Following a triple professional hit a U.S. agent arrives in Amsterdam to investigate a heroin smuggling ring. He finds a city rife with drugs and a police force unable or unwilling to do ...
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The "American Gods" star credits amazing co-stars and killer special effects for his mind-bending performance.
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Title: Puppet on a Chain (1971)
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Cast
| Complete credited cast: | |||
| Sven-Bertil Taube | ... | Paul Sherman | |
| Barbara Parkins | ... | Maggie | |
| Alexander Knox | ... | Colonel De Graaf | |
| Patrick Allen | ... | Inspector Van Gelder | |
| Vladek Sheybal | ... | Meegeren | |
| Ania Marson | ... | Astrid Lemay | |
 |
Penny Casdagli | ... | Trudi |
|
|
Peter Hutchins | ... | The Assassin |
| Drewe Henley | ... | Jimmy Duclos | |
|
|
Henny Orri | ... | Herta (as Henni Orri) |
|
|
Stewart F. Lane | ... | George Lemay (as Stewart Lane) |
|
|
Mark Malicz | ... | Morgenstern |
| Michael Mellinger | ... | Hotel Manager | |
Edit
Plot Summary
|
Add Synopsis
Storyline
Following a triple professional hit a U.S. agent arrives in Amsterdam to investigate a heroin smuggling ring. 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. Written by Jeremy Perkins {J-26}
Taglines:
THE ACTION of "Guns of Navarone"...The INTRIGUE of "Ice Station Zebra"...The SUSPENSE of "Where Eagles Dare"...all add up to his biggest and best seller! See more »Parents Guide:
View content advisory »
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See full technical specs »
Details
Country:
UKLanguage:
EnglishRelease Date:
5 November 1971 (Ireland) See more »Also Known As:
Alistair Maclean's Puppet on a Chain See more »Filming Locations:
Kasteel Muiderslot - Herengracht 1, Muiden, Noord-Holland, Netherlands See more »Company Credits
Show more on
IMDbPro »
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Sound Mix:
MonoColor:
Color (Technicolor)Aspect Ratio:
1.78 : 1
Edit
Paul Sherman: I was thinking about my ex-wife, as a matter of fact.
Maggie: What was she like?
Paul Sherman: Very affectionate... with other men. My fault - I was never there.
See more »
Did You Know?
Trivia
In her memoirs Suzanna Leigh mentions that she had a role in this film as a villain but, although her character is mentioned, her scenes were deleted from the final print. See more »Goofs
At one point during the Amsterdam boat chase, the white boat hits a bridge and sustains fairly severe damage to the prow (which is acknowledged in the sound effects). In the next shot, the boat is unblemished again. See more »Quotes
Maggie: Paul, what are you thinking?Paul Sherman: I was thinking about my ex-wife, as a matter of fact.
Maggie: What was she like?
Paul Sherman: Very affectionate... with other men. My fault - I was never there.
See more »
Alternate Versions
Some topless nudity and shots of a man's bloody face during a hotel fight was cut from the film for an 'AA' rating (suitable for persons of 14 and over) for the UK cinema release though this was restored in video releases and TV showings. See more »Connections
Referenced in 42nd Street Memories: The Rise and Fall of America's Most Notorious Street (2015) See more »Frequently Asked Questions
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Truly atmospheric Euro-thriller from the early seventies, boasting one of the best chase sequences ever, and a plot riddled with holes.
US Agent Paul Sherman (Taube) arrives in Amsterdam to investigate drug trafficking between Holland and the US. Together with undercover agent Maggie (Parkins) he begins to close in on the villains...
Given that Sherman and Maggie are working together, they don't seem to share much information. If they had debriefed each other a little more thoroughly, much of what eventually transpires could so easily have been avoided (e.g., how come Maggie fails to tell Paul about the dodgy nuns and the bibles she witnesses in church?). This (and the unexplained accents - a Swede playing a Dutch-American, a Brit and a Canadian playing Dutch) aside, it's action-packed, makes great use of its Dutch locations, and has a nice twisty ending.
Extra-groovy nightclub scene too!