Tom Long is staying with his aunt and uncle while his brother recovers from measles. Gwen and Alan Kitson live in a once grand mansion now broken up into flats and hemmed in by new buildings. Tom is intrigued to hear the grandfather clock strike thirteen at midnight. When he goes down to investigate he finds that the back door opens on to a beautiful garden. He turns to find the hallway expensively furnished in the Victorian style, and is startled when a maidservant walks through him. As soon as the door is closed, the furnishings fade away and the drab 1950s hall returns.
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Night after night he returns to the garden where it is always a glorious summer day. He explores the maze, the long avenues and the walled orchard. He meets the lonely orphan Hattie Melbourne, who is ignored by her older boy cousins and spends her time climbing trees. They become friends and play together, although they argue about which of them is real and which the ghost. When Hattie hurts herself falling from a tree, the angry gardener who has always before ignored Tom blames him for the accident. Upset, Tom follows Hattie to her room, the same room he sleeps in, but later finds the house refuses to fade away and fears he is trapped in the past. He falls asleep holding Hattie's hand, and wakes in the present.
The next time he returns to the garden it is winter, and Hattie is no longer a child. Although they are reluctant to admit it, their time together is coming to an end.
The review of this Movie prepared by Maureen Evans