Amblin’ Towards 100

Today marks what would have been the 99th birthday of the man often called the father of the modern spy novel, Eric Ambler. Ambler was born in London, England, on this day in 1909. The future engineer, author, and holder of Britain’s much-esteemed OBE was born into a family of entertainers and puppeteers. He died in 1998.

Ambler’s best known work is arguably 1939’s The Mask of Dimitrios, published in the United States as A Coffin for Dimitrios. The book was made into what has become a highly regarded noir film in 1944. The Mask of Dimitrios was directed by Jean Negulesco and starred Sydney Greenstreet, Zachary Scott, Peter Lorre, and Faye Emerson.

Two years ago, Rap Sheet editor J. Kingston Pierce remembered Ambler in this space:

Although he wrote two dozen books over his career, including Epitaph for a Spy (1938), Passage of Arms (1959), The Light of Day (1962), and Waiting for Orders (1991), some of which were turned into films, it’s usually Dimitrios that’s remembered as his greatest work--“one of the classics of spy fiction,” to quote Bruce F. Murphy from The Encyclopedia of Murder and Mystery.

Although much more could be said about Ambler, his books and his immense contributions to the genre, I think I’ve said enough for now. But check this space next year at this same time. I expect that the 100th anniversary of Ambler’s birth will inspire some fond remembrances.