User reviews

An aging widow in New Mexico is left homeless after the bank forecloses on her property and tears down the house; she chances to meet a retired bank robber still on the lam and asks him to teach her to rob the bank which took her to the cleaners. Still-relevant sociological observations (occasionally cutting quite deep) played for TV-type yuks, a mixture which had professional critics groaning in 1971. Indeed, the outré bits of business involving the hold-ups are sloppy, and Jack Cassidy gives a grueling performance as a sleazy police lieutenant. Still, Bette Davis is very fine in the lead; natural, unglamorous and earthy, she's not a tough cookie nor a weeping willow--and when she chit-chats with Ernest Borgnine and her famous voice breaks mid-sentence, she's also endearing. Borgnine looks a bit incredulous at being caught in this scenario, but he doesn't embarrass himself and works well with Bette (their second picture together after 1956's "The Catered Affair"). In fact, most of the film is entertaining on a minor level, with something to say about oldsters and their financial plight. **1/2 from ****

This film belongs to an enigmatic category I refer to as Extinct. No VHS or DVD release. Only a TV broadcast now and then. It deserves more, as do most extinct films: they should all be available for streaming or download on the web.

After seeing it yesterday on THIS, the new CBS digital broadcast sub-channel, I found Delaney's performance to be the highlight. Her ambivalent, playful acquiescence must epitomize the fate of countless intelligent women, even to this day. I'm no feminist, but I can empathize. She's clearly the superior cop. But the best she can do is gently nudge her male boss in the right direction. And when he errs, she can't correct him, lest he lose face. Civilization would probably be a hundred years further along by now if we humans weren't so rigidly patriarchal. Too many great women have been relegated to the sidelines. Including Delaney, whose film career apparently ended here.

Davis and Borgnine, meanwhile, help us understand the unfortunate issue of exploitative adult children. They've grown up, but they don't want to be independent. They happily parasitize their aging parents, who in Bette Davis' case, actually risk life and limb to procure infusions of cash in response to concocted, irresponsible excuses. Her progeny's utter lack of conscience was bewildering to me. I shudder to think how many elderly grandparents sympathize with Bunny's futile situation. There are probably millions of real-life parent-parasites in the world, preying upon their progenitors' unconditional affections.

This is a multifaceted film. Thanks to its stars, it's engaging too.

In a most unusual role for Bette Davis she's playing the title role in Bunny O'Hare with her partner Ernest Borgnine from The Catered Affair. Ernie maybe doing plumbing sales now, but back when he was younger he was a notorious bank robber.

Davis is having a cash flow problem mainly because of her two parasitic children, John Astin and Reva Rose. She's constantly giving them money, especially to Astin who's a degenerate gambler. Her house has also been foreclosed because she can't pay her own mortgage.

What to do but get a new source of money. So Borgnine comes out of retirement and trains Bette. They work out a lovely disguise as a pair of hippies on a motorcycle.

Wouldn't you know it, they happen to get an investigating officer in Jack Cassidy who is a vigorous opponent of the counter culture. His absolute hatred of the protesting counterculture generation blinds him in pursuing other leads.

One weakness of Bunny O'Hare is that I cannot believe Davis and Borgnine kept using the same method in their robberies. They pull off about half a dozen or more robberies and you would think that the bank guards would be ready for it. Won't tell you what it is, but the state of New Mexico's banks are being flipped the bird.

New Mexico at the time had a Governor named David Cargo who made one of the main points of his program to attract film companies to shoot in his state. Several films of varying quality were done there and Cargo always inserted himself in a small role.

I have to classify Bunny O'Hare as one of the few full blown comedies that Bette Davis did since leaving Warner Brothers. I'm sure she did that deliberately looking for something different. She's quite a bit subdued here, even generous as the laughs go to her supporting players. Most especially Jack Cassidy and John Astin.

Bette's fans will most definitely not get the Davis they're used to, but the film is pleasant viewing with a few chuckles besides.

I'm not sure if this was a feature or a TV movie. It came off like a TV movie.

It's cute. Davis plays Bunny O'Hare, a woman whose house is not only foreclosed on, but demolished. She hooks up with Bill (Borgnine) who goes around collecting toilets and sells them in Mexico. She finds out he was a bank robber, and he's wanted, so she asks him to teach her the robbing ropes.

The two deck themselves out as hippies and motorcycle around robbing banks. The only reason Bunny is robbing banks is to help her kids - her daughter's husband is an ex-butcher trying to get back into the meat business, but he doesn't want to cut liver - he needs intensive therapy. Her son (John Astin) is a playboy who tells her he has business plans but in reality is a gambler in constant trouble with loan sharks. This is what she's wasting her time on.

