Candleshoe (1977) Online
Small-time crook Harry Bundage discovers that the old manor house where Lady St. Edmund resides, with three orphans and her butler Priory is the resting place for a hoard of treasure. Unfortunately, he doesn't know where it is. Bundage recruits urchin Casey Brown to dupe Lady St. Edmund into thinking that she is her long-lost granddaughter, so she can search for clues to the location of the treasure. Unbeknownst to Bundage AND her ladyship, Lady St. Edmund is flat broke, and Priory and the children help her ladyship try to keep her home and pride. Joined by Casey, they do all the chores and Priory acts as the butler, gardener, chauffeur and an old major all at the same time!
| Complete credited cast: | |||
 | David Niven | - | Priory |
 | Helen Hayes | - | Lady St. Edmund |
 | Jodie Foster | - | Casey |
 | Leo McKern | - | Bundage |
 | Veronica Quilligan | - | Cluny |
 | Ian Sharrock | - | Peter |
 | Sarah Tamakuni | - | Anna |
| David Samuels | - | Bobby |
| John Alderson | - | Jenkins |
| Mildred Shay | - | Mrs. McCress |
| Michael Balfour | - | Mr. McCress |
 | Sydney Bromley | - | Mr. Thresher |
 | Michael Segal | - | Train Guard |
 | Vivian Pickles | - | Grimsworthy |
Final cinema movie of actress Helen Hayes.
Laurence Olivier was originally considered for the role of Priory. However, David Niven was cast instead.
Jodie Foster turned down the chance to play Violet in Pretty Baby (1978) in order to play Casey.
Screenwriter David Swift, who in the early 1960s directed Pollyanna (1960) and The Parent Trap (1961) for Walt Disney, developed this project for the company and was set to direct it. However, he felt Jodie Foster (then one of the most popular teenage actresses in the country) was all wrong for the part of Casey and stepped down.
Actress Jodie Foster only had three weeks break between the end of production on Freaky Friday (1976) and the start of principal photography on Candleshoe (1977).
The tune played by Grimsworthy on the piano and by the music box is "Greensleeves" (also called "What Child Is This").
The English estate and stately home of "Candleshoe" was portrayed by Compton Wynyates in Warwickshire, England which is the home of British peer Spencer Douglas David Compton, nicknamed "Spenny", the 7th Marquess of Northampton.
After this picture actress Jodie Foster did not appear in another cinema movie for around three years until 1980 when she starred in both Carny (1980) and Foxes (1980).
Actor Bruce Forsyth has said in interviews such as one on a BBC Breakfast show on 23rd May 2013 that he was an early choice to play Priory which was in the end cast with David Niven. Apparently, Forsyth has said that Niven originally had turned down the role as he had not seen the screenplay but later changed his mind.
The age of the Casey Brown character played by Jodie Foster was fourteen. This was the actual age that Foster was around the time the picture was made but Foster had turned fifteen by the time the movie debuted late 1977.
The film was made and released about twenty-four years after its source novel "Christmas at Candleshoe" by Michael Innes had been first published in 1953.
The railway track featured in the film was the heritage Severn Valley Railway that runs between the towns of Bridgnorth, Shropshire and Kidderminister, Worcestershire in the midlands of England.
The character of Bundage portrayed by Leo McKern was inspired by Charles Dickens according to Lawrence Van Gelder of 'The New York Times'.
Actor David Niven plays one role in this movie: Priory. However, this character in turn plays Gipping, John Henry and Colonel Dennis in order to keep up his ruse.
Veronica Quilligan was apparently an eleventh-hour replacement for the role of Cluny. Early promotional stills for the film were released to the press with an entirely different young actress standing alongside the cast dressed in Cluny's costumes.
Final of three cinema movies that actress Helen Hayes made for the Walt Disney Pictures studios during the 1970s. The earlier films were Herbie Rides Again (1974) and One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing (1975).
Leo McKern replaced Harry Andrews in the role of Bundage.
One of Casey's gang members in the first shot of the film is wearing a white T shirt with PIRATES written on it, linking the gang to Captain Joshua, at least in spirit.
The steam train featured in the movie was called "Small Prairie", a GWR 2-6-2T, with registration No. 4566.
Final of four cinema movies that actress Jodie Foster made with the Walt Disney Pictures studios during the 1970s. The feature films include Candleshoe (1977),Freaky Friday (1976), One Little Indian (1973) and Napoleon ja Samantha (1972). During this period, Foster also made a fifth Disney feature title, but made for television, it being the tele-movie Menace on the Mountain (1970), the first of the 70s era batch.
Peggy Ann Clifford was cast in this film but replaced.
The film's "Candleshoe" title refers to an 16th Century English Tudor stately home and country estate where most of the action in the movie takes place.
Teddy and Piggywig, the two toys Lady St. Edmund returns to "Margaret," are original-style Winnie the Pooh and Piglet stuffed animals. (It's often believed that the names were changed due to copyright issues, but as Disney owned the rights to the characters at the time, it's likely that "Teddy" and "Piggywig" were chosen simply as the silly names a small child would choose for her toys).
During the climactic sequence in the Great Hall when the pirate treasure is revealed, the score prominently features part of the theme 'A Pirates Life For Me' from the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland, composed by George Bruns. The movie score, composed by Ron Goodwin, features parts of the melody from the ride in various different arrangements throughout.
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