Eric Ambler facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Eric Ambler
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| Born | Eric Clifford Ambler 28 June 1909 London, England |
| Died | 22 October 1998 (aged 89) London, England |
| Occupation | Author |
| Nationality | British |
| Genre | Thrillers, spy novels |
| Spouse |
Louise Crombie
(m. 1939; div. 1958)Joan Harrison
(m. 1958; died 1994) |
Eric Clifford Ambler (born June 28, 1909 – died October 22, 1998) was a famous English writer. He was known for his exciting thriller and spy novels. Eric Ambler brought a new, realistic style to these types of stories. He also wrote scripts for movies and sometimes used the pen name Eliot Reed for books he wrote with Charles Rodda.
Contents
Life and Times of Eric Ambler
Eric Ambler was born in Charlton, South-East London. His family were entertainers who ran a puppet show. Young Eric often helped them. His parents also worked as music hall performers.
He later studied engineering at the Northampton Polytechnic Institute. He even did a training program with an engineering company. But his love for entertainment was stronger. Soon, he started writing plays and other works. By the early 1930s, he worked as a copywriter for an advertising company in London.
After leaving that job, he moved to Paris, France. There, he met Louise Crombie, an American fashion writer. They got married in 1939.
Political Views and World War II
Eric Ambler was strongly against fascism. At the time, many people saw the Soviet Union as the main power against fascist aggression. This idea showed up in some of his early books. In these stories, Soviet agents were often shown as good people. They were allies of the main character.
However, Eric Ambler and many others were shocked by the German-Soviet Pact in 1939. This agreement between Germany and the Soviet Union changed his views. After the war, he wrote a novel called Judgment on Deltchev (1951). This book was about the trials that happened in Eastern Europe under Stalin's rule. Because of this book, many of his former friends who supported communism were upset with him.
When World War II began, Ambler joined the army as a private soldier. In 1941, he became an officer in the Royal Artillery. He was soon moved to photographic units. He finished the war as a high-ranking officer. He was an assistant director of the Army Film and Photographic Unit.
After the War
After the war, Eric Ambler worked in the film industry as a screenwriter. He was even nominated for an Academy Award for his work on the film The Cruel Sea (1953). He didn't start writing novels under his own name again until 1951. This marked the start of his second important period of writing.
Five of his first six books are considered classic thrillers. He also helped create the American detective TV series Checkmate in 1960.
Eric Ambler divorced Louise Crombie in 1958. The same year, he married Joan Harrison. She was a film producer and screenwriter who worked with Alfred Hitchcock. The couple moved to Switzerland in 1969. They returned to Britain 16 years later. Joan Harrison passed away in 1994. Eric Ambler died in 1998.
In 2008, the rights to Eric Ambler's works were transferred to Owatonna Media. Later, these rights were sold to Coolabi Plc in 2009. However, Owatonna Media kept the rights for radio and audio versions of his stories.
Eric Ambler's Writing Career
Some of Eric Ambler's most famous books are The Mask of Dimitrios (1939) and The Light of Day (1962). The Mask of Dimitrios was made into a film in 1944. The Light of Day was filmed in 1964 as Topkapi.
He was also a very successful screenwriter. He lived in Los Angeles later in his life. Other well-known movies based on his work include Journey into Fear (1943) and The October Man (1947). He wrote the script for A Night to Remember, which was about the sinking of the Titanic. He wrote many other screenplays, especially those about stories and adventures at sea. In 1985, he published his autobiography, Here Lies.
Ambler's Unique Story Style
Unlike most spy novels written before his time, Eric Ambler's main characters are usually not professional spies or police officers. Instead, they are often ordinary people. They find themselves unwillingly caught up with dangerous criminals, revolutionaries, or spies.
The main character usually starts out feeling completely lost. But they somehow manage to surprise everyone, including themselves. They take decisive actions that outsmart their much more experienced opponents.
This type of plot is used in many of his books. Examples include Journey into Fear, Epitaph for a Spy, and The Mask of Dimitrios. Other books with this style are The Night-Comers, Passage of Arms, The Light of Day, Dirty Story, The Levanter, and Doctor Frigo.
