Sort by IMDb Rating - Highest Rated Movies and TV Shows With Eric Ambler
- Job Types
- Movies or TV
- Genres
- Keywords
- IMDb Rating
- Instant Watch Options
- In Theaters
- Release Year
51. The Promoter (1952)
Approved | 85 min | Comedy
Edward Machin, an Edwardian-era young rogue of lowly origin, decides he must do what he can to raise his living standards in order to see the world and shape his own destiny.
Director: Ronald Neame | Stars: Alec Guinness, Glynis Johns, Valerie Hobson, Petula Clark
Votes: 1,845
52. The October Man (1947)
Not Rated | 95 min | Crime, Mystery
When the murder of a young woman happens, her next-door neighbor is under suspicion due to his previous stay in a mental hospital.
Director: Roy Ward Baker | Stars: John Mills, Joan Greenwood, Edward Chapman, Kay Walsh
Votes: 1,500
53. The Magic Box (1951)
Approved | 118 min | Biography, Drama, History
A chronicle of the life of William Friese-Greene, a British inventor and early pioneer in cinema.
Director: John Boulting | Stars: Robert Donat, Maria Schell, Renée Asherson, Richard Attenborough
Votes: 1,419
54.
Checkmate (1960–1962)
Episode:
A Matter of Conscience
(1961)
60 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Director: Richard Irving | Stars: Anthony George, Doug McClure, Sebastian Cabot, Gary Merrill
Votes: 14
55.
Checkmate (1960–1962)
Episode:
The Heat of Passion
(1961)
60 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Director: Ron Winston | Stars: Anthony George, Doug McClure, Sebastian Cabot, Dorothy Malone
Votes: 21
56. Topkapi (1964)
Unrated | 120 min | Adventure, Comedy, Crime
A conman gets mixed up with a group of thieves who plan to rob an Istanbul museum to steal a jewelled dagger.
Director: Jules Dassin | Stars: Melina Mercouri, Peter Ustinov, Maximilian Schell, Robert Morley
Votes: 10,736
57. The Way Ahead (1944)
Approved | 91 min | Drama, War
World War II drama that follows a group of British draftees, starting with their rigorous basic training, and ending with their deployment in North Africa.
Director: Carol Reed | Stars: David Niven, Stanley Holloway, James Donald, John Laurie
Votes: 2,226
58. Encore (1951)
Not Rated | 89 min | Comedy, Drama
Adaptations of three short stories by W. Somerset Maugham comprise this anthology film in which the celebrated author introduces each segment of the film in front of the camera.
Directors: Harold French, Pat Jackson, Anthony Pelissier | Stars: Nigel Patrick, Roland Culver, Alison Leggatt, Charles Victor
Votes: 602
59.
Checkmate (1960–1962)
Episode:
Dance of Death
(1961)
60 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Director: Paul Stewart | Stars: Anthony George, Doug McClure, Sebastian Cabot, Cyd Charisse
Votes: 14
60.
Checkmate (1960–1962)
Episode:
The Heart Is a Handout
(1962)
60 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Jed goes undercover at a hobo camp to prevent the leader from being murdered.
Director: Tom Gries | Stars: Anthony George, Doug McClure, Sebastian Cabot, Myron McCormick
Votes: 19
61.
Checkmate (1960–1962)
Episode:
Deadly Shadow
(1960)
60 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A young widow is attacked and the only photograph of her dead husband, a Marine private is stolen. Checkmate investigates to thwart a conspiracy against her and the private the military claims never existed.
Director: Don Weis | Stars: Anthony George, Doug McClure, Sebastian Cabot, Margaret O'Brien
Votes: 18
62.
Checkmate (1960–1962)
Episode:
The Paper Killer
(1961)
60 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Director: Don Taylor | Stars: Anthony George, Doug McClure, Sebastian Cabot, Mickey Rooney
Votes: 19
63.
Checkmate (1960–1962)
Episode:
The Someday Man
(1962)
60 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A former football star always looking for the next big windfall gets into serious trouble with the mob, who want him to influence his young protege to shave points in the next big football game.
Director: Robert Ellis Miller | Stars: Anthony George, Doug McClure, Sebastian Cabot, Don Taylor
Votes: 9
64. Lease of Life (1954)
Approved | 94 min | Drama
The parson of a small rural community knows he is dying and this makes him reconsider his life so far and what he can still do to help the community.
