Candleshoe

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.