hooks, et cetera. In 1998, the Modern Library ranked The Ambassadors 27th on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. Adaptations and influences Literature Patricia Highsmith's novel, The Talented Mr. Ripley (1955), begins with the protagonist, Tom Ripley, traveling to Europe in pursuit of a wealthy man's son with orders to bring him back to the family business. The inspiration is acknowledged in the novel with an explicit mention of James' The Ambassadors. Cynthia Ozick's novel, Foreign Bodies (2010), tells the story of The Ambassadors with a woman as the protagonist. Stage productions A musical theatre version of The Ambassadors, titled Ambassador, was first produced in 1971 in London's West End, then on Broadway in 1972; it proved unsuccessful. Television The BBC television adaptation of the novel for their Play of the Month television series first aired on March 13, 1977, with Paul Scofield as "Strether" and Lee Remick as "Maria Gostrey" (she later played "Eugenia" in the 1979 Merchant Ivory cinema version of The Europeans). References The Ambassadors: An Authoritative Text, The Author on the Novel, Criticism edited by S.P. Rosenbaum (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1994) The Novels of Henry James by Edward Wagenknecht (New York: Frederick Ungar Publishing Co., 1983) The Novels of Henry James by Oscar Cargill (New York: Macmillan Co., 1961) The Ambassadors: The Cambridge Edition of the Complete Fiction of Henry James, vol. 18, edited by Nicola Bradbury (Cambridge University Press, 2015) Notes External links IMDb page for the television version of The Ambassadors (1977) "How Henry James Invented Modern Fiction with The Ambassadors," Ted Gioia (Fractious Fiction) Ways to Read The Ambassadors The Ambassadors from the Collections of the Library of Congress 1903 American novels Novels by Henry James Novels first published in serial form American political novels Works originally published in the North American Review Paris in fiction American novels adapted into television shows