The film I want to tell you about is not a new film. It isn't a huge American blockbuster with great special effects and a hundred sequels to follow. This is a quiet, British film made for a family audience in 1972. It is one of my favourite films and I hope I can convince you to at least give it a look.

Based on the book "The Ghosts" by Antonia Barber, "The Amazing Mr Blunden" is a ghost story tht starts in Victorian England. It begins in London at Christmas time and soon transfers to a huge, crumbling mansion in the English countryside. Once there it becomes a beautiful atmospheric tale involving ghosts who aren't dead, time travel and a desperate need for redemption.

The film is adapted and directed by the actor Lionel Jefferies who also directed "The Railway Children" and I don't think anyone could have done a better job. There is a wonderful feeling of stillness and quietness to this story which makes the film feel like a ghost story being told to you and you alone. Almost as if its being whispered around a roaring fire as a snowstorm fills the world outside. It is a shame that there are so few films directed by Lionel Jefferies. I would love to know how he would have presented one of the Harry Potter films for example.

The cast is top class with Diana Dors dominating every scene she's in as the terrible Mrs Wickens who is desperate to make sure her daughter and her husband will inherit the fortune she believes they deserve. Unfortunately there are two obstacles in her path in the form of Sarah and Georgie, two children who stand to inherit everything.

Laurence Naismith is in perfect command of his role as Mr Blunden whether its as the original uncaring man who refuses to hear the pleas for help from two scared and desperate children or as the guilt-ridden instigator of this adventure. He brings a gravitas to the film that never feels out of place. I never fail to get a little shiver of excitement when Mr Blunden stands under a street light in snowy Victorian London and declares "We three kings of Orient are, my dears!"

All the children play their parts with absolute conviction. Rosalyn Landor and Marc Granger are perfect as the "ghost" children, Sarah and Georgie, with Granger especially bringing a sparkiness to his role while Landor is pristine as his protective older sister grabbing at the only escape available.

As their rescuers, Lynne Frederick and Garry Miller give beautiful performances that draw you in and carry you through the film. They are the tellers of this tale and if they weren't convincing they could quickly lose their audience but we stay with them and the story is well worth it.

There are a few well-known faces that appear scattered through the film including Madeline Smith, James Villiers, Deddie Davies and Paul Eddington. There is an especially lovely turn from "Waiting For God"s Graham Crowden as a junior partner in Mr Blundens law firm with the unfortunate name of Mr Clutterbuck.

The quality is everywhere in this film with stunning cinematography by Gerry Fisher and excellent direction. Any film, however, starts and ends with the story it has to tell and, for me, this is a wonderful tale that provides quiet moments of suspense along with gentle humour and some fantastic action sequences. This is the perfect film to watch on a rainy Sunday afternoon and I hope that this review has persuaded you to give yourself the chance to love it as much as I do.