to the truth than he shows. You also get the impression that, if Sherman doesn't get killed lurking around the back-streets and canals of Amsterdam, he'll probably get the killer or killers. But, with all the twists and turns in the story, you aren't really sure. You hope the good guys win, but you don't really know.
The title, 'Puppet on a Chain', refers predominately to the poor drug addicts who are hooked on heroin, dancing to it's effects and are yanked along by the pushers and suppliers. The human body gets reduced to the highs and lows of the drug and they are always dancing to it's effects. Happily dancing when high and dancing madly for more when low.