The Golden Gate is a novel written by the Scottish author Alistair MacLean. It was first released in the United Kingdom by Collins in 1976 and later in the same year by Doubleday in the United States.
Plot
A team of criminals led by mastermind Peter Branson kidnaps the President of the United States and his two guests from the Middle East, a prince and a king, on San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge, in a masterfully conceived and clockwork-timed operation. Branson and his men block off both ends of the bridge, wire it with explosives, and demand half a billion dollars and a full pardon for themselves. Any rescue attempts will result in the detonation of the explosives, which will kill the President (and his guests) and destroy the Golden Gate Bridge.
However, Branson is an egomaniac, and he cannot resist attention from the media. So he invites the press to stay on the bridge and cover the story. Aware that the FBI will have placed agents among them, he takes the precaution of searching them and removing the armed ones. However, Hagenbach (the FBI's dour but extremely adept head agent) has an ace in the hole: a hand-picked special agent, Paul Revson, who was equipped with only a camera. Allowed to remain on the bridge, Revson sets out to foil Branson's plans and rescue the President.
With the help of a doctor and a female journalist, Revson gets a message to his superiors, suggesting various courses of action: supplying drugged food to the terrorists, placing a submarine under the bridge, and trying to neutralize the terrorists' equipment with a laser beam. He also arranges for several carefully disguised weapons and gadgets to be smuggled to him. Working on both ends, Revson, Hagenbach, and those working with them unleash their own carefully conceived plans.
Cast of Characters
In the story, most of the good guys make their appearances after most of the bad guys, of whom there are 17:
Peter Branson, a criminal mastermind and leader of the plot
Van Effen, a skilled driver and Branson's right-hand man
Chrysler, a communications and electronics expert
Yonnie, a boxer
Bartlett
Reston, an explosives expert
Harrison, an explosives expert
Mack
Johnson, a helicopter pilot
Bradley, a helicopter pilot
Giscard, who poses as a cop
Parker, who poses as a cop
Harriman, who poses as Jensen
Kowalski, a Vietnam veteran
Peters, a Vietnam veteran and medic (field corpsman)
Bartlett
Boyard
Opposing the villains are the following characters, many of whom are hostages:
Paul Revson, an FBI agent and the hero
April Wednesday, a fashion photographer and Revson's love interest
O'Hare, a doctor and ambulance driver
President of the United States, a prime hostage
Richards, the Vice President of the United States
King of Saudi Arabia, a prime hostage
Iman, the oil minister of the King of Saudi Arabia and a prime hostage
Prince Achmed, a prime hostage
Kharan, the oil minister of Prince Achmed and a prime hostage
Hansen, the US Secretary of Energy
Milton, the US Secretary of State
Quarry, the US Secretary of the Treasury
Muir, the US Under-Secretary of State
John Morrison, Mayor of San Francisco
Bernard Hendrix, the Chief of the San Francisco Police
Campbell, a captain of the San Francisco Police
Cartland, a general in the US Army
James Hagenbach, the chief of the FBI
Jacobs, an assistant to Hagenbach
Jensen, the deputy director of the FBI
Isaacs, a doctor and the chief of the FBI's Drugs and Narcotics Section
Kylenski, a doctor and a leading forensic expert, specializing in poisons
Newson, an admiral in the US Navy and commander of their forces on the west coast
Carter, a general in the US Army and commander of their forces on the west coast
Boyann, a communications expert
Pearson, the captain of a US Navy submarine
Charles Rogers, a member of a US Army bomb disposal squad
Carmody, a member of a US Army bomb disposal squad
Hopkins, a driver of a flat truck
Dougan, a journalist with Reuters
Grafton, a journalist with the Associated Press
Ferrers, a journalist
Tony, a driver of a food delivery van
Background
The book was the first of three MacLean wrote set in California.[1] MacLean said in 1976 it was "the best thing I've done."[2]
The Los Angeles Times thought Maclean was "going through the motions".[4] The New York Times thought it was "nonsense, but agreeable nonsense... fun."[5]
Proposed film version
In 1975 a film was going to be made by Warner Bros starring Charles Bronson and directed by J. Lee Thompson (who had directed a film based on MacLean's Guns of Navarone). However they could not find a script they were happy with.[6]
In 1976 Maclean's second wife Mary formed a company with producer Peter Snell, Aleelle Productions, who aimed to make movies based on MacLean novels including Golden Gate, Bear Island, The Way to Dusty Death and Captain Cook.[7]
Film rights were bought by Lew Grade's ITC, who announced in October 1977 that the film version would be part of a slate of films worth $97 million. Filming was to begin in February 1978 from a script by Marc Norman and directed by Jerry Jameson.[8] However filming did not take place. In October 1978 ITC announced the film was one of their "contemplated productions."[9] The film was never made.
References
^CRITIC AT LARGE: The Scot's Got Lots of Plots
Champlin, Charles. Los Angeles Times 27 Feb 1975: g1.
^Davis, Sally Ogle (17 January 1976). "Meeting MacLean, the mystery man". p. 7.
^Paperback Best Sellers: HASS MARKET
New York Times 29 May 1977: 190.
^Presidential kidnap caper: all-American action for adolescents
White, Edward M. Los Angeles Times 12 Sep 1976: u3.
^Criminals At Large
By NEWGATE CALLENDAR. New York Times10 Oct 1976: 252.
^Webster, Jack (1991). Alistair MacLean: A Life. Chapmans. p. 110.
^Dempster, Nigel (19 January 1977). "Why my husband and I have parted—by Mrs Alistair MacLean". p. 13.
^FILM CLIPS: Lew Grade's $97 Million Projects
Kilday, Gregg. Los Angeles Times 15 Oct 1977: b9.
^FILM CLIPS: A New Dimension for a Brother Act
Kilday, Gregg. Los Angeles Times 28 Oct 1978: b11.
