Bunny Lake Is Missing
Encyclopedia
Bunny Lake Is Missing is a 1965 British psychological thriller film directed and produced by Otto Preminger
, who filmed it in black and white widescreen
format in London
. It was based on the novel of the same name
by Merriam Modell
. The score is by Paul Glass
and the opening theme is often heard as a refrain. The Zombies
also appear in a television broadcast.
Dismissed by both critics and Preminger as insignificant upon its release in 1965, the film later earned a following as a cult classic
, along with strong reviews by critics such as Andrew Sarris
. The movie was released on DVD in 2005 (Region 1) and 2007 (Region 2).
) says she has lately come to England from the US with her four-year-old daughter Felicia, whom she calls by the nickname Bunny (and whom viewers do not see). Ann plans to settle in London with her journalist brother Steven (Keir Dullea
). After the first morning at Bunny's new school (The Little People's Garden), Ann comes to fetch her, but Bunny is not there and nobody can remember even having seen her.
Police Superintendent Newhouse (Laurence Olivier
) faces an array of suspects in Bunny's disappearance. Among these is Ann's landlord, aging writer and broadcaster Horatio Wilson (Noel Coward
), who lets himself into the Lakes' new apartment as he pleases and is a whip-loving sado-masochist. Retired teacher Ada Ford (Martita Hunt
) lives on the school's top floor and collects recordings of children's nightmares. Ada in turn tells Newhouse she thinks there is something "very unusual" about Ann's brother Steven. Meanwhile, Steven acts aggressively towards Newhouse, threatening to create a public scandal through his resources as a reporter unless the police quickly find Bunny.
The family then tell the police that all of the girl's belongings have vanished that same day in a mysterious burglary, along with her passport. The school authorities in turn report that they had never received a tuition check for a Bunny Lake. When Steven lets slip that Ann as a young girl had an imaginary friend whom she also called Bunny, Newhouse begins to wonder whether Bunny Lake ever really existed.
At her wits' end from not being believed, Ann suddenly recalls that, before Bunny's disappearance, the girl's doll had been taken in for repair. She sets off across nighttime London to try to get the doll back, thinking that with it in hand the police will have to believe her.
In the film's surprise denouement, after Ann reaches the "doll hospital" and finds the doll, Steven drives up to the shop. He seems less than pleased that she has found the doll and sets it on fire while Ann is upstairs paying the repair man. His face, seen in the light from the flames, takes on a mad look. When she returns, Ann sees what he has done and is shocked. Steven then strikes Ann, knocking her out. He checks her into a hospital, claiming she hit her head at home, but she manages to escape and tracks him down. Ann finds her brother retrieving Bunny from the boot of his car, where he has evidently kept her all day. He is clearly about to murder the child. Seeing he is insane, Ann tries to distract and reassure her brother, calling him by his childhood nickname "Stevie" and playing ever more frantic games from their childhood.
Their dialogue hints at the film's earlier suggestions of incestuous feelings between them. Steven deeply resented Bunny's father, Ann's former boyfriend, and Bunny's existence reminds him of having "lost" his sister in this way. At last, after making her brother push her higher and higher on a swing in a last-ditch attempt to keep him away from Bunny, Newhouse and other policemen arrive. Steven is taken into custody and watches as Ann carries Bunny safely away.
's father. Preminger had found the novel's denouement lacking in credibility so he changed the identity of the would-be murderer, which needed many re-writes from his British husband-and-wife scriptwriters John Mortimer
and Penelope Mortimer
before the famously demanding director was satisfied.
As with its thematic predecessor, Psycho
, audiences were not admitted after the film's start, which was not common practice at the time. This was heavily emphasized in the film's promotion, including on the poster, which warned "No One Admitted While the Clock is Ticking!".
