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Candlelight in Algeria

  • 1943
  • Not Rated
  • 1h 26m
IMDb RATING
6.2/10
538
YOUR RATING
Candlelight in Algeria (1943)
An American sculptress in wartime Britain gets mixed up with a British agent and a Nazi spy who knows that a top-secret meeting of Allied military leaders will be taking place in Algeria--and that the British agent has a camera that has photographs of the meeting place.
Play trailer1:41
1 Video
8 Photos
DramaMysteryWar

An American sculptress in wartime Algiers gets mixed up with a British agent and a Nazi spy who knows that a top-secret meeting of Allied military leaders will be taking place in Algeria--an... Read allAn American sculptress in wartime Algiers gets mixed up with a British agent and a Nazi spy who knows that a top-secret meeting of Allied military leaders will be taking place in Algeria--and that the British agent has a camera that has photographs of the meeting place.An American sculptress in wartime Algiers gets mixed up with a British agent and a Nazi spy who knows that a top-secret meeting of Allied military leaders will be taking place in Algeria--and that the British agent has a camera that has photographs of the meeting place.

  • Director
    • George King
  • Writers
    • Brock Williams
    • Katherine Strueby
    • Dorothy Hope
  • Stars
    • James Mason
    • Carla Lehmann
    • Raymond Lovell
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    6.2/10
    538
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • George King
    • Writers
      • Brock Williams
      • Katherine Strueby
      • Dorothy Hope
    • Stars
      • James Mason
      • Carla Lehmann
      • Raymond Lovell
    • 17User reviews
    • 4Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Videos1

    Official Trailer
    Trailer 1:41
    Official Trailer

    Photos7

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    Top cast28

    Edit
    James Mason
    James Mason
    • Alan Thurston
    Carla Lehmann
    Carla Lehmann
    • Susan Foster
    Raymond Lovell
    • Von Alven
    Enid Stamp-Taylor
    Enid Stamp-Taylor
    • Maritza
    • (as Enid Stamp Taylor)
    Walter Rilla
    Walter Rilla
    • Dr. Muller
    Pamela Stirling
    • Yvette
    Lea Seidl
    • Sister
    Sybille Binder
    Sybille Binder
    • Woman
    • (as Sybilla Binder)
    Hella Kürty
    Hella Kürty
    • Maid
    • (as Hella Kurty)
    Paul Bonifas
    Paul Bonifas
    • French Proprietor
    Leslie Bradley
    Leslie Bradley
    • Henri de Lange
    Harold Berens
    • Toni
    Cot D'Ordan
    • Hotel Manager
    Richard George
    Richard George
    • Capt. Matthews
    Meinhart Maur
    • Schultz
    Jacques Metadier
    • Elderly French Officer
    Michael Morel
    • Police Commissioner
    • (as Michel Morel)
    Bart Norman
    • Gen. Mark Clark
    • Director
      • George King
    • Writers
      • Brock Williams
      • Katherine Strueby
      • Dorothy Hope
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews17

    6.2538
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    Featured reviews

    9annalbin-1

    Fez up - it's a fun film

    You can get this film from Movies Unlimited. However, it is not 85 minutes long as advertised in IMDb and other places. It's about 63 minutes long, but the story seems complete enough. The interplay between the American heroine and her English secret agent boy friend is snappy and sassy. If you have ever wondered why James Mason was once considered the "Cambridge edition of Clark Gable", then look no further than this film. I particularly like the scenes where he is running around with a fez on his head for no apparently good reason. This was one of three films Mason did where he played the "good" guy (before the Brits figured out he'd be much more of a box office hit playing slightly sadistic anti-heroes). The other two are "Hotel Reserve" and "Secret Mission".
    7planktonrules

    An enjoyable British wartime propaganda yarn.

    I noticed a discrepancy with the running time of the version of this film I downloaded for free at archive.org--it runs 81 minutes, not 86. IMDb says there's a severely truncated version at 65 minutes...but this one I saw was missing only five minutes or the running time listed on IMDb is incorrect.

    When the film begins, Susan (Carla Lehmann) awakens in a hospital bed as there are celebrations for the combined Allied landing in North Africa. The film then jumps back to before this and explains what exactly had happened to Susan.

    A desperate escaped POW takes shelter in Susan's home in Algeria. At this point, the Vichy French and Americans were not at war with each other and so despite the Vichy being essentially a vassal state to the Nazis, American nationals are allowed in this part of France even though the US and Germany are at war. So, if Susan wanted to, she simply could have turned in Alan (James Mason) and been safe. But instead he soon convinces her to help him obtain a camera filled with important film...film which COULD hamper the Americans and Free French from invading North Africa. And, as a result of her choice, Susan is in almost constant peril.

