Bunny Lake Is Missing

This was an interesting story line to determine for one self if there is actually a little girl nicknamed Bunny Lake, and if this supposedly 4 year old girl who was dropped off at a pre-school daycare center, then went missing, is real or imagined by her mom. Strong performances by the three lead actors, Carol Lynley, Keir Dullea, and Laurence Olivier.

No spoilers here, but to suffice to say the characters are intriguing and you just feel that you have to watch the entire film to determine what really happened. Carol Lynley plays mother Ann Lake, who is obviously distraught when she goes to pick up her little 4 year old Bunny only to find out she is missing. Ann's brother Steven (played by Keir Dullea) appears to be Ann's rock and support system.

When the police are called in to investigate, Superintendent Newhouse (Sir Laurence Olivier) tries to befriend the grieving mother all the while trying to gather information to assess for himself if this little girl nicknamed Bunny Lake is actually real or imagined by her mother.

It is a bit like a cat and mouse game, and children's games certainly play in to the theme of this mystery. But hold onto your swing as the film takes us "higher and higher" until the bitter end to a decent ending.

Well done! I rate the film a 7 out of 10.

Stuffed with wonderful character actors and recognisably shabby locations - like the little school in an old house where the cook is making junket (whatever happened to junket?). Her accent is familiar: she once played a beautiful spy in 39 Steps, warning of leaking "secrets vital to your air defence". After many viewings, it's easy to forget that it's a mystery and everyone is a suspect. Has Bunny been abducted by sinister Martita Hunt (the slightly dotty founder of the school)? Or creepy Noel Coward (the landlord)? The Zombies song "Just Out of Reach" keeps being reprised.

They were more famous, though, for a song called "She's Not There". How's that for intertextuality? The script is by John and Penelope Mortimer. John is famous for the Rumpole series, and Laurence Olivier's detective has echoes of Rumpole, muttering that bus conductors never notice anything - they are dreamers and philosophers. Noel Coward's character too is very Mortimerian: "There are many at the BBC who bear bruises left by the love of Horatio Wilson." Mortimer reveres Shakespeare and Conan Doyle and sometimes it shows.

The plot is stuffed, sometimes clunkily, with issues that were only just beginning to be spoken about: perversion (in the person of whip-wielding Horatio), teen pregnancy (Anne Lake seems about 20), unmarried motherhood and abortion. Anne chose to have her baby and raise it on her own. This is still a difficult course of action, but in 1965 it was groundbreaking, especially if you were - as she is - middle class.

This engaging psycho-thriller truly is an overlooked treasure and probably the most underrated of all of the great Otto Preminger's films. I always thought that Carol Lynley was a very beautiful woman and a very strong presence in motion pictures, but until I saw BUNNY LAKE IS MISSING, I never realized what a magnificent actress Miss Lynley truly is. As the frantic single mom searching for her little girl who seems to have disappeared without a trace, Miss Lynley gives the performance of a lifetime, and Keir Dullea is also impressive as Lynley's concerned brother. Laurence Olivier, Martita Hunt, Noel Coward, and Finlay Currie are also in there doing their usual wonderful work. A must-see, especially for the mystery lover.

Carol Lynley does some fabulous work here as American woman newly arrived in England whose little daughter is apparently kidnapped from school on her first day. The catch is, nobody knows the child and Lynley is having trouble proving she even exists! Terrific mystery from director Otto Preminger, an uneven filmmaker who does strong work just up to the finale (which is somewhat anti-climactic). Laurence Olivier is the police inspector on the case and he's very smooth, cunning and yet sympathetic to Lynley. There are some mod overtures which seem misplaced, and Noël Coward has a gratuitous bit as Carol's drunken landlord (and BBC celebrity!), yet the film does have many sharp bits of minute detail, intriguing and funny supporting characters, terrific cinematography and locations. Does it all add up? No, but it's inscrutable fun nevertheless. *** from ****

Ann Lake (Carol Lynley) is an American recently settled in London. She comes to pick up her daughter Bunny after her first day and finds her missing. Nobody seems to know anything about her. Her brother magazine reporter Steven Lake (Keir Dullea) is the only one who knows her. Superintendent Newhouse (Laurence Olivier) investigates but soon wonders if she has made the whole thing up.

This movie starts off with such a powerful compelling sequence as Ann Lake try to find her daughter at the school. It's a nightmare that is close to heart for every parent. However as it goes on, I found the movie to be uneven. Olivier is able to hold the various pieces together but I found the brother to be unreal. Director Otto Preminger made a very interesting movie that I found some parts to be more compelling than others. Overall, I found the good parts to be so great that the less good parts aren't that bothersome.