JohnHowardReid Producer/director: GEORGE KING. Screenplay: Katherine Strueby, Brock Williams. Additional dialogue: John Clements. Story: Dorothy Hope. Photography: Otto Heller. Camera operator: Gus Drisse. Exterior photography: Patrick Gay. Supervising film editor: Terence Fisher. Film editor: Winifred Cooper. Art director: Norman Arnold. Music composed by Roy Douglas and James Turner, directed by Jack Beaver. Songs by Jack Denby, Hans May, Alan Stranks, Muriel Watson, G. Arbib. Songs sung by Christiane De Murin. Sound recording: Ernest A. Royles, Cecil W. Thornton. Associate producer: John Stafford. Executive producer: S. W. Smith. (Available on an 8/10 Odeon DVD).A George King Production for British Aviation Pictures, released in the U.K. by British Lion: 20 March 1944. In the U.S.A. by 20th Century- Fox. Registered: December 1943. "U" certificate. New York opening at the Victoria: 29 July 1944. Australian release through G.B.D./20th Century-Fox: 8 February 1945. 7,904 feet. 87½ minutes.SYNOPSIS: A British spy outwits Nazi agents in Algiers.COMMENT: Aside from three sequences (the rescue from the hotel with a neatly-timed bit of impersonation by James Mason as the villains confer in the middle of an enormous vestibule while vacuum cleaners whirr in the foreground; the beautifully-lit confrontation and escape from the Casbah; the climactic car chase), this is a routine slice of war- time nonsense, routinely and even poorly acted (especially by the heroine who is not very attractively photographed either) and very routinely and uninspiredly directed. Lots of close- ups are used, because the film is largely stage-bound with lots of banal additional dialogue and familiar clichés of plot and characterization. Rilla does what he can with the part of the villain, but much of his effort is dissipated by King's heavy-handed direction.

Cristi_Ciopron A watchable but bland movie, without any poetry, wit or charm, but with an annoying leading man (the chap tracked by the German secret service) and an also bland, often uninspiring leading woman (though I enjoyed the way she was wearing her dresses); the title, the genre itself, the cast seem promising, but the blandness of the craft is enhanced by the carelessness and silliness of the script, the plot enhances the strong scent of silliness and schmaltz and the blandness of the cartoon characters (Thurston's insolence and authoritarianism make him intensely annoying). Some sense of menace and threat, with characters meant to look intriguing, results despite this mediocre movie being blandly made by G. King; the movie has a strong scent of silliness, but some may enjoy the car-chase at Cap Hazard, or the passing from the hotels and glamorous prostitution to the slum of Kasbah, and it could all have been exciting, with the interrogatory at GAC and the sacrifice of the French girl. The plot happens in Biskra and then Alger, during the armistice masquerade, when the Germans look for a map, the map of a house at Cap Hazard, where the Allied officers meet to prepare the attack; Rilla plays Müller, the mastermind of the German espionage in Alger. When the American girl is brought to Müller's office, at the German Armistice Commission, and she leans across the desk to help him solve the puzzle game, she couldn't have reached the board from where she stood; Thurston was about to be executed by people who don't even care to arrest him. The schmaltz previously mentioned is due to G. King, one of the lousiest English directors.

gordonl56 CANDLELIGHT IN ALGERIA 1944This wartime thriller is both a spy adventure, and a film noir. The headliners are played by James Mason, Carla Lehmann, Walter Rilla, Enid Stamp-Taylor, Pamela Stirling and Leslie Bradley. The film is directed by the under-rated George King. The film is set just before the US/UK invasion of Vichy Algeria in Nov 1942. American Carla Lehmann gets herself mixed up with British secret agent James Mason. Mason is on the lam from the Nazis who are dogging his every step. It is all about a camera and film both sides want. Mason breaks into Lehman's house looking for some food and a place to lay low. Lehman, in Algeria visiting her aunt, pulls a pistol on Mason and prepares to summon the Police. Mason tells her a tale of needing help evading the Nazi types chasing him. Mason appeals to her patriotism and asks for her help. Lehmann agrees and stashes Mason under some stairs just as the Nazi's arrive. The chief villain here, played brilliantly by Walter Rilla, is a smooth talking killer in a nice suit. Lehmann pretends to know nothing about any "prowler" in the area. Rilla does not buy her act for a moment, but begs her pardon and leaves. Mason, rested up and fed, asks Lehmann to meet him in 2 days in Casablanca. He wants her to visit a woman, Enid Stamp-Taylor, there. This is where the all-important camera and film are hidden. Along the way Lehman notices she has picked up a Gestapo tail. Once Lehmann gets hold of the camera, the hi-jinks start, with Lehmann, Mason and the Germans in a cat and mouse game through the night time alleys etc of Casablanca. Mason gets the film developed and they discover that it is a map showing a secret meeting location on the Algerian coast. At the meeting will be American, UK and Vichy French military types. This is all to lay out the times and places for the Allied Invasion of North Africa. The Germans want the meeting location so they can swoop in and capture everyone. Also in the mix here, is Pamela Stirling as a French barmaid, and Leslie Bradley as a Vichy officer helping the Allies. Rilla nearly puts the grab on Mason but is interrupted by Miss Lehmann. There is a quick exchange of blows with the Nazi being laid low. The pair then swipe Rilla's car and speed off to the now, not so secret location. Mason wants to warn whoever about the German plot. And as it would so happens, the meeting is in full bloom with Allied and Vichy types settling the invasion details. Speed is of the essence here, as Rilla has recovered from his thumping and is in hot pursuit. Mason and Lehmann reach the house and deliver the warning. And just in time as some Vichy French Policemen are snooping around nearby. The meeting is wrapped up and the Allied officers retreat to a waiting submarine. Mason and Lehmann now lead Rilla and company on a wild car chase along the coast. Lehman is shoved out of the car and Mason roars off into the night. Lehmann wakes up in a hospital wondering if Mason made it to safety. Needless to say he now puts in an appearance. Plenty of pace here with director King keeping things hopping. King was best known for a string of Tod Slaughter films such as, SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET, THE FACE AT THE WINDOW and THE CRIMES OF STEPHEN HAWKE. King also helmed a pair of first rate film noir, THE SHOP ON SLY CORNER and FORBIDDEN. The look of the film is excellent with two time BAFTA nominated (one time winner) Otto Heller handling the cinematography duties. Heller's work includes, THEY MADE ME A FUGITIVE, NOOSE, QUEEN OF SPADES, THE CRIMSON PIRATE, THE SQUARE RING, THE LADYKILLERS, RICHARD III, THE SILENT ENEMY, ALFIE and his BAFTA winner, THE IPCRESS FILE. There is some real witty dialogue supplied by screenplay writers, Brock Williams, Kate Strueby and John Clements working from a Dorothy Hope story. Several of the better cracks are, Miss Lehmann telling a Nazi officer to try some "prairie oysters" (bull testicles) Villain Rilla has a great line when he tells Vichy officer, Bradley, "The French are good at appearing to be Brave."A much better film than I was expecting. Canadian Carla Lehmann was in several wartime thrillers such as, SECRET MISSION and COTTAGE TO LET

annalbin-1 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".