Jack Cassidy has a cartoony role as a police lieutenant who would be brought up on charges in the #metoo movement. He speaks for the adults - he hates, hates hippies Nixon, another lover of my generation, adorns his walls - with Agnew.

This film had potential but really misses the mark. Davis and Borgnine are very good - she's quite subdued in the role. Borgnine is very sweet as her partner in crime. I did like the ending. However, if this wasn't a TV movie, it should have been.

As a lifelong Bette Davis fan, I have been curious to see this for a long time. In the book 'Mother Goddam', the author states that in response to Borgnine's question 'What about your family'?, Bette says 'f--k them'! So hearing her say THAT word was another reason to want to see this movie.

Well Showtime aired it yesterday morning and I was glad to have my chance to see this, but boy is it lame. There is nothing to enjoy really, not a single thing. Davis is extremely subdued and SHE DOESN'T EVEN SMOKE or scream or use any of her famous mannerisms, and this movie could've used a little something to make it less painful. Borgnine tries hard but the odds were against him from the start.

And to top it, the line I was waiting to hear was dubbed (badly, I might add)! She says 'screw them' instead..somehow fitting, but boy was I disappointed.

Excellent movie, I just wish it was available on any format. The above summary is a line in the movie that I remember the most. Spoken by Bunny herself. I can't wait to see this movie again. If you like Bette, you'll like this movie.

I recently had the immense pleasure of meeting Ernest Borgnine at New Jersey's Chiller Con, and he looked and sounded great at 91 years young. This inspired my friend and I to watch some Borgnine films, and he suggested this rather obscure yet terrible piece of garbage (though he meant well, and I certainly didn't mind giving it a shot). It's an unfunny "comedy" where Bette Davis shacks up in a trailer with former crook Borgnine and they decide to dress up as hippies in order to rob banks. And I don't mean just once, but several times, in the same idiotic costumes. And these banks never seem to grow wise. It's boring and uneven, and the ever-vain Jack Cassidy is a pain as a stuffy lieutenant trying to crack the case. I don't claim to have seen all of Bette Davis' greatest films at this point, but I've seen enough of her finest work to be comfortable in declaring that BUNNY O'HARE has got to be in the running as her worst film. * out of ****

Bette Davis is a doting mother who, at the outset of this film, is evicted from her house because she has defaulted on her payments. The reason she is in such dire financial straits is because she is incapable of seeing what a pair of seedy, money-grubbing low-lifes her son and daughter are. After hitching a ride from Ernie Borgnine (who has sort of repossessed her toilet pan!) she blackmails him into helping her rob the bank that has thrown her out of her home.

This mess of a movie features one movie legend at a career low and one b-list star who, to me, seemed to get by on enthusiasm and likability rather than acting skill. We can only wonder what dire straits Davis herself must have been in to accept a starring role in a movie with so few redeemable aspects. The plot is almost non-existent, and a ham-fisted script gives Davis and Borgnine no opportunity to develop any kind of chemistry. But then whoever wrote this rubbish thought it would be a blast to have Davis and Borgnine dressed as hippies. A sub-plot featuring the inept detective on their case is mind-blowingly stupid.

Perhaps the worst Bette Davis movie ever. So cheaply shot it looks like a college production. Davis acts with the high-pitched little girl voice that she patented in the final reels of "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?" and, boy, is it annoying. Worse, Jack Cassidy is woefully unfunny as a conservative cop who sexually harasses and finally seduces his beautiful young assistant. Davis keeps those famed eyes covered with dark glasses for about 90 percent of the time. Skip this one: no entertainment or camp value.

Bunny O'Hara (1971)

** (out of 4)

Embarrassing AIP film has Bette Davis thrown out of her house by a bank so she and a former robber (Ernest Borgnine) start hitting banks so that she can support her deadbeat children. The only catch is that the elderly pair rob them while dressed as hippies, which throws off the main cop on the case. This is an extremely embarrassing film which certainly has its two Oscar-winning stars just picking up a paycheck. The film contains zero laughs and gets tiresome by the thirty-minute mark and the extremely lazy writing just makes one shake their head. The biggest problem is the writing because there's not a single well-written joke to be found here. It really seems like the top AIP guys found out they could hire Davis and Borgnine and then just built a screenplay around them. Someone must have thought it would have been funny seeing the two legends dressed up as hippies. The first time you see them it will leave a smile on your face but the screenplay doesn't offer anything else. We get countless robberies, which gets very boring after a while considering nothing new really happens with any of them. To make matters worse is Jack Cassidy as a stupid Lieutenant who keeps thinking the robbers must be young people because he thinks all young people are up to no good. All the supporting characters are quite bland but that's to be expected considering the screenplay. As far as Davis and Borgnine are concerned, hopefully they were paid well. It's so obvious that neither are really into the film as both come across rather too laid back and boring. Even in some of their less successful films they at least give off some of their wonderful energy and charm but that's not the case here. This is certainly a major misstep for both but fans might still want to check this out just to see them dressed as the hippies. Sitting through the entire film is debatable.

