HOTEL RESERVE is a film that hasn't dated very well since its release during WW2; I'm guessing wartime audiences would have had a more emotional reaction to the storyline. It's a spy mystery set in and around a hotel in France in the years immediately preceding WW2, and the erstwhile hero of the piece is a young and breezy James Mason, who's wrongly accused of being a spy and who is then blackmailed into figuring out which of the suspects staying at the hotel is the real Nazi.Despite the intriguing set-up with its shades of Agatha Christie, this is largely a slice of hokum that goes nowhere. The running time feels at least twice as long as it actually is, and in terms of action, suspense and danger there's virtually zero to be found here. The director can just about muster up a relatively suspenseful scene at the climax, but up until that point the viewer is treated to endless scenes of talking, quasi-romance, and general boredom.Mason is an able actor but he has little to do in his central role, a role which offers little depth for any actor. Herbert Lom is better as one of the suspects, as he's able to bring his trademark darkness to the part, but the rest of the cast seems to be populated by caricatures instead of real people. There's not much here at all for modern audiences to engage with.

A small number of people are resident at the "Hotel Reserve" which is meant to be in France but is clearly on a studio set. It is up to one of the residents, Peter Vadassy (James Mason) to find out which guest is a Nazi spy. The cast are split into 2 groups. First of all, there are the good actors who portray interesting characters - Emil Schimler (Frederick Valk) - bad/good guy with a secret?, the female hotel owner - bad/good girl?, Andrew Roux (Herbert Lom) - bad/innocent guy? and the main police inspector - a good guy that knows more than the audience/James Mason. Set against this are the rest of the cast who are all buffoons, especially the Major (Anthony Shaw) and the fisherman (David Ward) who play their roles for laughs and who are never funny. There is also a pointless role for a French policeman who follows Vadassey around and he plays for humour. He is also not funny...............a mention must also go to Lucie Mannheim as the romantic interest for James Mason. She is dreadful and it is criminal that she is second-billed in this film. Neither her air-time nor her acting skills merit this lofty position. James Mason is OK and the film is a time-passer. Nothing more.

I only rated this 5/10 and would have expected it to be a 'B' feature before the big film, had I been in a cinema in 1944.As other reviewers have pointed out it looks like it was steered by a committee of directors to wit, Lance Comfort, Mutz Greenbaum (as Max Greene) and Victor Hanbury who fell over each other and got into a terrible mess.My first criticism is the film was obviously studio bound and had a claustrophobic feel to it throughout, especially for a film which purported to be set in the south of France.I know it was war time but Cornwall in the summer would have made a good substitute location.In that same year 1944 "Love Story" was made on location in Cornwall and London which added to the reality of the story.Other reviewers mention Hitchcock who was partial to actual exterior locations when the film demanded it.I suppose the producers were constrained in wartime by budgets.My second criticism was the unconvincing sets, never more noticeable than when James Mason climbs a ladder to a rooftop and you see what purports to be an iron ladder bend and sway - one for continuity.I do like a bit of the authentic language spoken, in this case French which was noticeable by its absence.A few "Messeur", "Mesdames" and "Merci" thrown in just will not do.In this regard the scriptwriters should have made a bigger part for Patricia Medina whose father was Spanish, hence her surname and as a linguist she could also speak French & Italian.I liked the eye candy of Lucy Mannheim (James Mason's German sounding girlfriend) but as stated by others she was not given enough of the script to establish her character.With a few deft opening scenes in "The 39 Steps" (1935) Hitchcock makes Lucy Mannheim's character much more memorable even after we have seen the charms of Madeleine Carroll.My third main criticism is that for a thriller and "who-done-it" it was curiously lacking tension and excitement, which brings me back to my review title.It certainly did not lack a quality cast James Mason, Herbert Lom, Raymond Lovell, Lucy Mannheim etc. so I can only blame the scriptwriters and directors for its flat outcome.

One wonders what this movie would have become if Hitchcock had gotten his hands on it. Would he have revved up the plot, tightened up the script, recast some of the characters, put in a highway chase over the countryside interrupted by sheep, added a more appealing female interest for Mason? The climb up to the roof at the end, the strong lighting and direct closeups, the art and photographic direction(seemingly uncredited to one of the directors),as well as the music score and the general "look" of the film, not to mention James Mason's compelling presence all had the ingredients for a potential Hitchcockian thriller, but something is missing here. The plot's not that complicated (certainly not like "The Lady Vanishes") and there seems not to be enough risk or sense of danger (certainly not like "The 39 Steps")to Mason's life, although there is suspense and surprise along the way. One big weakness is the supporting cast. The young lady's character (can't even remember her name) isn't developed enough, nor does she have sufficient charm or sex appeal, as a Hitchcockian heroine would. Still one watches it for Mason, before he has developed any overt mannerisms or been sadly type-cast as a villain. He seems to have made a number of these not-quite-up-to-snuff pictures in his career. Was he hard up? why didn't Hitchcock cast him and why didn't he ever accept a Powell & Pressburger offer? His presence on any number of these "grade-b" films, including the brief appearance in "Madame Bovary" (with Jenifer Jones), for example, or in the disappointing "Mayerling," adds a sense of gravitas to any of the proceedings in which he appeared, but the scripts and directors fail him, if not the cast.Fortunately, he can be remembered for his appearance as Captain Nemo in "Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea," and Sir Randolph Nettleby in "Shooting Party," both of which tapped his natural dignity and aristocratic bearing and surrounded him with a worthy cast. See those for Mason at his best.Of four stars****, two and a half.