# From Time to Time (film)

From Time to Time is a 2009 British fantasy drama film directed by Julian Fellowes starring Maggie Smith, Timothy Spall, Carice van Houten, Alex Etel, Eliza Bennett, Elisabeth Dermot-Walsh, Dominic West, Hugh Bonneville, and Pauline Collins. It was adapted from Lucy M. Boston's children's novel The Chimneys of Green Knowe (1958). The film was shot in Athelhampton Hall, Dorset.

## Plot

Near the end of World War II, teenager Tolly gets picked up at the rail station by Mr. Boggis. When he starts to make mention of the boy's soldier father David, Tolly quickly points he has only been reported missing in action and not confirmed dead.
Tolly has taken the train from Manchester to spend Christmas at his grandmother's large country estate in Cambridgeshire, Green Knowe. Tolly's mother has gone to London awaiting more information about David. His grandmother, Mrs. Oldknow, disapproved of her son's marriage and once, out of anger, wrote a meanly worded letter viewing his wife as a commoner. She regrets having written the letter, as she admits she does not know her well.
Mrs. Oldknow tells Tolly she is financially strapped, so is faced with possibly selling Green Knowe. He is adament she not sell. She tells him about Mariah van Raymer, Thomas Oldknow's wife, who had almost brought them to ruin in the 1800s with her gambling and extravagant spending.
On Tolly's first night at Green Knowe, his grandmother tells Tolly about their ancestors. They are descended from Thomas and Mariah's eldest, a boy, Seftan. In the evening he sees and hears a ghostly young girl. His grandmother confirms it must have been Susan, the blind daughter of Lord Thomas Oldknow.
The next day, as he is climbing a tree, he hears a girl and an adolescent boy giggling and finds an old spur hidden in a hollow. His grandmother recognises it as belonging to Seftan. Butler John Caxton, wary of the African boy Jacob that Captain Oldknow brought home as a companion, as he had stowed away on his ship to avoid being sold at auction.
Soon after, Tolly discovers that he magically time travels between the present and the early 19th century in the old manor house. Certain people in that time can see and communicate with him, while he remains invisible to others.
Susan can speak to Tolly both in her time and his. He learns that his grandmother also sees the ancestral ghosts. Susan leads him on an adventure that unlocks family secrets buried for generations. Exciting events include a terrible fire, a tale of stolen jewels, and threats of the servant Fred being sold into a press gang.
The lost treasure is eventually found by Tolly, with help from Susan. She also confirms it was John who was responsible for the fire, who likely perished in the fire. So, Green Knowe is saved, but Tolly's father is a casualty of the war. Mrs. Oldknow finally welcomes Tolly's mother into the family. Tolly is comforted when his father's ghost appears, assuring him everything will be all right.

## Cast

* Maggie Smith as Mrs. Oldknow
* Timothy Spall as Boggis
* Carice van Houten as Maria Oldknow
* Alex Etel as Tolly
* Pauline Collins as Mrs. Tweedie
* Harriet Walter as Lady Gresham
* Eliza Hope Bennett as Susan
* Kwayedza Kureya as Jacob
* Douglas Booth as Sefton Oldknow
* Hugh Bonneville as Captain Oldknow
* Dominic West as Caxton
* Alan Leech as Fred Boggis

## Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 43% of 7 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.9/10. Tom Huddleston of Time Out described the film as "an emotionally wise but logically skewed children’s tale", the logical inconsistencies of which "largely restricts the film’s appeal to bookish pre-teens". Henry Fitzherbert of the Daily Express praised the actors' performances, particularly Smith's, and noted that it "casts a magical spell by the touching conclusion".