{{Short description|1944 British film by John Harlow}} {{italic title}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2016}} {{Use British English|date=May 2016}} {{Infobox film | name = Candles at Nine | image = Candles_at_Nine_(1944_film).jpg | caption = Opening title | director = John Harlow | producer = Wallace Orton | screenplay = Basil Mason<br>John Harlow | based_on = novel ''The Mouse Who Wouldn't Play Ball'' by Anthony Gilbert<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Yyqc0Qa6b60C&q=candles+at+nine+literary+sources+in+film&pg=PA180|title=The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film|first=Alan|last=Goble|date=1 January 1999|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|isbn=9783110951943|via=Google Books}}</ref> | narrator = | starring = Jessie Matthews<br>John Stuart<br>Beatrix Lehmann | music = '''score composed & directed by:'''<br>Charles Williams | cinematography = James Wilson | editing = Vi Burdon (uncredited) | studio = British National Films | distributor = Anglo-American Film Corporation {{small|(UK)}} | released = {{Film date|1944}} | runtime = 82 minutes | country = United Kingdom | language = English | budget = | gross = }} '''''Candles at Nine''''' is a 1944 British mystery film directed by John Harlow and starring Jessie Matthews, John Stuart and Beatrix Lehmann.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036694/|title=Candles at Nine (1944)|publisher=}}</ref><ref name="yule">{{cite magazine|magazine=Filmink|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/forgotten-british-film-moguls-lady-yule/|date=14 September 2025|access-date=14 September 2025|title=Forgotten British Film Moguls: Lady Yule}}</ref> A wealthy man taunts his relations and staff about which of them shall inherit his estate after he changes his Will; the same night, he falls down the stairs. His money is left to a distant female relative; a target for intrigue, from some, and murder, from another.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/24744|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090114022249/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/24744|url-status=dead|archive-date=2009-01-14|title=Candles at Nine (1945)|publisher=}}</ref> It is based on the 1943 novel ''The Mouse Who Wouldn't Play Ball'' by Anthony Gilbert.
==Plot== After the mysterious death of wealthy old Everard Hope, his avaricious relatives are little pleased to discover that his estate has been left to distant relation Dorothea Capper, a young showgirl. The one condition of the will is that she must stay in Hope's spooky mansion for a month. After several attempts on Dorothea's life, detective William Gardener decides to investigate.
==Cast== * Eliot Makeham as Everard Hope * Beatrix Lehmann as Julia Carberry * John Salew as Griggs, Everard * Joss Ambler as Garth Hope * Vera Bogetti as Lucille Hope * Andre Van Gyseghem as Cecil Tempest * Winifred Shotter as Brenda Tempest * Reginald Purdell as Charles Lacey * Hugh Dempster as Hugh Lacey * Jessie Matthews as Dorothea Capper * John Stuart as William Gordon * Ernest Butcher as Everard's gardener * C. Denier Warren as Middleton, the solicitor * Patricia Hayes as Gewndolyn, the Day Maid
==Critical reception== ''TV Guide'' dismissed the film as a "tedious mystery".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tvguide.com/movies/candles-at-nine/review/123298/|title=Candles At Nine|website=TVGuide.com}}</ref>
''Allmovie'' wrote, "the creaky pacing by director John Harlow makes the first half of the movie seem more soporific than atmospheric...the movie finally takes off when Matthews shows up on screen, and the visuals, the editing, the music, and the pacing all come to life. The problem there is that she looks a little long-of-tooth for the role she's playing, in terms of the element of wide-eyed wonder that she must display at her sudden good fortune -- at 37, even with lots of energy and great makeup, she looks awkward doing a role that would have been better suited to her in 1934. Beatrix Lehmann's portrayal of the housekeeper whose services she inherits comes from the Judith Anderson school of performing...and her creepy portrayal is one of the best things in the movie. There are also a couple of charming (and brief) musical sequences, one of them breaking the tension at just the right moment as the thriller's plot winds tighter. The whole thing doesn't hang together seamlessly, but it's an enjoyable diversion, if one hangs in past the first 18 minutes' tedium."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allmovie.com/movie/candles-at-nine-v8005/review|title=Candles at Nine (1944) - John Harlow - Review - AllMovie|website=AllMovie}}</ref>
==References== <references/>
==External links== * {{IMDb title|0036694}}
{{John Harlow}}
Category:1944 films Category:1944 mystery films Category:British black-and-white films Category:British mystery films Category:Films directed by John Harlow Category:Films set in London Category:Films shot at British National Studios Category:1944 English-language films Category:1944 British films Category:Films scored by Charles Williams (composer) Category:English-language mystery films