King of the Action Thriller

<p> The Scottish novelist Alistair MacLean didn't speak English until he was six, but he went on to become one of the world's best-selling authors (over 150 million copies sold) and Hollywood's highest-paid. His films are the very portrait of action. <I>Where Eagles Dare</I>, <I>The Guns of Navarone</I>, <I>Puppet on a Chain</I>, and <I>Fear Is the Key</I> set the template for <I>Die Hard</I>, the <I>Bourne</I> films, and <I>John Wick</I>. The cable car fight, speedboat pursuit, and car chase set a new high for action sequences. Movies were sold on his name alone. He achieved Hollywood's highest honor--his name above the title--because he appealed to a vast global audience. This is the first book to explore Alistair MacLean's unique magic. This work details how 18 of his bestsellers were transformed into movies and mini-series. His movies starred Clint Eastwood, Charles Bronson, Gregory Peck, Donald Sutherland, multiple Oscar nominees Richard Burton and Richard Harris, and two-time Oscar-winner Anthony Hopkins. Although these massive actors lent their talents to his works, moviemakers had such faith in MacLean's name as a marketing tool that they handed leading roles to unknowns like George Maharis or Sven Bertil-Taube. "Broadsword calling Danny Boy," one of his greatest lines, has become a secret code among cinemagoers rejoicing in his works. This much-needed work of cinema history fills a gap in the scholarship, telling the full story of the man who dominated the action movie for two decades.</p>