''Hotel Reserve'' is a 1944 British

spy film The spy film, also known as the spy thriller, is a genre of film that deals with the subject of fictional espionage, either in a realistic way (such as the adaptations of John le Carré) or as a basis for fantasy (such as many James Bond films) ...

starring

James Mason James Neville Mason (; 15 May 190927 July 1984) was an English actor. He achieved considerable success in British cinema before becoming a star in Hollywood. He was the top box-office attraction in the UK in 1944 and 1945; his British films inc ...

as an innocent man caught up in pre-

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

espionage. Other cast members include

Lucie Mannheim Lucie Mannheim (30 April 1899 – 17 July 1976) was a German singer and actress. Life and career Mannheim was born in Köpenick, Berlin, where she studied drama and quickly became a popular figure appearing on stage in plays and musicals. Among ...

Raymond Lovell Raymond Lovell (13 April 1900 – 1 October 1953) was a Canadian-born actor who performed in British films. He mainly played supporting roles, often somewhat pompous characters. Lovell initially trained as a physician at Cambridge University ...

and

Herbert Lom Herbert Charles Angelo Kuchačevič ze Schluderpacheru (11 September 1917 – 27 September 2012), known professionally as Herbert Lom (), was a Czech-British actor who moved to the United Kingdom in 1939. In a career lasting more than 60 ye ...

. It was based on

Eric Ambler Eric Clifford Ambler OBE (28 June 1909 – 22 October 1998) was an English author of thrillers, in particular spy novels, who introduced a new realism to the genre. Also working as a screenwriter, Ambler used the pseudonym Eliot Reed for book ...

's 1938 novel ''

Epitaph for a Spy ''Epitaph for a Spy'' is a 1938 spy novel by Eric Ambler. Plot Josef Vadassy is a Hungarian refugee who is effectively stateless. He was born in Szabadka, then in Hungary, but it became Subotica and part of Yugoslavia following the 1920 Treaty ...

''. Unusually, it was both directed and produced by a trio:

Lance Comfort Lance Comfort (11 August 1908 – 25 August 1966) was an English film director. In a career spanning over 25 years, he became one of the most prolific film directors in Britain, though he never gained critical attention and remained on the ...

Mutz Greenbaum Mutz Greenbaum (3 February 1896 – 5 July 1968), sometimes credited as Max Greene or Max Greenbaum, was a German film cinematographer. He was the son of the pioneering film producer Jules Greenbaum who had founded Deutsche Bioscope. He began ...

and

Victor Hanbury W. Victor Hanbury (1897 – 14 December 1954) was a British film director and producer. Entering the film industry in 1919 after service in the First World War, he became a director and producer in the early 1930s. His last film as a director w ...

. It was shot at

Denham Studios Denham Film Studios was a British film production studio operating from 1936 to 1952, founded by Alexander Korda. Notable films made at Denham include ''Brief Encounter'' and David Lean's '' Great Expectations''. From the 1950s to the 1970s t ...

with sets designed by the

art director Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film industry, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and ...

William C. Andrews. The film was produced and distributed by the British branch of

RKO Pictures RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orphe ...

Plot

In 1938, refugee Peter Vadassy decides to take a holiday at the Hotel Reserve to celebrate both his completion of medical school and his impending French citizenship. When he goes to pick up some photographs at the local pharmacy, he is taken away and questioned by Michel Beghin of French naval intelligence. When his negatives had been developed, some of them turned out to be of French military installations. It is discovered that while the camera is the same make as Peter's, the serial number is different. Peter is released on condition that he find out which other hotel guests have cameras like his. Peter does some snooping and eavesdrops on a suspicious conversation between Paul Heimberger and the hotel's proprietor, Madame Suzanne Koch. He searches Heimberger's room and finds several passports, all with different names and nationalities. Heimberger catches him in the act, but eventually matters are straightened out. Heimberger explains that he was originally a

Social Democratic Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote soci ...

newspaper publisher who was anti-

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

and been sent to a concentration camp for two years. After he was released, he joined an underground movement against the German regime. Peter spots his camera in the pocket of a dressing-gown belonging to Odette and Andre Roux, a couple on their honeymoon. Andre first tries to bribe Peter into giving him the negative and, when that fails, threatens him with a pistol. The police arrive at that moment and arrest Peter for espionage. The Rouxs leave the hotel, but find Heimberger trying to disable the hotel's car. Andre shoots him dead and the couple speed off to

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...

