The Amazing Mr Blunden
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| The Amazing Mr. Blunden | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Lionel Jeffries |
| Produced by | Barry Levinson |
| Written by | Lionel Jeffries |
| Starring | Laurence Naismith Lynne Frederick Garry Miller Rosalyn Landor Marc Granger Diana Dors Madeline Smith James Villiers |
| Music by | Elmer Bernstein |
| Cinematography | Gerry Fisher |
| Editing by | Teddy Darvas |
| Distributed by | Hemdale Film (UK) Hemisphere Pictures (USA) |
| Release date(s) | December 1972 |
| Running time | 99 minutes |
| Country | UK |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
The Amazing Mr. Blunden is a 1972 British film based on the novel The Ghosts by Antonia Barber.
[edit] Plot Synopsis
The story begins in 1918 with an elderly man (later revealed as Mr. Blunden) visiting Mrs. Allen, recently widowed and living in much-reduced circumstances with her three children Lucy, Jamie and baby Benjamin, in Camden Town, London. He offers her a job as a caretaker of an abandoned and derelict stately house in the Home Counties, formerly belonging to a Mr. Latimer. Her brief is to stay there until law-firm of Blunden, Blunden and Claverton can find the rightful owner. Mrs. Allen takes the job, despite the rumours of ghosts living in the old house.
Soon after arriving Lucy is walking in the garden when she suddenly catches sight of two ghosts approaching her; a teenage girl Sara and her younger brother Georgie. Lucy and Jamie, understandably frightened at first, become friends with the two ghosts when they realise they need their help.
It turns out that after the tragic death of their parents, and living in their Uncle Bertie's care, they began to fear for their lives when they overheard the evil housekeeper, Mrs. Wickens, plotting to kill them in order to get her hands on Georgie's inheritance.
By drinking an infusion of various leaves made to a recipe that Sara provides, Lucy and Jamie go back in time with the ghosts to meet Mrs. Wickens and her disturbed and often violent husband, Tom the gardener's boy, and Bella, Mrs. Wickens' attractive but dim-witted daughter who is married to Bertie. The children are guided by the spirit of Mr. Blunden (who acted as lawyer for Sara and Georgie's interests and who ignored their pleas for help when he was alive). He promises to help Jamie and Lucy rescue Sara and Georgie from a fire started by Mr. Wickens (for reasons unknown), which had killed them nearly one hundred years previously.
[edit] Filming
The film was recorded at Pinewood Studios in 1971 with location filming in the countryside surrounding nearby Iver Heath. The fire-ravaged derelict stately home was in fact Heatherden House, on whose estate the studios are located and which at that time served as administration offices for the production facilities.
[edit] Awards and Acknowledgement
Although not as well known as its counterpart, The Railway Children, the film has been a family favourite in Britain since its release. It has often been featured on "Top 100" movie lists on television programmes. It has often appeared on British television over the years (especially during the Easter and Christmas holidays.
