"Bunny Lake Is Missing" *** 1\2 (out of ****)It is every parents worst nightmare. You drop your child off at a preschool, when you arrive to pick them up, they are missing. But, not only are they missing, no one has ever seen your child!
That is what happens to Ann Lake (Carol Lynley) in Otto Preminger's gripping psychological thriller "Bunny Lake Is Missing" (1965).
Ann, and her daughter Bunny, have just arrived in London coming from America. It was to be Bunny's first day at school, but when Ann is unable to find a teacher, after arriving late to school, Ann leaves the child with the school's cook.
All throughout the film we never actually see Bunny Lake. We only hear Ann talk about her. And once Bunny goes missing, Ann's brother, Steven (Keir Dullea), an American journalist working in London, threatens to call the police, headed by Super Intendent Newhouse (Laurence Olivier). But after no clues can be found of Bunny's existence, the police start to wonder if Ann didn't just make her up.
It is an intriguing, if familiar, premise. Other films such as the recent French thriller "Tell No One" (2008) also deal with a disappearance. And then there's the Julianne Moore thriller "The Forgotten" (2004). But Preminger's film may have them all beat.
The first time I saw this film I was very much caught in the suspense of the situation. I hung on every word of dialogue. The film seems so expertly crafted as it leads us down this dark path of whether or not we are dealing with a delusional person.
The film was based on a novel by Evelyn Piper (whose real name is Marryam Modell) and adapted into a screenplay by John and Penelope Mortimer. For its time the screenplay seems pretty radical. The film goes into areas other mainstream film weren't heading in. The relationship between brother and sister is a very affectionate one. In fact, at first, the film tries to suggest these two people are a married couple! They call each other darling and repeatedly say I love you to one another. It's nice when siblings are close to one another but they should never forget they are siblings not lovers.
The film also dwells into a disturbed mind and the psychological effects of a traumatic childhood. The ending of the film made me think of "Psycho" (1960). The situation is not exactly the same but I wonder if "Bunny Lake Is Missing" would have been able to get made if Hitchcock's film didn't exist.
The best performance in the film belongs to Olivier, that is usually the case when he is in a movie. Probably one of my all time favorite actors, Olivier often has a way of making us believe every character he plays whether it is in "Rebecca" (1940), "Sleuth" (1972) or "Wuthering Heights" (1939). He doesn't make many physical changes but his manner changes from role to role and his light touches have lasting effects. Each performance is memorable. Here is a man seeking a simple truth. He is tactful and manipulative when he needs to be. He is not one of those ignorant policeman we so often see in movies.
The other performances do what they need to but you wonder how different the film would have been with more experienced actors. Carol Lynley was Preminger's original choice but the studio wanted Jane Fonda. Lynley has an innocent child-like nature to herself. No doubt intentional as it serves as a set-up for the film's later themes. But she doesn't seen to have natural screen presence. Her delivery isn't also convincing. Though Preminger apparently enjoyed working with her. She was also in his "The Cardinal" (1963) and appeared in the Jean Harlow bio-pic "Harlow" as Jean Harlow.
Keir Dullea has some of the same problems on-screen. He doesn't have a natural, at ease, presence on-screen. Though he does come off looking slightly better than Lynley, until the film's ending.
And that ending is what changed my rating for the film. After my first viewing I was going to give the film four stars. Even with the uneven ending. It simply goes on way too long, long after it has made its point. Then I watched the film again. It didn't seem to hold up after a second viewing. I wasn't as involved in the film as I was the first time seeing it. The film depends largely on its ending, and after knowing it, I found myself just looking for clues leading up to it. It distracted me from enjoying the film.
I don't think I've discussed Otto Preminger on this site. He was one of the great filmmakers working within the studio system. Maybe best known for the films "Laura" (1944) and "The Man with the Golden Arm" (1955). Preminger was a filmmaker who liked to tackle big controversial subjects. His films didn't shy away from issues. He was also known to be a perfectionist. Pay attention to the small details in "Anatomy of Murder" (1959) and "Advise & Consent" (1962).
I don't think anyone will call "Bunny Lake Is Missing" Preminger's best film but it is an intriguing film worth seeing.
I'd also like to briefly mention that is the master himself, Sir. Noel Coward playing Mr. Wilson, Ann's landlord. Surprisingly Coward's scene are the most sexual in nature as it plays around with fact and fiction. The more you know about Coward the more insight you'll see into the role as it plays around with his image.
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