Alistair MacLean is one of those names spy fiction fans are bound to encounter at some point or another. I’ve never read his work, but many of his novels have been adapted to film, with results ranging from the great (The Guns of Navarone) to the iffy (Ice Station Zebra, The Satan Bug). Unfortunately, Puppet on a Chain (1970) is way down at the bottom of that spectrum.
A drug war in the United States spills over into violence, and since the distribution originates in the Netherlands, American agent Paul Sherman (Sven-Bertil Taube) is sent to Amsterdam to look into the problem — much to the irritation of the local police chief, Colonel De Graaf (Alexander Knox). With the assistance of American agent Maggie (Barbara Parkins), Sherman begins his investigation, but the speed with which the dealers get onto him suggests an inside informant may be working with the bad guys. Clue by clue, Sherman puts the pieces together, but not without cost.
Proceeding with the energy of a tree stump, Puppet on a Chain is by-the-numbers international intrigue with little going for it beyond attractive location photography. The main problem is there aren’t any decent characters; Taube’s hero is wooden and inscrutable, while the lovely Parkins doesn’t have much to do other than support his work and inexplicably fall for him. The final act jazzes things up with decent action sequences, especially a setpiece speedboat chase through the Amsterdam canals. But since the proceedings leading up to that have generated no emotional investment, the climactic action just feels empty.
