The House of a Thousand Candles

Last updated
The House of a Thousand Candles
The House of a Thousand Candles.jpg
Directed by Arthur Lubin
Written by H. W. Hanemann
Endre Bohem
adaptation
Ralph Gilbert Bettison
Charles G. Booth
Based onnovel by Meredith Nicholson
Produced by Dorothy Reid
Nat Levine (uncredited)
Starring Phillips Holmes
Mae Clarke
Irving Pichel
Cinematography Jack A. Marta
Ernest Miller
Edited by Ralph Dixon
Music by Arthur Kay
Production
company
Republic Pictures
Distributed by Republic Pictures
Release date
  • April 3, 1936 (1936-04-03)
Running time
71 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The House of a Thousand Candles is a 1936 American thriller film directed by Arthur Lubin and starring Phillips Holmes, Mae Clarke and Irving Pichel. [1] It is based on the 1906 novel by Meredith Nicholson. The novel had been filmed twice before, once in 1915 (as The House of a Thousand Candles ) and again in 1919 by Henry King (under the title Haunting Shadows ). [2]

Contents

A British secret service agent is sent to try to prevent a plot to derail a peace conference in Geneva and threaten international peace. [3]

Plot

Unscrupulous casino owner Anton Sebastian secretly runs a network of spies out of his hotel and casino, "The House of a Thousand Candles". After killing one of his spies, Victor Demetrius, via poison, he sends a secret message over the radio to a dancer, Raquel. Sebastian orders him to intercept a British intelligence agent Tony Carleton and steal some top-secret documents.

British intelligence officer Sir Andrew McIntyre instructs agent Carleton to pick up some opera tickets in an envelope which contains secret information, and then to go to Geneva. Tony gets the envelope and boards a train, but is followed by his American admirer, Carol Vincent.

On the train, Raquel slips Tony a drugged drink, steals all of his papers and then escapes to meet Sebastian at the hotel. Tony jumps off the train and Carol follows. They arrive at the hotel and register as brother and sister.

Carol hides in Raquel's room when Sebastian plants a microphone. She goes to his study and sees his storage place for stolen papers. Then she listens in to Tony and Raquel. Raquel is about to tell Tony who she works for when she is killed by her maid Marta, who is loyal to Sebastian.

Tony and the envelope are captured by Sebastian, who plans to kill him and make it look like an accident. Tony agrees to decode the information on the envelope to protect Caroo but she tries to stop him by burning it. The flames reveal the real information.

Sebastian leaves with the message, and Alf and Barrie, other secret agents, rescue Tony and Carol. They find Sebastian's secret codes, after which Tony sets out in pursuit of Sebastian. Barrie uses the codes to broadcast to Sebastian's men, saying Sebastian is a murderer who stole Sebastian's car – and they drive him off the road.

Tony and Carol get married.

Cast

Production

House of a Thousand Candles had been previously filmed before in 1919 as an American silent film, as Haunting Shadows . It was directed by Henry King and starred H. B. Warner, Edward Piel Jr., Charles Hill Mailes and Florence Oberle. [4] Filming of this version took place in December 1935. [5]

Reception

The New York Times called it "lively... briskly directed... effectively played." [6]

Diabolique magazine called it "creaky and is hampered, as many Lubin films would be, by a lack of star power in the lead roles, which really should be played by stars, but it is quick and light and Lubin clearly has affection for his characters." [7]

Lubin himself said he thought the picture was "charming". [8]

Related Research Articles

The year 1920 in film involved some significant events.

The year 1916 in film involved some significant events.

The year 1915 in film involved some significant events.

The year 1914 in film involved some significant events, including the debut of Cecil B. DeMille as a director.

1913 was a particularly fruitful year for film as an art form, and is often cited one of the years in the decade which contributed to the medium the most, along with 1917. The year was one where filmmakers of several countries made great artistic advancements, producing notable pioneering masterpieces such as The Student of Prague, Suspense, Atlantis, Raja Harischandra, Juve contre Fantomas, Quo Vadis?, Ingeborg Holm, The Mothering Heart, Ma l’amor mio non muore!, L’enfant de Paris and Twilight of a Woman's Soul.

The year 1912 in film involved some significant events.

The year 1911 in film involved some significant events.

The year 1910 in film involved some significant events.

L'Homme qui vendit son âme au diable is a 1921 French silent film comedy directed by Pierre Caron. The plot was similar to Faust and The Student of Prague, about a man who makes a diabolical deal with the Devil.