    This is a pretty exciting war film--one obviously meant to drum up sentiment in favor of the Allied cause. While technically this is a propaganda film, it's a good one and doesn't come off as jingoistic or which depicts the Germans as monsters like many other films. Because of this, it holds up pretty well, though most viewers today might not understand the context for the film--such as what was Vichy France and how were the Free French very different. Still, an enjoyable little film. Oh, and although it doesn't matter, the American lady, Susan, was played by a Canadian. And, there also is a bit of a plot hole as the film really did NOT explain why Susan was in the hospital--particularly as just before this she seemed healthy and just fine on the ship. Odd...as was the ending, though that was odd in an enjoyable sense.
    7dierregi

    Enjoyable

    Maybe be a piece of fluffy propaganda, but it's an enjoyable adventure movie, with a suitable spunky American heroine and a charming British spy. Part of the plot takes place in Alger Casbah, like Pépé le Moko but on a smaller scale. A sweet but determined French girl named Yvette makes an impression, thanks to her small role of the doomed lover.
    8clanciai

    James Mason hijacking a lovely American girl into the Casbah

    This is all adventure while the war is only a decoration. Lovely Carla Lehmann, reminding very much of Carole Lombard, is a very American Kansas girl who accidentally gets mixed up with a brazen English adventurer (James Mason) who has taken some forbidden pictures of some very secret German maps, which he is being chased for as he tries to smuggle them out of Algeria. They team up and eventually end up in the exotic Casbah, where anyone can hide or disappear forever. There is a lot of good humour here, the dialog is flippant and exhilarating, the wit is constantly on a high level and good mood, and Carla is doing surprisingly well. The Germans are not all complete dumbbells here, doktor Muller is quite awesome in his perfect politeness, and the exploration of intriguing environments in Algiers is quite entertaining, and eventually the invasion of North Africa starts rolling on. The spirit of the film is ironic with some detachment, and there are some really hilarious scenes with French and German officers in their very different approach to women. It is not a great film, but it is entertaining enough.
    6howardmorley

    Oh How I I Long For Foreign Language Sub-Titles in these War Films

    I rated this film 6/10 having discovered it in a rare film emporium in Camden Market, North London, last Sunday.I am a forties film aficionado but had never seen this title before.One thing British/American films constantly do in war films is to assume all German/French characters speak fluent English (to make it easy on audiences who will mostly only speak this language), and this film was no exception, (although marginally less so than most US 40s films of the time).What is especially laughable is when German characters speak in English to other German characters!On the other hand, this 1944 film did not take itself too seriously especially the end scene, when Carla Lehmann describes to James Mason how Hollywood would have filmed the self same scene, (all done to keep up the nation's morale!).A more enlightened treatment of showing various European languages on film is for producers to hire actors German/French who can speak in their own native tongue but then show English sub-titles for that part of the plot as in Darryl F Zanuck's ground breaking epic, "The Longest Day" (1962).

    The two US reviewers above seemed to have enjoyed this film, so I suppose it served its purpose however I could not award it more than just above an adequate rating.

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      A severely shortened DVD and VHS videotape version, running only about 65 minutes, is presently being circulated among underground film dealers in both USA and Canada, who either ignore complaints from buyers, or else claim it's the USA release version. The USA release, as distributed by Twentieth Century-Fox in 1944, is the same length as the British version, 86 minutes.
    • Goofs
      When Susan Foster is about to hide Alan Thurston in a cupboard, a shadow appears briefly on an adjoining wall. Since from their positions it would not appear to be that of either of them, it could only be that of a crew member.
    • Quotes

      Alan Thurston: Now we both go to earth. Feel like a climb? Know where you are?

      Susan Foster: The Casbah.

      Alan Thurston: That's it. The haunt of vice, the lair of criminals, the hideout of every thief and murderer in Algiers. I've lived here as safely as if I were in London.

    • Crazy credits
      Opening credits prologue: Our story takes place in Algeria during the uneasy period before the Allied Invasion of North Africa. Algiers - the headquarters of the German Armistice Commission - was under the control of the Vichy Government. Britain was fighting for her empire in the sands of Libya, and America, still friendly with Vichy, was preparing her first land campaign of the war in the west. It is a story - not of war but of adventure - of a secret meeting which paved the way for a great Allied victory.

      VICTORY TUNISIA 1943
    • Soundtracks
      It's Love
      Written by Muriel Watson and Jack Denby

      French lyrics by G. Arbib

      Sung by Christiane De Maurin

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    FAQ

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    Details

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    • Release date
      • July 30, 1944 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United Kingdom
    • Languages
      • English
      • French
      • German
    • Also known as
      • Signal iz Alžira
    • Production company
      • British Aviation Pictures
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 26 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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