Hotel Reserve

Tense Hitchcockian espionage thriller adapted from the masterly Eric Ambler’s novel, Epitaph for a Spy. Strong on atmosphere and suspense, it’s boosted by a marvellous performance from James Mason, who stars alongside Lucie Mannheim, Herbert Lom and Raymond Lovell.

An Austrian medical student, Peter Vadassy (James Mason), is accused of spying for Nazi Germany while holidaying in a pre-World War Two French resort and strives to prove his innocence to the sceptical authorities. But they seem unlikely to believe that his snaps of military installations were an accidental by-product of his love of wildlife photography, leaving him to face the prospect of a lengthy spell in prison – or the death sentence. The police come to believe Vadassy is innocent but threaten him with deportation unless he returns to the Hotel Reserve and attempts to flush out the real spy among the guests. —Britmovie.co.uk