Bette Davis made a few stinkers when she was no longer getting good roles, "Bunny O'Hare" will bring tears to Davis fans who recall her great performances in "All About Eve" for example and so many more. The plot is improbable as well as illogical, which would be OK in a farcical comedy, not so much in this low budget mess. The two principals are OK, they didn't write the screenplay, but the characters played by Jack Palance and the bit players, were drawn from bad stereotypes, Archie Bunker style, as well as starkly amateurish. I thought for a moment those who played the "Hippies", cops, and bank employees were right out of the 5th grade play. Maybe there was nothing left after Davis and Borgnine were hired. Aside from the just awful disaster films from the same decade, "Bunny" is as bad as it gets. If you get through this film once, you won't be back for a second helping.

All Young Home Buyers Should Watch This Before They Buy a Mortgage. I wish I had seen It, If I did I wouldn't have bought a House. Bette Davis Ernest Borgnine, Masters of Their Craft. An Honest View of What Hard working Americans will experience after they retire if they do not develop a solid financial plan from 18 years old on to old age. Very Entertaining Movie, I also like the message of staying away from marijuana This is were its at then Im getting the heck otta here ..lol Anyone that appreciates good movies will like this one. Not hard to follow, Great Actors with a good plot. The Banksters May they all fall too ruin, when the well runs dry.

Despite finding the plot completely idiotic on paper, there was no doubt about 'Bunny O'Hare' regardless. Due to my appreciation of comedy, aiming to appreciate all types (though preferring some to others) and of the cast. Not that difficult to go wrong with the brilliant Bette Davis and Ernest Borgine has also shown greatness a number of times. Loved Jack Cassidy in his 'Columbo' appearances and still hold 'The Addams Family' series with fondness (talking about John Astin).

'Bunny O Hare' does absolutely none of them justice and was to me and many others a very bad film regardless of who was in it. It may not be Davis' (who was in her twilight years at this point) very worst film or performance, 'Wicked Stepmother' will always hold that dubious distinction on both counts, but it is one of them. Not many Davis fans will be particularly proud of this as an overall film and most likely will want to watch some of her best work after to wash the bad taste looming inside the mouth. Borgnine is the least bad out of everyone here but even he has done better, there are far better representations of Astin and this is career-worst work for Cassidy.

The best and most professional performance in 'Bunny O Hare' comes from Borgnine. The only person who seems to be trying without overdoing it and with the only character that doesn't bore or annoy, you'd think that it would be Davis in both cases but not so to my very own surprise.

Some of the music is not too bad either, Bunny's open you up like a can of tomato soup is a fleeting smile-worthy moment and Cassidy does have one mildly amusing line starting with "all they want to do is sit around...".

However, Davis' heart does not seem to be in it and she is practically sleepwalking through her role here, something that she very rarely did. She has very little chemistry with Borgnine, a shame because they worked previously in 'A Catered Affair' (a vastly superior film in every way) and had plenty of that then. Astin has to work with a character that's both dull and implausible and ends up being annoying and Cassidy is practically a cartoon in a distastefully stereotypical type of role that makes the character looks like an idiot and a sleaze. The direction has very little energy or wit.

It is almost non-existent, well it is very slight at the very least, on the story front and what there is is even more idiotic than it seemed from reading the plot line. The script is just not funny and is far too over-worked, to the point it is too broad or strained. Anybody looking for any sophistication, wit or subtlety will be disappointed and best looking elsewhere. 'Bunny O Hare' even looks cheap and like it was made in a hurry in little time on little budget, that may not have been the case in real life but it came over that way here.

Overall, very bad. 3/10

I will make it short, this is an insanely boring movie. Bette Davis was washed up and hungry for a role at this point. I just could not not bring myself to care for the main characters, I was hoping a bank guard would blow the top of Bunny's head off. What a travesty.

The reviews in the title. There are worse ways to spend a dreary sunday afternoon.