English rock
band The Zombies
are featured in the credits and on the film's poster for their contribution of three songs to the film's soundtrack: "Remember You", "Just Out of Reach" and "Nothing's Changed". The band is prominently featured performing on a television in the pub where Supt. Newhouse meets with Ann, and "Just Out of Reach" plays on a janitor's radio as Ann escapes from the hospital. In addition, and with Preminger present in the studio, the band recorded a two-minute radio ad set to the tune of "Just Out of Reach" that promoted the film's release and urged audiences to "Come on time!" in keeping with the film's no-late-admissions policy. These efforts represent an early instance of the now-common Hollywood practice of promotional tie-ins with popular musical acts.
Otto Preminger
Otto Ludwig Preminger was an Austro–Hungarian-American theatre and film director.After moving from the theatre to Hollywood, he directed over 35 feature films in a five-decade career. He rose to prominence for stylish film noir mysteries such as Laura and Fallen Angel...
, who filmed it in black and white widescreen
Widescreen
Widescreen images are a variety of aspect ratios used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than the standard 1.37:1 Academy aspect ratio provided by 35mm film....
format in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. It was based on the novel of the same name
Bunny Lake Is Missing (novel)
Bunny Lake Is Missing is a 1957 novel by Merriam Modell set in New York City.-Plot introduction:Blanche Lake, a 21 year old single mother, wants to collect her three year old daughter Bunny from her first day at crèche but finds out that she is not there...
by Merriam Modell
Merriam Modell
Merriam Modell was an American author of pulp fiction, who wrote under the pen-name 'Evelyn Piper'....
. The score is by Paul Glass
Paul Glass
-Biography:Born in Los Angeles, California, Glass was the son of silent film actor and film executive Gaston Glass. He was educated at the University of Southern California , and was taught by Ingolf Dahl, and Goffredo Petrassi in Rome...
and the opening theme is often heard as a refrain. The Zombies
The Zombies
The Zombies are an English rock band, formed in 1961 in St Albans and led by Rod Argent, on piano and keyboards, and vocalist Colin Blunstone. The group scored a UK and US hit in 1964 with "She's Not There"...
also appear in a television broadcast.
Dismissed by both critics and Preminger as insignificant upon its release in 1965, the film later earned a following as a cult classic
Cult Classic
Cult Classic is a Blue Öyster Cult studio recording released in 1994, containing remakes of many of the band's previous hits.-Track listing:# " The Reaper" - 5:05# "E.T.I...
, along with strong reviews by critics such as Andrew Sarris
Andrew Sarris
Andrew Sarris is an American film critic and a leading proponent of the auteur theory of criticism.-Career:Sarris is generally credited with popularizing the auteur theory in the U.S...
. The movie was released on DVD in 2005 (Region 1) and 2007 (Region 2).
Plot
American single mother Ann Lake (Carol LynleyCarol Lynley
Carol Lynley is an American actress and former child model.-Life and career:Lynley was born Carole Ann Jones in New York City, the daughter of Frances , a waitress, and Cyril Jones. Her father was Irish and her mother, a native of New England, was of English, Scottish, Welsh, German, and Native...
) says she has lately come to England from the US with her four-year-old daughter Felicia, whom she calls by the nickname Bunny (and whom viewers do not see). Ann plans to settle in London with her journalist brother Steven (Keir Dullea
Keir Dullea
Keir Dullea is an American actor best known for the character of astronaut David Bowman, whom he portrayed in the 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey and in 1984's 2010: The Year We Make Contact...
). After the first morning at Bunny's new school (The Little People's Garden), Ann comes to fetch her, but Bunny is not there and nobody can remember even having seen her.
Police Superintendent Newhouse (Laurence Olivier
Laurence Olivier
Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM was an English actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century. He married three times, to fellow actors Jill Esmond, Vivien Leigh, and Joan Plowright...
) faces an array of suspects in Bunny's disappearance. Among these is Ann's landlord, aging writer and broadcaster Horatio Wilson (Noel Coward
Noël Coward
Sir Noël Peirce Coward was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise".Born in Teddington, a suburb of London, Coward attended a dance academy...
