Bunny Lake is Missing (1965)
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90% of critics liked it
(10 reviews) -
75% of users liked it
(2,380 ratings)
Based on the mystery novel by Marryam Modell (using the pseudonym Evelyn Piper), Bunny Lake Is Missing is a bizarre study in motherhood, kindness, enigma, and insanity. Ann Lake (Carol Lynley), an American freshly relocated to England, wishes to drop off her daughter Bunny for the girl's first… More Based on the mystery novel by Marryam Modell (using the pseudonym Evelyn Piper), Bunny Lake Is Missing is a bizarre study in motherhood, kindness, enigma, and insanity. Ann Lake (Carol Lynley), an American freshly relocated to England, wishes to drop off her daughter Bunny for the girl's first day at a new nursery school. Oddly, Ann cannot locate any teachers or administrators, only the school's disgruntled cook (Lucie Mannheim). 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. The school's remaining employees vehemently deny ever seeing the child, and Ann desperately calls her older brother Stephen (Keir Dullea) for help. Ann was raised fatherless and never married; she and Bunny have lived under Stephen's care and protection for the majority of both their lives. Stephen is enraged by the irresponsibility of the staff, but as Scotland Yard begins its investigation, it comes to light that he had never officially enrolled a child at the school. When Police Superintendent Newhouse (Laurence Olivier) begins to unravel the Lakes' lives and search their belongings, he discovers that not only did Ann once have an imaginary childhood daughter named "Bunny," but that the young Bunny seemed to have no tangible possessions at the Lake apartment. Bunny Lake (whom we have yet to see onscreen) may not be missing: she may not even be real. Terrified that Newhouse will now abandon the search for the girl, the hysterical Ann sets out to prove her sanity and, in the process, surprisingly uncovers the true psychosis behind the disappearance of her little Bunny Lake. ~ Aubry Anne D'Arminio, Rovi
- Directed By
- Otto Preminger
- Written By
- John Mortimer, Penelope Mortimer
- Genres
- Drama, Mystery & Suspense, Classics
Unrated,
- In Theaters
- Oct 3, 1965 Wide
- Studio
- Sony Pictures Entertainment
Critic Reviews
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, Time Out
A middling thriller,
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Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader
The effect is stingingly poignant.
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Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com
One of Preminger's best films, this stylish psychological mystery-thriller is extremely well shot and well acted by Olivier, Carol Lynley and Keir Dulea.
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Gabe Leibowitz, Film and Felt
A solid-but-frustratingly-tantalizing experience.
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Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Somehow the unconvincing story is engrossing, as the marvelous supporting cast put it over... .
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
Cast
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Carol Lynley
as Ann Lake
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Keir Dullea
as Stephen Lake
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Laurence Olivier
as Newhouse
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Noel Coward
as Wilson
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Martita Hunt
as Ada Ford
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Anna Massey
as Elvira
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Clive Revill
as Andrews
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Finlay Currie
as Doll-maker
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Richard Wattis
as Clerk in Shipping Office
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Lucie Mannheim
as Cook
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Megs Jenkins
as Sister
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Victor Maddern
as Taxi Driver
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Delphi Lawrence
as First Mother at School
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Suzanne Neve
as Second Mother at School
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Adrienne Corri
as Dorothy
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Kika Markham
as Nurse
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Jill Melford
as Teacher
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Damaris Hayman
as Daphne
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Patrick Jordan
as Policeman
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Jane Evers
as Policewoman
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John Sharp
as Fingerprint Man
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Geoffrey Frederick
as Police Photographer
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Percy Herbert
as Policeman at Station
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Michael Wynne
as Rogers
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Tim Brinton
as Newscaster
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Fred Emney
as Man in Soho
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David Oxley
as Doctor
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John Forbes-Robertson
as Attendant
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