, unaware that they are being tracked by the police. Beghin had known the identity of the spies all along and merely used Peter to further his true goal; to find out who the Rouxs are reporting to. The spy ring is captured. Andre gets away, but is caught on a roof by Peter. Andre slips and falls to his death.

Cast

as Peter Vadassy *

as Madame Suzanne Koch *

as Robert Duclos, a hotel guest given to exaggeration *

Julien Mitchell Julien Mitchell (13 November 1888 – 4 November 1954) was an English actor, in films from the mid-1930s. Mitchell supported comedians George Formby and Will Hay, and appeared in some Hollywood films in the early war years, but is perhaps ...

as Michel Beghin *

as Andre Roux *

Martin Miller Martin Miller may refer to: *Martin Miller (actor) (1899–1969), Czech actor *Martin Miller (cricketer, born 1940), English cricketer *Martin Miller (cricketer, born 1972), English cricketer *Martin Miller (footballer) (born 1997), Estonian footbal ...

as Walter Vogel *Clare Hamilton as Mary Skelton, a hotel guest who is attracted to Peter. A sister of

Maureen O'Hara Maureen O'Hara (; 17 August 1920 – 24 October 2015) was a native Irish and naturalized American actress and singer, who became successful in Cinema of the United States, Hollywood from the 1940s through to the 1960s. She was a natural ...

, her real name was Florrie Fitzsimons. This was her only film appearance. *

Frederick Valk Frederick Valk (10 June 1895 – 23 July 1956) was a German-born Jewish stage and screen actor of Czech Jewish descent who fled to the United Kingdom in the late 1930s to escape Nazi persecution, and subsequently became a naturalised British cit ...

as Emil Schimler, alias Paul Heimberger *

Patricia Medina Patricia Paz Maria Medina (19 July 1919 – 28 April 2012) was a British actress. She is perhaps best known for her roles in the films ''Phantom of the Rue Morgue'' (1954) and ''Mr. Arkadin'' (1955). Early life Medina was the daughter of Laure ...

as Odette Roux *Anthony Shaw as Major Anthony Chandon-Hartley, a guest *

Laurence Hanray Laurence Hanray ( Lawrence Henry Jacobs; 16 May 1874 – 28 November 1947), sometimes credited as Lawrence Hanray, was a British film and theatre actor born in London, England. He is also credited as the author of several plays and music hall s ...

as Police Commissioner (as Lawrence Hanray) *David Ward as Henri Asticot, a guest *

Valentine Dyall Valentine Dyall (7 May 1908 – 24 June 1985) was an English character actor. He worked regularly as a voice actor, and was known for many years as "The Man in Black", the narrator of the BBC Radio horror series '' Appointment with Fear'' ...

as Warren Skelton *Joseph Almas as Albert, the waiter (as Josef Almas) *

Patricia Hayes Patricia Lawlor Hayes (22 December 1909 – 19 September 1998) was an English character actress. Early life Patricia Hayes OBE was born in Streatham,Dennis Barker, "Hayes, Patricia Lawlor (1909–1998)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biogra ...

as Servant (waitress) *

Hella Kürty Hella Kürty (1900–1954) was a German actress and singer. An operetta performer, she originated the role of Mi in Franz Lehar's 1929 work ''The Land of Smiles'' alongside Richard Tauber. The following year she appeared in a film version of th ...

as Hilda Vogel *

Ivor Barnard Ivor Barnard (13 June 1887 – 30 June 1953) was an English stage, radio and film actor. He was an original member of the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, where he was a notable Shylock and Caliban. He was the original Water Rat in the first L ...

as P. Molon, the pharmacist *Ernst Ulman as Detective in Black Suit

Critical reception

The ''

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' (currently styled as ''RadioTimes'') is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in May 1923 by J ...

'' noted, "this subdued thriller, set just before the Second World War, is lifted by James Mason's performance as a 'wronged man'," and concluded, "The plot has enough suspense and intrigue built in, but this movie only fitfully comes to life as Mason sets out discover who the real villain is"; Dennis Schwartz found it "a visually attractive film, though hampered because it's so slow moving"; whereas

Leonard Maltin Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic and film historian, as well as an author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives. He is perhaps best known for his book of fil ...

thought more highly of the piece, finding it a "Suspenseful, moody film."

References

External links

* * {{Victor Hanbury 1944 films British black-and-white films British spy films Films based on British novels RKO Pictures films Films directed by Lance Comfort Films set in 1938 Films set in France Films set in hotels Films shot at Denham Film Studios 1940s spy films 1940s British films