), who lets himself into the Lakes' new apartment as he pleases and is a whip-loving sado-masochist. Retired teacher Ada Ford (Martita Hunt
Martita Hunt
Martita Hunt was an English theatre and film actress.-Early life:Hunt was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina on 30 January 1900 to British parents Alfred and Marta Hunt...
) lives on the school's top floor and collects recordings of children's nightmares. Ada in turn tells Newhouse she thinks there is something "very unusual" about Ann's brother Steven. Meanwhile, Steven acts aggressively towards Newhouse, threatening to create a public scandal through his resources as a reporter unless the police quickly find Bunny.
The family then tell the police that all of the girl's belongings have vanished that same day in a mysterious burglary, along with her passport. The school authorities in turn report that they had never received a tuition check for a Bunny Lake. When Steven lets slip that Ann as a young girl had an imaginary friend whom she also called Bunny, Newhouse begins to wonder whether Bunny Lake ever really existed.
At her wits' end from not being believed, Ann suddenly recalls that, before Bunny's disappearance, the girl's doll had been taken in for repair. She sets off across nighttime London to try to get the doll back, thinking that with it in hand the police will have to believe her.
In the film's surprise denouement, after Ann reaches the "doll hospital" and finds the doll, Steven drives up to the shop. He seems less than pleased that she has found the doll and sets it on fire while Ann is upstairs paying the repair man. His face, seen in the light from the flames, takes on a mad look. When she returns, Ann sees what he has done and is shocked. Steven then strikes Ann, knocking her out. He checks her into a hospital, claiming she hit her head at home, but she manages to escape and tracks him down. Ann finds her brother retrieving Bunny from the boot of his car, where he has evidently kept her all day. He is clearly about to murder the child. Seeing he is insane, Ann tries to distract and reassure her brother, calling him by his childhood nickname "Stevie" and playing ever more frantic games from their childhood.
Their dialogue hints at the film's earlier suggestions of incestuous feelings between them. Steven deeply resented Bunny's father, Ann's former boyfriend, and Bunny's existence reminds him of having "lost" his sister in this way. At last, after making her brother push her higher and higher on a swing in a last-ditch attempt to keep him away from Bunny, Newhouse and other policemen arrive. Steven is taken into custody and watches as Ann carries Bunny safely away.
Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Laurence Olivier Laurence Olivier Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM was an English actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century. He married three times, to fellow actors Jill Esmond, Vivien Leigh, and Joan Plowright... |
Supt. Newhouse |
| Carol Lynley Carol Lynley Carol Lynley is an American actress and former child model.-Life and career:Lynley was born Carole Ann Jones in New York City, the daughter of Frances , a waitress, and Cyril Jones. Her father was Irish and her mother, a native of New England, was of English, Scottish, Welsh, German, and Native... |
Ann Lake |
| Keir Dullea Keir Dullea Keir Dullea is an American actor best known for the character of astronaut David Bowman, whom he portrayed in the 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey and in 1984's 2010: The Year We Make Contact... |
Stephen Lake |
| Martita Hunt Martita Hunt Martita Hunt was an English theatre and film actress.-Early life:Hunt was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina on 30 January 1900 to British parents Alfred and Marta Hunt... |
Ada Ford |
| Anna Massey Anna Massey Anna Raymond Massey, CBE was an English actress. She won a BAFTA Award for the role of Edith Hope in the 1986 TV adaptation of Anita Brookner’s novel Hotel du Lac.-Early life:... |
Elvira Smollett |
| Clive Revill Clive Revill Clive Selsby Revill is a New Zealand-born British character actor best known for his performances in musical theatre and on the London stage.-Early life and stage career:... |
Sergeant Andrews |
| Finlay Currie Finlay Currie Finlay Jefferson Currie was a Scottish actor of stage, screen and television.Currie was born in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1878. His acting career began on the stage. He and his wife Maude Courtney did a song and dance act in the US in the 1890s. He made his first film in 1931... |
