Puppet on a Chain

Puppet on a Chain

Year: 1970

Runtime: 98 mins

Language: English

Directors: Don Sharp, Geoffrey Reeve

Thriller

After a triple professional hit, U.S. agent Paul Sherman is dispatched to Amsterdam to investigate a heroin‑smuggling ring. He discovers a city suffused with drugs and a police force either unwilling to act. Partnered with his undercover colleague Maggie, the American soon begins to rattle the criminal underworld and shake the underworld.

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Puppet on a Chain (1970) – Full Plot Summary & Ending Explained

Read the complete plot breakdown of Puppet on a Chain (1970), including all key story events, major twists, and the ending explained in detail. Discover what really happened—and what it all means.

After three hippie drug-dealers are murdered by Jimmy Duclos, the assassin, in a house in Los Angeles, the U.S. government sends special agent Paul Sherman to track down the Dutch source of heroin fueling the drug war.

On arriving at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, Sherman witnesses the grim outcome of a planned meeting: Jimmy Duclos is shot dead by the assassin, signaling that the drug network has eyes inside the city.

Amsterdam’s chief of police, [Colonel De Graaf], is openly hostile to American interference, while Sherman’s direct contact, [Inspector Van Gelder], is more cooperative, partly because his niece, Trudi, has suffered brain damage from a heroin overdose years earlier.

Sherman makes contact with Maggie, a deep-cover agent from Washington. He is then followed around Amsterdam by the assassin, indicating that the drug dealers have someone on the inside. Sherman manages to evade and later confronts the killer in his hotel room, where a fatal struggle ends with Sherman accidentally killing him.

Sherman meets Astrid Lemay, Astrid Lemay, and her drug-addicted brother, George Lemay. George dies of an overdose, and Astrid herself is murdered in a brutal turn of events.

During a perilous chase, Sherman is attacked by a man on a boat and shoots him dead. Meanwhile, Meegeren, the drug lord Meegeren, murders Maggie by hanging her from a chain and then takes Sherman prisoner. Meegeren slips away aboard a speedboat, and Sherman pursues him on another craft. The pursuit ends when Meegeren’s boat crashes and is consumed by fire.

The chase leads to a warehouse run by Morgenstern, where the drugs are distributed. There Sherman meets Van Gelder and his niece, Trudi. A shootout reveals the complicity of Trudi and the broader gang, leaving Trudi dead and Sherman wounded. Van Gelder makes a desperate attempt to flee, but Sherman ends his life, bringing a grim conclusion to the Dutch side of the operation.

Last Updated: October 07, 2025 at 09:14

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Pessimistic tales of lone agents fighting pervasive corruption in a broken world.If you enjoyed the gritty, paranoid atmosphere of Puppet on a Chain, explore more movies like it. This collection features similar 1970s thrillers where lone agents battle overwhelming corruption, offering bleak narratives and tense, action-packed investigations into a broken world.

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Characters, Settings & Themes in Puppet on a Chain

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