Director: Charles Frend | Stars: Robert Donat, Kay Walsh, Adrienne Corri, Denholm Elliott
Votes: 328
65. Battle Hell (1957)
Approved | 113 min | Drama, History, War
In 1949, during the Chinese Civil War, British warship H.M.S. Amethyst sails up the Yangtse river but on the return trip, finds its way blocked by a barrage of fire from the Communist Chinese shore batteries.
Director: Michael Anderson | Stars: Richard Todd, William Hartnell, Akim Tamiroff, Donald Houston
Votes: 778
66.
Checkmate (1960–1962)
Episode:
A Very Rough Sketch
(1962)
60 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A young man who has just won an art contest learns that his father has been arrested for embezzling from his company. Now Checkmate must find a good influence who can stop him from turning violent.
Director: Ron Winston | Stars: Anthony George, Doug McClure, Sebastian Cabot, Dina Merrill
Votes: 18
67.
Checkmate (1960–1962)
Episode:
Jungle Castle
(1961)
60 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
After two attempts on his life, big game hunter Lee Tabor brings Dr. Hyatt and Carl to his home in the Malayan jungle. He asks for their help in finding out which of his three house guests is trying to kill him.
Director: Ted Post | Stars: Anthony George, Doug McClure, Sebastian Cabot, Lee Marvin
Votes: 18
68.
Checkmate (1960–1962)
Episode:
The Gift
(1961)
60 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Lola Tuscany, a temperamental lady soprano, is having premonitions of her death. After her concert she is almost poisoned and Checkmate Inc. is hired to keep her safe. Don Corey is ... See full summary »
Director: Jules Bricken | Stars: Anthony George, Doug McClure, Sebastian Cabot, Patrice Munsel
Votes: 12
69.
Checkmate (1960–1962)
Episode:
The Renaissance of Gussie Hill
(1962)
60 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A worker at a luxury women's spa is threatened when her former boyfriend is released from prison.
Director: Ron Winston | Stars: Anthony George, Doug McClure, Sebastian Cabot, Jack Betts
Votes: 12
70.
Checkmate (1960–1962)
Episode:
The Two of Us
(1961)
60 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Director: Paul Stewart | Stars: Anthony George, Doug McClure, Sebastian Cabot, Lloyd Bridges
Votes: 15
71. Climax! (1954–1958)
Unrated | 60 min | Drama
This was an anthology series that presented a different story and different set of characters on each episode. It ran from 1954 to 1958 and featured Casino Royale of James Bond fame, which led to two theatrical movies of the same name.
Stars: William Lundigan, Art Gilmore, Mary Costa, Michael Rennie
Votes: 260
72. The Wreck of the Mary Deare (1959)
Not Rated | 105 min | Adventure, Crime, Drama
A disgraced merchant marine officer elects to stay aboard his sinking cargo ship in order to prove the vessel was deliberately scuttled and, as a result, vindicate his good name.
Director: Michael Anderson | Stars: Gary Cooper, Charlton Heston, Michael Redgrave, Emlyn Williams
Votes: 2,943
73.
Checkmate (1960–1962)
Episode:
A Chant of Silence
(1962)
60 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Carl Hyatt gets held up at a Monastery where he has an encounter with two hoodlums who threaten to kill a few of the priests that work at the Monastery he is held up at.
Director: William A. Graham | Stars: Anthony George, Doug McClure, Sebastian Cabot, Nick Adams
Votes: 17
74.
Checkmate (1960–1962)
Episode:
An Assassin Arrives, Andante
(1962)
60 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Checkmate is hired by the director of a music conservatory that fronts for an Eastern Bloc freedom movement to protect his cello instructor who has been targeted for assassination.
Director: Tom Gries | Stars: Anthony George, Doug McClure, Sebastian Cabot, Richard Conte
Votes: 9
75.
Checkmate (1960–1962)
Episode:
Death by Design
(1961)
60 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Director: John Newland | Stars: Anthony George, Doug McClure, Sebastian Cabot, Eve Arden
Votes: 12
76.
Checkmate (1960–1962)
Episode:
Melody for Murder
(1961)
60 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Checkmate is hired by a pop singer's agent to investigate death threats. Jed goes undercover as an aide to the performer and travels with him to Hollywood where the threats escalate to gun shots.
