I just don't get Otto Preminger. Other than "In Harm's Way", "The Man with the Golden Arm", and "Anatomy of a Murder", I am routinely disappointed by his movies, all of which fail, in my opinion, because of bad directorial decisions. "Bunny Lake is Missing"'s shortcomings fall in his lap as well.
The idea behind "Bunny" may remind contemporary viewers of the recent "Flightplan". Ann Lake, an American recently transplanted to England with her daughter Bunny, is terrified when she can't find Bunny at her new English school at the end of her first day there. But when she and her brother call the police, the investigation appears to focus more on whether the young girl ever existed in the first place, when Superintendent Newhouse (Laurence Olivier, wasted in this movie alongside Noel Coward) discovers no one at the school remembers seeing the girl. The viewer is given a healthy overdose of interesting possible suspects, but the storyline disallows all but the most obvious conclusion, and the movie keeps going 20 minutes after it's confirmed. I saw this movie because I was interested in Carol Lynley (after seeing most of "Shock Treatment") and Adrienne Corri ("A Clockwork Orange"), but every directorial detail of this movie -- from the cameras following the characters among the hallways of the buildings to the myriad mismatched musical accompaniments -- detracts from, rather than enhances, the dramatic effect of the film. Let's hope Reese Witherspoon's remake is an improvement.
The idea behind "Bunny" may remind contemporary viewers of the recent "Flightplan". Ann Lake, an American recently transplanted to England with her daughter Bunny, is terrified when she can't find Bunny at her new English school at the end of her first day there. But when she and her brother call the police, the investigation appears to focus more on whether the young girl ever existed in the first place, when Superintendent Newhouse (Laurence Olivier, wasted in this movie alongside Noel Coward) discovers no one at the school remembers seeing the girl. The viewer is given a healthy overdose of interesting possible suspects, but the storyline disallows all but the most obvious conclusion, and the movie keeps going 20 minutes after it's confirmed. I saw this movie because I was interested in Carol Lynley (after seeing most of "Shock Treatment") and Adrienne Corri ("A Clockwork Orange"), but every directorial detail of this movie -- from the cameras following the characters among the hallways of the buildings to the myriad mismatched musical accompaniments -- detracts from, rather than enhances, the dramatic effect of the film. Let's hope Reese Witherspoon's remake is an improvement.