Passionate fans of the master of suspense ALFRED HITCHCOCK, must be well familiar with a popular phrase “A Hitchcock film that Hitchcock never made” used quite often. However for friends hearing it for the first time, the phrase actually represents those great suspense thrillers, which have many evident Hitchcock elements, readily reminding you of the famous film-making style of the master but still wasn’t made or hasn’t got any kind of connection with Hitchcock at all. And BUNNY LAKE IS MISSING can easily be included in the list of such impressive films which play with the suspense element so beautifully that you at once have Hitchcock in mind the moment the end credits start rolling.
Representing the magnificent black & white era of classic crime dramas, BUNNY LAKE IS MISSING is an engrossing (British) psychological suspense thriller based on the novel by Merriam Modell (as Evelyn Piper) having the same title. Its initial moments introduce Ms. Ann Lake who has recently settled in England along with Bunny, her kid daughter. And when she is goes to take back her daughter after her first day at the school, she is stunned to find no Bunny there in the class and the authorities also having no record of the girl with them, shocking her further.The police is called in and they too fail to find any trace of the girl’s physical existence at all and within a day its assumed that the child is just a name out of the Ms. Ann’s own imagination and nothing else. With Ann’s brother also agreeing to the thought, the lady goes into a mentally sick mode as no one is willing to believe or help her in finding her lost daughter in time before its too late.
The script progression keeps surprising you with every new development on the screen along with an intelligent background score used skillfully. And the film instantly reminded me of Hitchcock’s another famous British classics THE LADY VANISHES which also had a somewhat similar theme. Reportedly BUNNY LAKE IS MISSING was not appreciated by most of the critics in the year of its release with only one or two strong reviews given by the known names. But personally I found the film much better than many other noir films of those times and certainly worth including the list of must watch movies at the site, being a die-hard Hitchcock fan.
So if you also love watching well-made, gripping suspense thrillers, which constantly keep you guessing then do watch BUNNY LAKE IS MISSING at the earliest and have a good time.
Directed by Otto Preminger
Written By John Mortimer & Penelope Mortimer (Screenplay), Merriam Modell (Novel as Evelyn Piper)
Starring : Keir Dullea, Carol Lynley, Laurence Olivier & more.
Tags :
Bunny Lake is Missing (1965), Movies To See Before You Die Suspense, Crime Dramas, Not To Be Missed Films List By Bobby Sing at bobbytalkscinema.com, A Hitchcock film that Hitchcock never made, The Lady Vanishes, Great Must Watch Films List By Bobby Sing, Worth Watching Classic Movies List By Bobby Sing, Engrossing Suspense Dramas, Americal Crime-Noir, British Crime-Noir Movies.
