Candlelight in Algeria – 1943 | 86 mins | Drama, War | B&W

Plot Synopsis

Spirited mixture of wartime romance and political espionage loosely-based on the summit of Allied leaders off the coast of Algerian to coordinate Operation Torch. This fast-paced melodrama from a story by Dorothy Hope is capably directed by George King with cinematographer Otto Heller supplying some skilful black-and-white camerawork. Canadian Carla Lehmann, who had a brief career in England before retiring, here exudes plenty of spirit and impudence as the American heroine, whilst the dependable James Mason was beginning to establish himself as the matinee idol of the Gainsborough Gothic’s.

Susan Foster (Carla Lehmann), a Kansas-born sculptress is cast into a web of international intrigue when she decides to hide fugitive British agent Alan Thurston (James Mason) from suave Nazi Dr. Muller (Walter Rilla). Thurston’s mission is to travel to the Vichy colony of Algiers and recover a camera revealing the exact location along a deserted stretch of deserted coast where Allied General Mark Clark and his colleagues are soon to rehearse signals for the invasion of North Africa. Muller intends to trail Thurston until he can acquire the camera and subsequently capture the Allied group.

In Algiers, Susan steals the sought after camera from the bedroom of collaborationist nightclub singer Martiza (Enid Stamp-Taylor). Rather than hand the camera over to Thurston, Susan decides to hand it over to the American consulate, but her opinion of Thurston quickly changes when he rescues her from the clutches of Muller. The duo hold up at a Casbah with Thurston’s French femme friend Yvette (Pamela Stirling), where they develop the film; which Thurston recognises the coastline as Cap Hazard. Afterwards, they shoot their way out of the Casbah and race to Cap Hazard to alert the Allied officers.