Another common idea in his stories is about being stateless or in exile. This means characters are forced to leave their home countries. Or they face the danger of not being allowed to live in any country.
Works by Eric Ambler
Novels
- The Dark Frontier (1936)
- Uncommon Danger (1937), US title: Background to Danger
- Epitaph for a Spy (1938)
- Cause for Alarm (1938)
- The Mask of Dimitrios (1939), US title: A Coffin for Dimitrios
- Journey into Fear (1940)
- Judgment on Deltchev (1951)
- The Schirmer Inheritance (1953)
- The Night-Comers (1956), also published as State of Siege
- Passage of Arms (1959); Gold Dagger Award
- The Light of Day (1962), also published as Topkapi; Edgar Award for Best Novel, 1964
- A Kind of Anger (1964)
- Dirty Story (1967), also published as This Gun For Hire
- The Intercom Conspiracy (1969), also published as The Quiet Conspiracy
- The Levanter (1972); Gold Dagger Award
- Doctor Frigo (1974)
- Send No More Roses (1977), US title: The Siege of the Villa Lipp
- The Care of Time (1981)
Short Stories and Non-Fiction
- The Ability to Kill: and Other Pieces (1963).
- To Catch A Spy (1964). An anthology of stories.
- Here Lies: An Autobiography (1985). Edgar Award for Best Critical/Biographical Work, 1987.
- Waiting for Orders (1991). Contains eight stories mostly written in 1939–40:
- "The Intrusions of Dr. Czissar". Six detective stories about Dr. Jan Czissar.
- "The Army of the Shadows". A suspense story about an English surgeon.
- "The Blood Bargain". A suspense story about a Latin American dictator.
- The Story so Far: Memories and Other Fictions (1993). Nine autobiographical stories.
- "Michelin" in Dorothy Salisbury's, Crime Without Murder, c. 1970.
Short Stories (First Publication)
- "The Army of the Shadows" (1939) in The Queen's Book of the Red Cross
As Eliot Reed (with Charles Rodda)
- Skytip (1950)
- Tender to Danger (1951), also published as Tender to Moonlight
- The Maras Affair (1953)
- Charter to Danger (1954)
- Passport to Panic (1958)
Film Screenplays
- The New Lot (1943)
- The Way Ahead (1944)
- The October Man (1947)
- The Passionate Friends (1949)
- Highly Dangerous (1950)
- The Clouded Yellow (uncredited) (1950)
- The Magic Box (1951)
- Encore (1951)
- The Promoter also known as The Card (1952)
- The Cruel Sea (1953)
- Shoot First also known as Rough Shoot (1953)
- The Purple Plain (1954)
- Lease of Life (1954)
- Yangtse Incident: The Story of H.M.S. Amethyst (1957)
- A Night to Remember (1958)
- The Wreck of the Mary Deare (1959)
- Mutiny on the Bounty (uncredited) (1962)
Television
- Checkmate (1960) television series
- Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Act of Faith (TV episode, 1962)
- Love Hate Love (TV movie, 1970)
Film Adaptations of Ambler's Work
- Journey into Fear (1943)
- Background to Danger (1943)
- Hotel Reserve (1944)
- The Mask of Dimitrios (1944)
- Epitaph for a Spy (1953, TV miniseries)
- Climax!: Epitaph for a Spy (1954, TV series episode)
- Climax!: Journey into Fear (1956, TV series episode)
- The Schirmer Inheritance (1957, TV miniseries)
- Moment of Fear: A Touch of Guilt (1960, TV series episode)
- Epitaph for a Spy (1963, TV miniseries)
- Topkapi (1964)
- Journey into Fear: Seller's Market (1966, unaired TV pilot)
- Journey into Fear (1975)
- Ricatto internazionale (Italy, 1980, TV miniseries)
- Eine Art von Zorn (West Germany, 1984)
- A Quiet Conspiracy (1989, TV miniseries)
- The Care of Time (1990)
See also
In Spanish: Eric Ambler para niños
