“A
helpful ghost solves a problem for
a family in trouble and two of the children
then become involved with helping him
to sort out his own troubling and tragic
unfinished business in the past, in the
magical and spooky children’s
classic The Amazing Mr Blunden...”
A
MUCH-LOVED CLASSIC, The Amazing Mr Blunden is a magical children's ghost
story from the creator of The Railway Children where two children are
taken back to the past by two young spirits who died tragically in a fire and
whose destiny was unfulfilled.
It is 1917 and after the death of her husband Richard, Mrs Allen (Dorothy Alison)
is forced to move from her beautiful home to a small damp and dark basement
flat in Camden Town with her three children, Lucy (Lynne Frederick), Jamie (Garry
Miller) and baby Benjamin (Benjamin Smith), who is unwell.
As Christmas approaches, Mrs Allen is surviving on a widow's pension and debts
are mounting up. With the snow thickly on the ground, a mysterious and kindly
elderly gentleman knocks at the door and announces to Mrs Allen that he is a
solicitor, Mr Blunden (Laurence Naismith), who has been instructed to offer
her a position as the caretaker of a remote decaying mansion, living in a cottage
in the grounds.
“The Amazing
Mr Blunden —
Compelling, simply
magical, and delightfully
spooky!”
The
children are intrigued when Mr Blunden asks them if they would be afraid if
they saw a ghost. Then, at the solicitor's offices, the children see a portrait
of Mr Blunden's great grandfather who died 150 years ago, who bears a striking
resemblance to their benefactor.
The mansion, Langley Park, is magnificent but sadly neglected. Lucy and Jamie
are surprised to hear the shouts of children coming from the upstairs rooms
and it is not long before they come face-to-face with the past —
in the shape of the ghosts of Sarah Latimer (Rosalyn Landor) and her brother
Georgie (Marc Granger), who died in a fire over a century before.
The children had lived at Langley Park and a grave injustice had been done to
them and the young gardener Thomas (Stuart Lock). Lucy and Jamie are spirited
back to the past to right the wrong and help the children deal with their selfish
and easily-led Uncle Bertie (James Villiers), his beautiful but childlike fiancée
Bella (Madeline Smith) and her doting parents, the wickedly cruel Mr and Mrs
Wickens (perfectly played by David Lodge and the wonderful Diana Dors).
A powerful British drama from the late Lionel Jeffries that has been hugely
in demand but unavailable for many years, The Amazing Mr Blunden is based
on Antonia Barber's novel The Ghosts and benefits from a stellar cast
of British acting talent. The film was selected by Mark Gatiss as his 'Neglected
Classic of the 1970s' on Radio Four's The Film Programme. Compelling,
simply magical, and delightfully spooky!
Made at Pinewood Studios, The Amazing Mr Blunden also features: Graham
Crowden as Mr Clutterbug; Erik Chitty as Mr Claverton; Reg Lye as Sexton; Deddie
Davies as Meakin; and the wonderful Paul Eddington as The Vicar.
Original Music is by Elmer Bernstein; Cinematography is by Gerry Fisher; Written
by Antonia Barber (from her novel The Ghosts) and Lionel Jeffries; Produced
by Barry Levinson and Directed by Lionel Jeffries.
*
Step back in time as the wonderful family ghost adventure The Amazing Mr
Blunden gets a long-awaited home entertainment release, materialising on
DVD from Second Sight Films on 11 March 2013. Catalogue Number: 2NDVD3234 |
Running Time: 99 Minutes Approximately.
"The Amazing Mr Blunden… Compelling, simply magical, and delightfully
spooky!" —Maggie Woods, MotorBar
"Vintage British children's cinema" —Film4.com
"They certainly don't make them like this any more, and they certainly should…
A great family film!" —TheDigitalFix.com
"Handled with that sense of enchanted stillness which is one of Jeffries' great
gifts as a director, the apparitions, the apprehensions, and the atmosphere
of brooding menace about the house are exquisitely done" —Time
Out
“A
helpful ghost solves a problem for