Worked as an engineer, then a stage actor and advertising copywriter before becoming a successful novelist. He had authored four novels by the time he became first associated with films as a script consultant for Alexander Korda, in 1938. In 1940 he joined the British army as a private, and after serving with a film combat unit in Italy, he was made assistant director of army cinematography in the British War Office, in charge of production of all educational and morale films. Following his discharge, with the rank of lieutenant colonel, he went to work for the Rank Organisation as a screenwriter. In addition to the many scripts he wrote directly for the screen, several of his novels were adapted into films by others, notably THE MASK OF DIMITRIOS, JOURNEY INTO FEAR, BACKGROUND TO DANGER (originally Uncommon Danger), and The Light of Day, which provided the basis for the film TOPKAPI. Ambler's novels are typically suspense thrillers. His spy stories influenced the trend for unglamorous surroundings and unheroic characters in modern espionage literature and films. He co-authored several crime novels with Charles Rodda under the common pseudonym of Eliot Reed. Ambler was nominated for an Oscar® for his script for THE CRUEL SEA (1953). His second wife was Joan Harrison, who produced Alfred Hitchcock's TV anthology series and collaborated on the scripts of several Hitchcock features.  Nominated for Writing (Screenplay) 1953: THE CRUEL SEA 1 nomination