ERIC AMBLER

'Eric Ambler' (28 June 1909 - 22 October 1998) was an influential English writer of spy novels who brought a level of realism to the field that had generally been absent in earlier works. Ambler also used the pseudonym 'Eliot Reed ' for books co-written with Charles Rodda.

Contents

Life

Works

Bibliography

External links

Life

Ambler was born in London, to a family of entertainers, putting on a type of puppet show with which he helped. Later he studied engineering at London University and served an apprenticeship with an engineering company. His family background proved dominant, and Ambler soon moved to writing plays and other works. He moved to Paris for a few years, where he married Louise Crombie.
When World War II broke out, Ambler entered the army as a common soldier, serving briefly in the Royal Artillery. He was soon re-assigned to photographic units, where his talents could be better utilized. He ended the war as a Lieutenant Colonel and assistant director of the army film unit.
After the war, he continued in the civilian film industry as a screen-writer. It was in this capacity that he received an Academy Award nomination in 1953 for his work on the film "The Cruel Sea", a gritty adaptation of the novel by Nicholas Montserrat. He did not resume writing under his own name until 1951, thus breaking his writings into two distinct periods. Five of his six early works are regarded as classic thrillers.
Ambler divorced Louise in 1958, marrying Joan Harrison the same year. They moved to Switzerland in 1969 and back to England 16 years later. Joan died in 1994 in London.
Ambler died in Switzerland.

Works

Ambler's best known works are probably ''The Mask of Dimitrios'' (1939), which became a classic film noir in 1944, and ''The Light of Day'' (1962), filmed in 1964 as ''Topkapi'' and also lampooned in ''The Pink Panther'' (1963). He was also a successful screenwriter who, in his later years, lived in Los Angeles. Amongst other classic movies based on his works are ''Journey Into Fear'' (1943), starring Joseph Cotten, and ''The October Man'' (1947). He published his autobiography in 1985, ''Here Lies Eric Ambler.''
A recurring theme in Ambler's books is the amateur who finds himself unwillingly in the company of hardened criminals and/or spies. Typically, the protagonist is out of his depth and often seems for much of the book a bumbling anti-hero, yet eventually manages to surprise himself as well as the professionals by a decisive action which outwits his far more experienced opponents. Such plots occur, for example, in ''Journey into Fear'', ''The Light of Day'' and ''Dirty Story''. In Ambler's books, unlike those of most other writers of thrillers, the main protagonist is rarely a professional spy or policeman.
His novel ''The Light of Day'', was turned into a major movie production titled Topkapi, featuring the talents of Peter Ustinov, Maximilian Schell and Melina Mercouri.

Bibliography

★ ''The Dark Frontier'' (1936)

★ ''Uncommon Danger'' (apa ''Background to Danger'' - U.S.) (1937)

★ ''Epitaph for a Spy'' (1938)

★ ''Cause for Alarm'' (1938)

★ ''The Mask of Dimitrios'' (aka ''A Coffin for Dimitrios'' - U.S.) (1939)

★ ''The Army of the Shadows'' (1939) in ''The Queen's Book of the Red Cross''

★ ''Journey into Fear'' (1940)

★ ''Skytip'' (1950) (as Eliot Reed)

★ ''Judgment on Deltchev'' (1951)

★ ''Tender to Danger'' (1951) (as Eliot Reed) (aka ''Tender to Moonlight'')

★ ''The Schirmer Inheritance'' (1953))[1][2]

★ ''The Maras Affair'' (1953) (as Eliot Reed)

★ ''Charter to Danger'' (1954) (as Eliot Reed)

★ ''The Night-Comers'' (1956) (apa ''State of Siege''[3][4]

★ ''Passport to Panic'' (1958) (as Eliot Reed)

★ ''Passage of Arms'' (1959)

★ ''The Light of Day'' (1962) (apa ''Topkapi'') (Edgar Award for Best Novel, 1964)

★ ''The Ability to Kill: And Other Pieces'' [SS] (1963)

★ ''A Kind of Anger'' (1964)

★ ''Dirty Story'' (1967) (apa ''This Gun for Hire'')

★ ''The Intercom Conspiracy'' (1969) (apa ''The Quiet Conspiracy'')

★ ''The Levanter'' (1972)

★ ''Doctor Frigo'' (1974)

★ ''Send No More Roses'' (1977) (apa ''The Siege of the Villa Lipp'' - U.S.)

★ ''The Care of Time'' (1981)

★ ''Here Lies: An Autobiography'' (1985) (Edgar Award for Best Critical/Biographical Work, 1987)

★ ''Waiting for Orders'' [SS] (1991) (apa ''The Story so Far'')
# The Intrusions of Dr. Czissar
# The Army of Shadows
# The Blood Bargain

External links

★ Eric Ambler biography

★ Short biography, photo, and summaries of some works

★ Eric Ambler bibliography