{"product_id":"king-of-the-action-thriller-brian-hannan-9781476695334","title":"King of the Action Thriller","description":"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. Where Eagles Dare, The Guns of Navarone, Puppet on a Chain, and Fear Is the Key set the template for Die Hard, the Bourne films, and John Wick. 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.","brand":"McFarland \u0026 Co Inc","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51378522489120,"sku":"9781476695334","price":28.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/bookcorner.com\/products\/king-of-the-action-thriller-brian-hannan-9781476695334","provider":"The Book Corner","version":"1.0","type":"link"}