The Amazing Mr. Blunden

Entertaining family ghost movie directed by Lionel Jeffries, based on the novel The Ghosts by Antonia Barber.

The ghost of Mr. Blunden invites two children, Lucy and Jamie, and their mother to become the caretakers of a derelict country mansion in the Home Counties. Once there Lucy and Jamie meet the ghosts of two children who died in a fire there 100 years ago to the day. Lucy and Jamie travel back in time to save the two children while Mr. Blunden sacrifices himself in the fire that would have killed them.

The film was shot at Pinewood Studios in 1971 with location filming around the village and church at Hedgerley. The fire-ravaged derelict stately home was in fact Heatherden Hall, on the estate of which the studios are located and which at that time served as administration offices for the production facilities. Although not as well known as its counterpart from the same director, The Railway Children, Blunden has been a family favourite in Britain since its release.