The Amazing Mr Blunden
| The Amazing Mr. Blunden | |
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| Directed by | Lionel Jeffries |
| Produced by | Barry Levinson |
| Written by | Antonia Barber 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 |
| Release date(s) | December 1972 |
| Running time | 99 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
The Amazing Mr. Blunden is a 1972 family mystery film directed by Lionel Jeffries, based on the novel The Ghosts by Antonia Barber.
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[edit] Plot
The film is set in 1918, in which a war widow Mrs. Allen (Dorothy Alison) and her three children, Lucy (Lynne Frederick), Jamie (Garry Miller) and baby Benjamin are living in a tiny, squalid, Camden Town flat. A mysterious old man, Mr. Frederick Percival Blunden (Laurence Naismith) visits the family, introducing himself as a representative of a firm of solicitors. The family are told there is an opportunity to become the caretakers of a derelict country mansion in the Home Counties called Langley Park, which had been gutted by fire years before, and is now in the charge of the solicitors. Mrs. Allen's brief is to stay there until the heirs of the original owners can be traced. Out of desperation, Mrs. Allen agrees to take up the post. There are rumors that the house is haunted, and as a result few locals venture up to the property.
One day while wandering the grounds, Lucy and Jamie see the ghosts coming towards them: a teenage girl, Sara Latimer (Rosalyn Landor), and her younger brother, Georgie (Marc Granger), the two children who lived in the house a century earlier. Sara tells them that she and her brother are orphans, under the care of their drunken and incompetent Uncle Bertie (James Villiers) and the solicitor Mr. Blunden until Georgie comes of age. They suspect that the housekeeper Mrs. Wickens (Diana Dors) and her disturbed and often violent husband are plotting to kill them in order to get her hands on Georgie's inheritance. They live at the house because Arabella, Mrs Wickens's attractive but dim-witted daughter, is Uncle Bertie's wife. Sara and Georgie have found a book with instructions for travelling through time, so that they can get help. Lucy and Jamie agree to travel back with them, and they arrange to meet Sara the next day.
Jamie searches the graveyard, in the hope of finding nothing and being able to go back to help, knowing in advance that they will succeed. He and Lucy are shocked and distressed to find a gravestone marked with Sara's and Georgie's name. The sexton explains that the two children died in a fire a hundred years ago. Nevertheless, Lucy and Jamie still drink the magic potion, which Sara has helped them to make, and travel back to 1818, in the hope of preventing the tragedy. There they meet Thomas, the gardener (Stuart Lock), who believes they are from America, and tells Lucy and Jamie that he wishes to go there one day and make his fortune. Mr. Blunden is visiting the house that night, but refuses to listen to Sara's pleas for help.
That night the children are locked in a room above the library, and given a sleeping potion. Mr. Wickens (David Lodge) starts a fire in the library, trapping the children. Jamie helps Tom to save Sara, but when he tries to save Georgie, he finds himself unable to get through the flames. Mr. Blunden appears, and tells Jamie that they will go together, holding hands. Jamie is kept safe from the fire, but Mr. Blunden suffers the pain that Jamie would have felt. Jamie and Mr. Blunden save Georgie. Mr. and Mrs. Wickens perish in the fire. Lucy and Jamie return to 1918, but Jamie is unconscious and Lucy cannot tell their mother what had happened.
At the graveyard, Lucy discovers that the children’s gravestone has been replaced by that of Frederick Percival Blunden, who died to save the children in his care. Jamie soon awakes and is overjoyed to hear that they succeeded. Shortly after, the lawyer Mr. Clutterbug (Graham Crowden) visits them and informs them that recently-discovered documents show that Sara Latimer married Thomas and that their great-grandson was the late Mr. Allen. This makes Jamie the rightful heir to the Langley Park.
At the end a carriage arrives: When the door opens Mr Blunden emerges, but which one?
[edit] Cast
- Laurence Naismith as Frederick Percival Blunden
- Lynne Frederick as Lucy Allen
- Garry Miller as Jamie Allen
- Rosalyn Landor as Sara Latimer
- Marc Granger as Georgie Latimer
- Diana Dors as Mrs. Wickens
- Dorothy Alison as Mrs. Allen
- James Villiers as Uncle Bertie
- Madeline Smith as Arabella Wickens
- David Lodge as Mr. Wickens
- Stuart Lock as Thomas Mortimer
- Deddie Davies as Miss Meakin
- Graham Crowden as Mr. Clutterbug
- Benjamin Smith as Benjamin Allen
- Erik Chitty as Mr. Claverton
- Reg Lye as Sexton
- Paul Eddington as Vicar
- Aimée Delamain as Elsie Tucker
- Paddy Ward as Bus Driver
[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 Hall, on whose estate the studios are located and which at that time served as administration offices for the production facilities.
[edit] Awards and recognition
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).
[edit] External links
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