The Doll Maker |
| Lucie Mannheim Lucie Mannheim Lucie Mannheim was a German singer and actress.Mannheim was born in Berlin–Köpenick where she studied drama and quickly became a popular figure appearing on stage in plays and musicals. Among other roles, she played Nora in Ibsen's A Doll's House, Marie in Büchner's Woyzeck, and Juliet in... |
The Cook |
| Noel Coward Noël Coward Sir Noël Peirce Coward was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise".Born in Teddington, a suburb of London, Coward attended a dance academy... |
Horatio Wilson |
| Adrienne Corri Adrienne Corri Adrienne Corri is an actress of Italian parentage.She is probably best known for her role as the rape victim Mrs. Alexander in the 1971 Stanley Kubrick film A Clockwork Orange, and for her appearances as Valerie in Jean Renoir's The River and as Lara's mother in David Lean's Dr. Zhivago... |
Dorothy |
| Megs Jenkins Megs Jenkins Muguette Mary "Megs" Jenkins was an English character actress who appeared in British films and television programmes.-Life and career:... |
Sister |
| Delphi Lawrence Delphi Lawrence Delphi Lawrence was an English actress.She was educated in Slough at Halidon House School and lived in Colnbrook. Of Hungarian ancestry, Lawrence trained as a concert pianist before becoming an actress. She made her first film in 1952 and over the next decade established a following in British films... |
1st Mother |
| David Oxley David Oxley David Oxley was an English actor who made many film and television appearances over a 35 year period. He is best known for portraying Sir Hugo Baskerville in The Hound of the Baskervilles and for the major role of Captain W... |
Doctor |
| Suky Appleby | Bunny Lake |
Production details
Adapting the original novel, Preminger re-set the story from New York to London, where he liked working. His dark, sinister vision of London made use of many real locations; Barry Elder's Doll Museum in Hammersmith stood in for the dolls' hospital, the Little People's Garden School used a real school in Hampstead, and the 'Frogmore End' house that was one that had belonged to novelist Daphne du MaurierDaphne du Maurier
Dame Daphne du Maurier, Lady Browning DBE was a British author and playwright.Many of her works have been adapted into films, including the novels Rebecca and Jamaica Inn and the short stories "The Birds" and "Don't Look Now". The first three were directed by Alfred Hitchcock.Her elder sister was...
's father. Preminger had found the novel's denouement lacking in credibility so he changed the identity of the would-be murderer, which needed many re-writes from his British husband-and-wife scriptwriters John Mortimer
John Mortimer
Sir John Clifford Mortimer, CBE, QC was a British barrister, dramatist, screenwriter and author.-Early life:...
and Penelope Mortimer
Penelope Mortimer
Penelope Ruth Mortimer , was a British journalist, biographer and novelist.-Early life:...
before the famously demanding director was satisfied.
As with its thematic predecessor, Psycho
Psycho (1960 film)
Psycho is a 1960 American suspense/psychological horror film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Janet Leigh and Anthony Perkins. The film is based on the screenplay by Joseph Stefano, who adapted it from the 1959 novel of the same name by Robert Bloch...
, audiences were not admitted after the film's start, which was not common practice at the time. This was heavily emphasized in the film's promotion, including on the poster, which warned "No One Admitted While the Clock is Ticking!".
English rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band The Zombies
The Zombies
The Zombies are an English rock band, formed in 1961 in St Albans and led by Rod Argent, on piano and keyboards, and vocalist Colin Blunstone. The group scored a UK and US hit in 1964 with "She's Not There"...
are featured in the credits and on the film's poster for their contribution of three songs to the film's soundtrack: "Remember You", "Just Out of Reach" and "Nothing's Changed". The band is prominently featured performing on a television in the pub where Supt. Newhouse meets with Ann, and "Just Out of Reach" plays on a janitor's radio as Ann escapes from the hospital. In addition, and with Preminger present in the studio, the band recorded a two-minute radio ad set to the tune of "Just Out of Reach" that promoted the film's release and urged audiences to "Come on time!" in keeping with the film's no-late-admissions policy. These efforts represent an early instance of the now-common Hollywood practice of promotional tie-ins with popular musical acts.