Rosalyn Landor

Michael, a wimpy young executive, is about to get pulverized by a jealous boyfriend in a bar when a handsome, mysterious stranger steps in--and then disappears. (imdb)

A mysterious, old solicitor Mr Blunden offers a destitute family the chance to become housekeepers of a derelict country mansion, which is currently in his charge. Once there the children meet the spirits of others who died in a fire a hundred years earlier. They concoct a potion to enable them to travel back in time in the hope that they will be able to help their new friends...

The story deals with Gloria Vanderbilt's difficult coming-of-age when, at eleven, she was a pawn in a custody battle between her sybaritic mother and her aunt. (imdb)