The Amazing Mr Blunden (1972)

[Carmel]

My daughter bought this film for me and i hadn't seen it in years and what a wonderful film it was starring Diana Dors, I know it has been on television a few times but i always seemed to have missed it, i remember watching it as a child and really enjoying it what does anyone else think of this film.

[Chris B]

Hi there , just got to say brilliant film, nice feel good factor and totally underated, I can remember seeing it on the big screen when I worked in the cinema trade and was very impressed, and then when I had my first video recorder it was the first feature film that I recorded onto tape and now I've got the dvd, still makes me think at the end though,

All the best Chris

[DB7]

Films of my life: Kate Mosse



· The Amazing Mr Blunden (Lionel Jeffries 1972)



The film that began my interest in time-slip stories was The Amazing Mr Blunden, which came out in 1972 when I was 11 and it's just wonderful. It's based on Antonia Barber's novel about a haunted house. My two younger sisters and I watched it together as children and it was everything you want from a children's film. It's incredibly atmospheric and clever but it raises all those questions of whether you can change time. I've now bought the DVD for my sisters and we've all watched it with our own children and it was just as good. I can see now that it had a direct effect on my writing.

[Azanti]

Love this movie, Rosalyn Landor was the brother of a school friend of mine, Adam. It was ironic that I did not realise that she lived one road away from me and as a kid I had a terrible crush on her as a result of seeing this film.



The death of the other actress in it, later in life, an ex of Peter Sellers, was tragic.

[HIPPIEDAVE]

Yes I saw this when it came out too, I was 11 as well, great film

[billy bentley]

Sounds great, is it commercially available on DVD ?

[Santonix]

Yes it is available on DVD and it's well worth getting.

[Tricky]

Very good film is a fav of mine

[Carmel]

I love this film, it is so worth the watch.

[byebyebadman]

brilliant film! dianna doors is still sexy even with bad teeth!

[Steve Crook]

brilliant film! dianna doors is still sexy even with bad teeth!

Bad teeth? Does she wear falsies (on her teeth)?



Steve

[Handykins]

Fantastic film. Highly recommend it

[room 237]

Films of my life: Kate Mosse



· The Amazing Mr Blunden (Lionel Jeffries 1972)



The film that began my interest in time-slip stories was The Amazing Mr Blunden, which came out in 1972 when I was 11 and it's just wonderful. It's based on Antonia Barber's novel about a haunted house. My two younger sisters and I watched it together as children and it was everything you want from a children's film. It's incredibly atmospheric and clever but it raises all those questions of whether you can change time. I've now bought the DVD for my sisters and we've all watched it with our own children and it was just as good. I can see now that it had a direct effect on my writing.

Was this the film that starred another movie icon the great Diana Doors who played an evil cook i think and was put in charge of the children and to whom set a plan to burn down the house with the children in it?

If this is the film Yes i too recall this gem in fact the original BBC television series which ran for a time many moons ago called the secret Garden was very similar.

I have a passion for these films including The Railway Children the original film of course.

[Azanti]

room 237 - yeah this was it.

[TimR]

It is well worth seeing and very faithful to the book The Ghosts, which I read as a boy. The time travel aspect and the atmosphere are very well handled.



The portrayal of evil is brutal, as it is in the book. At first it seems like Oliver Twist. There is an attempt to add humor to it as the plot progresses, but that doesn't really work.



The cast is excellent: Laurence Naismith is Blunden as I pictured him. I am not familiar with him from other roles. The final scenes with him in the burning house are superbly well done.



Lynn Frederick is very beautiful and charming here. It is incredible to think that she would self-destruct at such a young age.

[lovegod]

Must admit I was a bit underwhelmed by the movie, it seemed a bit lacking in many ways.

The audio for one.... Im sure even I could have orchestrated it better.. it was bland. Add to that the continuous whispering became annoying.

Costume wise it was very good... recreating a kind of Regency England. But the garden scenes could have been more lyrical and visually more pleasing.

In the end it was really a showcase for two lovely young actresses... Lynne frederick and Rosalyne Landor... a great cv for their future careers. But there was no real plot or sense of movement and the fire scene at the end lacked any kind of drama.

No, on the whole , disappointing... and... with its ghostly theme, not even the least bit scary !

[paul99]

Always seemed to be one of those films that would pop up around Christmas time.