Am I Right, Sir? A Real-Life Mr. Memory

I was looking around on CNN and found this story about the "Amazing memory man [who] never forgets."

To Williams and his family, his ability to recall events -- and especially dates -- is a regular source of amusement. But according to one expert, Williams' skill might rank his memory among the best in the world. Doctors are now studying him, and a woman with similar talents, hoping to achieve a deeper understanding of memory.

Of course, I immediately thought of Mr. Memory in The 39 Steps by Alfred Hitchcock. In that film, Wylie Watson plays a music-hall performer who is able to recall, on request, the most trivial bits of information. Of course, his memory is portrayed as perfect, while the subjects discussed at CNN seem to be limited by their interests--for instance, if one doesn't like sports, he cannot recall sports facts as well.

Being a in thriller, Hitchcock's Mr. Memory of course became central to the problem of the 39 steps. I wonder if any other thrillers have made use of super-accurate memory in this way.