Truly magnificent lost spy movie...

I had just about reached the auto-gag reflex on all the primary political coverage last night, so we turned it over to Turner Classic Movies during the evening news.

On comes this weird little B&W flick called "Hotel Reserve". Set in 1938 coastal France, prewar espionage story. Stars were James Mason (later Rommel, Captain Nemo, bad guy in North by Northwest...) as the hero, pretty acress named Lucia Mannheim as his new girl, Herbert Lom (Pink Panthers crazy detective boss) as the villain Nazi spy...

Something about it seemed awfully familiar, so I pulled down my whole shelf of Eric Ambler spy novels. Sure enough, it is a film cover of the novel "Epitaph for a Spy" which was actually written in 1938. (The movie guide gives the date as made in 1944). I missed the end credits, so I don't know if they gave the Ambler novel as the original story. The movie stayed pretty close to the original, which I am rereading now.

Ambler was, of course the famous pre/post war spy-story author who is said to have completely recreated the genre after such early attemps as Joseph Conrad, etc. He supposedly was the inspiration for Ian Fleming, Len Deighton, John le Carre, and other cold-war notables. Journey into Fear, A Coffin for Demetrius, The Levanter, The Care of Time, The Shirmer Inheritence, amoung others.

Catch this one if you like vintage spy stuff.