Bunny Lake Is Missing (1965)

Really Surprised!

One of the best films i have seen

A Disappointing Continuation

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

BUNNY LAKE IS MISSING is a psychological thriller film as a puzzling mystery about a little girl who disappears without a trace in her first day in a nursery school. It was based on the novel of the same name by Merriam Modell. The idea about a child who is born out of wedlock, and too close relationship between brother and sister is intriguing enough without mysterious background. Ann is a single mother who recently moved to London from New York. She wishes to drop off her daughter Bunny for the girl's first day at a new nursery school. However, Ann cannot locate any teachers or administrators, only the school's disgruntled cook. She is forced to leave Bunny unsupervised in the building's "first day" room, under the reassurance that the cook will be responsible for the child. When Ann returns in the afternoon, the cook has quit and Bunny Lake is missing. An administrator recalls meeting with Ann but claims never to have seen the missing child. Ann and her brother Steven, in desperation, call the police. However, some of the evidence pointing to the fact that the little girl actually never existed...A striking pair of possibly incestuous siblings comes in an eccentric environment. It is difficult to draw a line between a perversion and objectivity in the case of a missing child. It's about secrets from childhood, or some sort of guilt? The story and direction are somewhat illogical and unclear. The plots blend from bizarre, expressionist to surreal moments. In the background of all this is a tantalizing mystery of a motherhood, kindness, disbelief, skepticism and madness. The characterization could have been better.Carol Lynley as Ann Lake is scared and distraught mother, who has to quickly connect strings in her life. Keir Dullea as Steven Lake is her distressed brother who has managed to draw a thin line between madness and kindness. Their bizarre game at the end of the film is a sort of culmination of their trepidation.Laurence Olivier as Superintendent Newhouse has stole the show as a somewhat cynical, but very detailed inspector.

If "Bunny Lake Is Missing" isn't one of Otto Preminger's masterpieces it is, nevertheless, a terrifically entertaining psychological thriller, beautifully directed, written and acted. It's about the disappearance of a little girl in London; the conundrum is, did she exist in the first place. It was adapted, by the Mortimers, John and Penelope, from a novel by Evelyn Piper and it allows a number of very fine actors, as well as Keir Dullea, the opportunity to strut their stuff superbly. There's Laurence Olivier as a pragmatic policeman, that fine and underrated actress Carol Lynley as the distraught mother, Noel Coward and Martita Hunt as eccentrics and Dullea, surprisingly good, as Lynley's over-possessive brother while there are several very neat cameos from a host of well-known British character actors. There are enough clues scattered through the picture to figure it all out long before the somewhat protracted denouement yet even after several viewings the film has lost none of its appeal. Special mention should also be given to Denys Coop's superb black and white cinematography, (it's shot in Panavision), as well as Paul Glass' wonderfully atmospheric score.

Inconsistent and sometimes quite dull as a Director Preminger helms this audacious 60's genre trend of Hammer and Hitchcock, that of the Psychological Thriller. He seems to be right on the pulse of the better of these things when it collapses in the Third Act with missteps of overwrought childhood game silliness. These things are best left to the psyche not acted out on the playground for here it loses all sense of tension. But leading up to the conclusion there is plenty of stimulation both visually and from the unending parade of offbeat and creepy Characters.Things are kept centered by some fine Acting all around and a pastiche of unsettling situations. It's a rewarding Movie if the ending is anti-climatic and uneven.

A new neighbourhood, inhabited by strange people, is not the place where you want to discover that your child is missing. That is what happens to Ann Lake, performed by Carol Lynley, as the mother of Bunny Lake, the missing child. She is close to a brother named Stephen, Keir Dullea, who immediately rushes to her side when the child goes missing. There is little help from the school and the eccentric characters like the founder of the school Martita Hunt, and the alcoholic landlord, played by Noel Coward, are hardly any consolation. The one source of some comfort is a professional inspector named Newhouse, played by Laurence Olivier. He brings police officers and police dogs to the scene and tries to calm the mother as he gathers the facts. It doesn't help that no one has seen Bunny besides Stephen and Ann. The atmosphere becomes more strained as the story continues and there seems to be no answer to the question as to where Bunny has disappeared. The rambling school house is a nightmare for finding a lost child with many rooms, hidden passages and cupboards. Adding to the confusion is the fact that the frenetic activity of the mother early in the day meant that there was only indirect contact with the school staff and no recognition of who the child actually was. After the taut and gripping atmosphere, the ending is disappointing. However, this does not mar the impact of the movie. Director Otto Preminger skilfully created this gut-wrenching nightmare of a parent with a missing child. Keira Dullea and Carol Lynley both give exceptional performances. Olivier, as the rock solid inspector, is superb. The supporting cast mentioned above as well as Luci Mannheim, Finlay Currie and Anna Massey are excellent. This is not a comfortable movie to watch but a movie that takes us out of our comfort zone is a good recommendation for this haunting movie.