Candleshoe (1977)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Norman Tokar

Writers:

David Swift (screenplay) and
Rosemary Anne Sisson (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

16 December 1977 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Comedy | Drama | Family

Tagline:

Their Family Fortune Is Bigger Than They Imagined!

Plot:

Small time crook Harry Bundage discovers that the old manor house where Lady St. Edmund resides, with...

Plot Keywords:

Treasure | Butler | Chauffeur | Gardener | Library

US TV Schedule:

Fri. Nov. 13

10:00 AM

TCM

Cast

David Niven	...	Priory
Helen Hayes	...	Lady St. Edmund
Jodie Foster	...	Casey
Leo McKern	...	Harold W. Bundage
Veronica Quilligan	...	Cluny
Ian Sharrock	...	Peter
Sarah Tamakuni	...	Anna
David Samuels	...	Bobby
John Alderson	...	Jenkins
Mildred Shay	...	Mrs. McCress
Michael Balfour	...	Mr. McCress
Sydney Bromley	...	Mr. Thresher
Michael Segal	...	Train Guard
Vivian Pickles	...	Grimsworthy

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:L | Canada:PG (video rating) | UK:U | Australia:G | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | USA:G

Filming Locations:

Compton Winyates, Warwickshire, England, UK

Company:

Walt Disney Productions

Trivia:

One of England's greatest actors, Lord Laurence Olivier, was originally considered for the role of Priory. However, David Niven ended up with the role.

Quotes:

Casey Brown: I'm not deprived; I'm delinquent. There's a difference, you know.

An excellent family film

I worked at the Disney Studios when this film was made. It was given a wide showing to Studio employees prior to release. At that time there were no "main titles." We were also given a list of potential release titles, the simple "Candleshoe" winning out. The employee comments were overwhelmingly positive and the movie went on to do good business.

One reviewer commented that the movie contained a high level of violence for a live action Disney film. It is no more violent than many such Disney movies (just see the final fight in "Blackbeard's Ghost" for example). There are several general brawls in Candleshoe, (including the climatic battle between the good guys and the bad guys), but it all done tongue-in-cheek; it is totally unobjectionable, and meant purely for fun. This last "battle" is played so broadly in fact that one might even say it nearly goes "over the top."

David Niven is wonderful in a variety of roles, from the butler, to a gardener to a retired army colonel. (The role was originally set for Laurence Oliver.) This was the first of two Niven films for Disney, the other being "No Deposit, No Return."

The nice thing about "Candleshoe" is that it continues to entertain more than 25 years after its release.