Au Secours! is a 1924 short French silent comedy horror film, directed by Abel Gance and starring Max Linder. The French title translates into English as "Help!". The film is also known as The Haunted House in some reference books. The film was made on a dare, with Gance filming the entire project in three days, with the help of his friend, actor Max Linder. Linder had just returned to France after several years of trying to start an acting career in Canada.

<i>The Mechanical Man</i> 1921 film

The Mechanical Man is a 1921 Italian science fiction film directed by André Deed. It was produced in 1920 and released in November 1921. It is one of the first science fiction films produced in Italy, and the first film showing a battle between two robots. The cinematographer was Alberto Chentrens.

<i>The Haunted Bedroom</i> 1919 film

The Haunted Bedroom is a lost 1919 American silent drama film directed by Fred Niblo and starring Enid Bennett and Dorcas Matthews. The film was also distributed under the title The Ghost of Whispering Oaks.

<i>The Hunchback and the Dancer</i> 1920 film

The Hunchback and the Dancer is a 1920 silent German horror film directed by F. W. Murnau and photographed by Karl Freund. This is now considered to be a lost film. The film was written by Carl Mayer, who also wrote The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920). Karl Freund later emigrated to Hollywood where he directed such classic horror films as The Mummy (1932) and Mad Love (1935). It premiered at the Marmorhaus in Berlin.

<i>The Dungeon</i> (1922 film) 1922 film by Oscar Micheaux

The Dungeon is a 1922 race film directed, written, produced and distributed by Oscar Micheaux, considered the African-American Cecil B. DeMille due to his prolific output of films during the silent era, one of his greatest works being Body and Soul (1924). The Dungeon was his first horror effort, an early blaxploitation take on the Bluebeard legend.

The Other Person is a 1921 Dutch-British silent mystery film directed by Maurits Binger and B.E. Doxat-Pratt. It was a co-production between a Dutch film company and a British film company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Max Neufeld</span> Austrian film director

Max Neufeld was an Austrian film director, actor and screenwriter. He directed 70 films between 1919 and 1957. He directed the 1934 film The Song of the Sun, which starred Vittorio De Sica.

<i>The Drums of Jeopardy</i> (1923 film) 1923 film by Edward Dillon

The Drums of Jeopardy is a 1923 American silent mystery film directed by Edward Dillon, written by Arthur Hoerl and featuring Wallace Beery. It is based on the 1920 novel of the same name by Harold McGrath which was serialized in the Saturday Evening Post. The film was released by Tru-art Film Company in November 1923. The name of the villain in the story was originally called Boris Karlov, but when the actor Boris Karloff rose to prominence circa 1923, the character's name was changed to Gregor Karlov to avoid confusion. It was changed back to Boris again in the 1931 remake of the film which starred Warner Oland as the villain.

Maria Marten is a 1928 British silent drama film directed by Walter West starring Trilby Clark, Warwick Ward and Dora Barton. It is based on the real story of the Red Barn Murder in the 1820s, and is one of five film versions of the events. The film shifted the action to fifty years earlier to the height of the Georgian era. This was the last of the silent film adaptations of the Maria Marten story, and its success paved the way for the much better 1935 sound film remake starring Tod Slaughter. A 35mm print of the 1928 silent film exists in the British Film Institute's archives.

Harry Agar Lyons was an Irish-born British actor. He was born in Cork, Ireland in 1878 and died in Wandsworth, London, England in 1944 at age 72.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Friedrich Feher</span> Austrian actor and director (1889–1950)

Friedrich Feher was an Austrian actor and film director. He first entered the film business in 1913, starting out as an actor but quickly gravitated toward directing.

References

  1. ↑ "The THEATRE: Espionage Abroad". Wall Street Journal. 4 Apr 1936. p. 11.
  2. ↑ Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 222. ISBN   978-1936168-68-2.
  3. ↑ House of a Thousand Candles, The Monthly Film Bulletin; London Vol. 3, Iss. 25, (January 1, 1936): 104.
  4. ↑ Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 222. ISBN   978-1936168-68-2.
  5. ↑ "Studio Placements". Variety. 18 December 1935. p. 27.
  6. ↑ THE SCREEN By FRANK S. NUGENT. New York Times 2 Apr 1936: 29.
  7. ↑ Vagg, Stephen (14 September 2019). "The Cinema of Arthur Lubin". Diabolique Magazine.
  8. ↑ Flynn, Charles; McCarthy, Todd (1975). "Arthur Lubin". In Flynn, Charles; McCarthy, Todd (eds.). Kings of the Bs : working within the Hollywood system : an anthology of film history and criticism. E. P. Dutton. p. 364.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.