Director: Don Taylor | Stars: Anthony George, Doug McClure, Sebastian Cabot, Jimmie Rodgers
Votes: 12
77.
Checkmate (1960–1962)
Episode:
The Princess in the Tower
(1960)
TV-14 | 60 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Corry and Sills's cleaning woman is killed in a fall just after warning Sills of a plot to kill a "princess"---a young woman who is planning a major renovation of some properties she owns.
Director: Herschel Daugherty | Stars: Anthony George, Doug McClure, Sebastian Cabot, Terry Moore
Votes: 11
78. Love Hate Love (1971 TV Movie)
74 min | Drama
Ryan O'Neal plays Russ Emery, a glib engineer who steals the heart of a fashion model named Sheila Blunden. She in turn leaves her jet setter fiance who turns out to be a psychotic who will not let go of Sheila that easily.
Director: George McCowan | Stars: Ryan O'Neal, Lesley Ann Warren, Peter Haskell, Henry Jones
Votes: 153
79.
Checkmate (1960–1962)
Episode:
Down the Gardenia Path
(1962)
60 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Checkmate is called in by a convention manager when one of her guest speakers vanishes and it appears he may have been a victim of blackmail.
Director: Ralph Senensky | Stars: Anthony George, Doug McClure, Sebastian Cabot, Susan Kohner
Votes: 13
80.
Checkmate (1960–1962)
Episode:
Nice Guys Finish Last
(1961)
60 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Director: Alan Crosland Jr. | Stars: Anthony George, Doug McClure, Sebastian Cabot, Jack Betts
Votes: 24
81.
Checkmate (1960–1962)
Episode:
Target: Tycoon
(1960)
60 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A woman hired Checkmate to prevent the murder of her father, an oil magnate. He suspects his assailant is an ex-partner and wants a private showdown with his nemesis.
Director: Frank Arrigo | Stars: Anthony George, Doug McClure, Sebastian Cabot, Charles Bickford
Votes: 14
82.
Checkmate (1960–1962)
Episode:
The Yacht-Club Gang
(1962)
60 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
After a prominent attorney and president of a yacht club board is nearly killed in an auto accident, the manager of the club calls in Checkmate suspecting foul play.
Director: Alexander Singer | Stars: Anthony George, Doug McClure, Sebastian Cabot, Patricia Neal
Votes: 14
83.
Checkmate (1960–1962)
Episode:
Trial by Midnight
(1962)
60 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Judge Leland McIntyre, teaching a night class in advanced criminal law, announces that several sessions of the class will be devoted to the review of a controversial capital murder case ... See full summary »
Director: Alexander Singer | Stars: Anthony George, Doug McClure, Sebastian Cabot, Dana Andrews
Votes: 11
84. The Purple Plain (1954)
100 min | Adventure, Drama, War
In World War II Burma, a Canadian bomber pilot becomes reckless after losing his bride in a Luftwaffe air-raid.
Director: Robert Parrish | Stars: Gregory Peck, Bernard Lee, Win Min Than, Brenda de Banzie
Votes: 2,453
85. Journey Into Fear (1943)
Approved | 68 min | Drama, Film-Noir, Thriller
An American ballistics expert in Turkey finds himself targeted by German agents. Safe passage home by ship is arranged for him, but he soon discovers that his pursuers are also on board.
Directors: Norman Foster, Orson Welles | Stars: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Dolores Del Río, Ruth Warrick
Votes: 4,687
86. Casablanca (1955–1956)
60 min | Drama
This was the first attempt by Warner Brothers to make the movie classic into a series. It was part of a revolving group of shows that included Kings Row on a show called Warner Brothers Presents.
Stars: Charles McGraw, Marcel Dalio, Dan Seymour, Michael Fox
Votes: 77
87.
Checkmate (1960–1962)
Episode:
Brooding Fixation
(1962)
60 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
The son of a wealthy industrialist killed in a gun accident believes that it may have been murder.
Director: Robert Ellis Miller | Stars: Anthony George, Doug McClure, Sebastian Cabot, Mary Astor
Votes: 13
88.
Checkmate (1960–1962)
Episode:
Death Beyond Recall
(1962)
60 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Famous defense attorney John Baker arranges for his own assassination after receiving notice that he is about to be investigated by the bar association, but then changes his mind.
