The Amazing Mr. Blunden

Like many films made by the British film industry at it's nadir in the 1970s, the Amazing Mr Blunden could be overlooked, but those willing to make the effort will find a gem. There's the wonderfully English setting of the film, mixing the nostalgia of a Georgian England of Mr Blunden and Langley Park, with the Edwardianism of Jamie and Lucy's world. Mixed with good background music and wonderful setting amongst a stately home and a traditional village and the film is playing to all the traditional strengths of British film and drama. Adults will perhaps prefer these aspects to the plot, but children will enjoy the 'good vs. evil' aspect of the children's fight to save the lives of Georgie and Sara against Mrs Wickens (played excellently by Diana Dors who steals the film). Sadly, the film misses much 'fun' that could be made out of the stark characters of Mr and Mrs Wickens and the rest of the cast (particularly the dandy-ish uncle played by James Villiers). There's also one cringe-worthy moment too - when all the actors and actress wave goodbye at the end. They don't make things that this anymore....

A very good family film; its only flaw is that it's a bit too long. The film takes place in England, in approximately 1916. A widow and her three children are left destitute on the husband's death. The mysterious Mr. Blunden shows up and offers the mother a caretaker's position at an old country mansion which was partially destroyed by a great fire decades ago. The family goes to live in a small cottage on the estate. The two oldest children, Lucy and Jamie, are drawn into the unsolved mystery that surrounds the old fire. They find out that the two heirs to the estate, a boy and girl, were killed in the fire, but it might have been murder and not an accident. The film takes a fanciful twist at this juncture, sending Lucy and Jamie back in time to save the two orphaned kids. Will they succeed? And what will it mean to their own lives if they do? What does Mr. Blunden have to do with all this and why does he need Lucy and Jamie's help? I can only say, rent the movie and find out. It has a nice late Victorian air to it, and is steeped in atmosphere. Older kids and adults will enjoy it; my entire family loves this movie.

This movie worried me at first with a bit of a slow start, but it quickly changed into a wonderfully imaginative fairy tale. The characters are very good and the acting feels the period. Grahm Crowden from the British Sitcom "Waiting for God" does a very good job as well.

Everyone should give this one a try.

The concept is very intriguing and holds your interest well. I really loved the idea surrounding the ghosts and how they got where they were. The story is really one that I would love to share with my whole family.

This one feels like a Dickens Narrative due to the time period it is set in, which adds to the overall feel and believability.

A fondly remembered film from my youth and one I've re-visited more than once since, it still charms me today. A delightful and thrilling fantasy, it plays almost as well to adults as to its no doubt target audience of children.

The Dickensian-styled story is well-wrought with a nice blend of mystery, enchantment and adventure throughout. Sympathetically and winningly directed by British character actor Lionel Jeffries who gives himself a brief expository scene too, it's a perfect example of family entertainment.

All the principal characters are well-played, especially Laurence Naismith as the twinkle eyed title character, out to right wrongs from a hundred years before and Diana Dors as an over-the-top scheming harridan figure whose plans the amazing Mr B thwarts with the help of two young children from the future. All the child-actors act very well and for the most part avoid the usual wooden-ness in similar portrayals.

I won't give away any of the ingenious plot but it all resolves and revolves around a race to save a young heir and his sister from being murdered in a deliberately-set house fire in a plot devised by Dors and acted upon by her simpleton husband. In fact the film just tails off a little after its fiery climax, although it redeems itself with a happy ending and an unusual but warm-hearted end-credit sequence wholly in keeping with what has gone before. There's a fine understated score by Elmer Berstein too.

It probably helps that this film evokes my happy child-hood but watching it again forty years on, I'm pleased to say I enjoyed it just as much as I did in a Glasgow flea-pit in 1973.

Saw this film when I was a child, and it still gives me the same lil shudders and I STILL giggle in the right places... its a good old story with the sweetest ending EVER.

It really encapsulates the film genre of the 1970's and the old way of telling ghost stories which seems to have been lost in modern films.

This film is good for the whole family and actually deals with death and the afterlife in a manner that makes you talk about it afterwards