Director: Herman Hoffman | Stars: Anthony George, Doug McClure, Sebastian Cabot, Walter Pidgeon
Votes: 13
89.
Checkmate (1960–1962)
Episode:
Kill the Sound
(1961)
60 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Director: James Wong Howe | Stars: Anthony George, Doug McClure, Sebastian Cabot, Sid Caesar
Votes: 14
90.
Checkmate (1960–1962)
Episode:
Ride a Wild Horse
(1962)
60 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
The girlfriend of a rodeo rider calls in Checkmate because she is worried her social-climbing brother will try to harm him.
Director: Byron Paul | Stars: Anthony George, Doug McClure, Sebastian Cabot, David Janssen
Votes: 14
91. Background to Danger (1943)
Passed | 80 min | Drama, Thriller, War
A German spy ring plans to publicize a false rumor that Russia, who is fighting Germany, plans to invade neutral Turkey in order to ally them with the Nazis.
Director: Raoul Walsh | Stars: George Raft, Brenda Marshall, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre
Votes: 1,586
92.
Checkmate (1960–1962)
Episode:
Hour of Execution
(1961)
60 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
When a judge and friend of Dr. Hyatt receives telephone calls and letters threatening his life if a man he sent to death row is e executed, Checkmate investigates the guilty man and the judge's character.
Director: John English | Stars: Anthony George, Doug McClure, Sebastian Cabot, James Gregory
Votes: 14
93.
Checkmate (1960–1962)
Episode:
In a Foreign Quarter
(1962)
60 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A university-affiliated psychiatrist hires Checkmate to prevent his wife from killing a man who is allegedly blackmailing her.
Director: Robert Ellis Miller | Stars: Anthony George, Doug McClure, Sebastian Cabot, Nobu McCarthy
Votes: 11
94.
Checkmate (1960–1962)
Episode:
Rendezvous in Washington
(1962)
60 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A married wealthy industrialist being considered for the position of Overseas Director at a large philanthropic organization calls Checkmate after threats are made against the woman with whom he is having an affair.
Director: William A. Graham | Stars: Anthony George, Doug McClure, Sebastian Cabot, Macdonald Carey
Votes: 12
95.
Checkmate (1960–1962)
Episode:
State of Shock
(1961)
60 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A series of carefully planned "accidents" aimed at a wealthy heiress who is the wife of hospital's director is investigated by Checkmate. Don ends up as a patient after suffering an accident on the property.
Director: James Wong Howe | Stars: Anthony George, Doug McClure, Sebastian Cabot, Nina Foch
Votes: 13
96.
Checkmate (1960–1962)
Episode:
The Mask of Vengeance
(1960)
60 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Checkmate is hired to protect an Ambassador's daughter receiving death threats from the Asian community after killing a Chinese child with her car. She has a history of speeding and is not being charged because of diplomatic immunity.
Director: Ted Post | Stars: Anthony George, Doug McClure, Sebastian Cabot, Janice Rule
Votes: 12
97. Hotel Reserve (1944)
Approved | 79 min | Thriller
A hunt for a spy, in an hotel in the South of France just before World War Two.
Directors: Lance Comfort, Mutz Greenbaum, Victor Hanbury | Stars: James Mason, Lucie Mannheim, Raymond Lovell, Julien Mitchell
Votes: 914
98. Eine Art von Zorn (1984 TV Movie)
95 min | Drama
Director: Uli Edel | Stars: Rolf Zacher, Caroline Berg, Bernhard Wicki, Hannelore Elsner
Votes: 22
99.
Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955–1962)
Episode:
Act of Faith
(1962)
TV-14 | 30 min | Drama, Mystery
Ralston Temple is a successful novelist who receives a letter from struggling writer Alan Chatterton asking him for comments on the first three chapters of his book. Temple invites him to ... See full summary »
Director: Bernard Girard | Stars: Alfred Hitchcock, George Grizzard, Dennis King, Florence MacMichael
Votes: 318
100.
Checkmate (1960–1962)
Episode:
The Bold and the Tough
(1962)
60 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A cut-throat investor hires Checkmate to protect an incorporated ranch owner after someone takes a shot at him just before a crucial board meeting.
Director: Don Taylor | Stars: Anthony George, Doug McClure, Sebastian Cabot, Earl Holliman
Votes: 11