It's strange and disappointing to find a writer like John Mortimer guilty of sloppiness. The plot is an uneasy hybrid of So Long At The Fair - Jean Simmons travels to Paris with her bother who promptly disappears leaving no record he was ever there - and Gaslight - a man attempts to drive his wife mad in which four-year old Bunny Lake disappears from a Nursery school on her very first day yet no one - staff, pupils, parents, deny ever seeing her. Mortimer's sloppiness manifests itself in several ways; 1) The audience does not see the child, what we see is the mother, Ann (Carol Lynley) looking for a member of staff having deposited her daughter in the First Day Room. There is absolutely no logical reason why we should not see the child other than the fact that one of the plot points is that the child is the figment of a disturbed mothers' imagination and this lends it credence; 2) Lynley tells the cook where the child is and the cook agrees to tell the relevant staff (although it's highly unlikely that a caring mother WOULD leave a child unattended for no real reason let alone a viable one, especially when both mother and child have just arrived in the country; 3) unrealistically, within minutes of Ann leaving the nursery the cook quits her job on the flimsiest pretense so is not there to confirm Ann's story. 4) towards the end of the film Ann finds a receipt from a doll's hospital where the doll is undergoing restoration and dashes off to the hospital which is apparently located in the West End. Her cab is caught in traffic and the driver explains that this is 'theatre' traffic and tells Ann she will be better walking. She leaves the cab and proceeds on foot; hardly has she entered the shop - after business hours but the door is conveniently open - than her brother, who she left in Hampstead, pulls up outside the shop, in a now traffic-free road. Extreme sloppiness. Finally, no attempt is made to explain just why Ann's brother, who is holding down a responsible job, is suddenly revealed as psychotic. If you can take stuff like this in your stride you may well enjoy this.

Lord Laurence Olivier plays the detective in a missing child case. Carol Lynley plays Ann Lake, the mother, who does an excellent job especially towards the end of the film. Keir Dullea plays the strange Uncle Steven Lake. Sir Noel Coward has a small supporting role as the landlord. There are plenty of familiar British faces like Anna Massey, Martita Hunt, Clive Revill, and others in this film. The black and white does wonders in creating the mystery surrounding Bunny Lake. You wonder what the film is about and is stunned to learn the truth. It's a strange title but the film is actually first rate with all star cast. Carol Lynley does hold her own against powerhouse Olivier and against Dullea. I love the London locations on film. The film is a gem in British film history.

Totally agree with another reviewer who says that the film is very watchable up until the scene where Stephen burns the doll at which point all suspense and intrigue is lost and the whole things slides into an unfrightening and unsatisfying loony tune denouement.Up until then one is prepared to ignore the lack of logic in the plot (for example: NONE of the staff at the nursery school remember the new girl, even though she speaks with an American accent; the Superintendent makes no effort to check American citizen records) in order to run with the 'does the child really exist' storyline.Several people have commented in the section below about 'how could she leave her kid unattended' and interestingly this kind of comment comes up quite often from younger people in reference to older films. The fact is that I myself was nine in 1965 and I can testify that at that very age I was allowed to go off exploring by myself in places where we stopped on our travels in a way that would be unthinkable today.So anyway, this film is saved by its good points: the unusual widescreen monochrome, the glimpses of sixties London and especially the quietly mesmeric performance by Olivier as the rather too-high ranking officer for the case.

Suspenseful film that will have you on the edge of your seat until an amazing finale . Intriguing film is packed with thrills , suspense , plot twists , and results to be quite entertaining . An American woman (Carol Lynley) and her brother (Keir Dullea) report that her young daughter is missing from a nursery kindergarten , but there seems to be no evidence that she ever existed . As the main trouble the police led by a cunning inspector (Laurence Olivier) and his helper (Clive Revill) soon face is : Does the child really exist? . No one admitted while the clock is ticking! Stirring as well as exciting yarn packs intense drama , thrills , suspense , puzzled events , twists and turns . This is a suspenseful flick that really thrills . The atmosphere and perverse intrigue enhance as well as the relationship among protagonist develops . From start to finish the intrigue and thrilling scenes are continuous till a striking ending . Penélope and John Mortimer's script along with uncredited Ira Levin is plenty of enjoyable incidentals and interesting events . Screenplay does something strange by the end : it actually removes the stakes of everything that came before with its surprising revelation that had been built up by that point about the strange missing . Very good cast gives perfect interpretation such as Laurence Olivier as an obstinate cop , Carol Lynley at her best , as an unsettling mother , though Columbia Pictures wanted Otto Preminger to cast Jane Fonda as Ann Lake, who was eager to play the role, but Preminger insisted upon using Carol Lynley ; furthermore , Keir Dullea as the suspect brother . Very good support cast such as Clive Revill as an intelligent deputy , Noel Coward as a drunken old intellectual with a vast collection of sadistic-looking sculptures d'art , Finlay Currie as a doll maker who undergoes surgery at a macabre dolls' hospital , Anna Massey as a nursery attendant and Martita Hunt as a nutty old mistress who records childhood's fantasies . Plus , other Brit secondaries in brief appearances as Adrienne Corri and Percy Herbert . Evocative and adequate photography in black and white by professional cinematographer Denis Coop . Atmospheric and appropriate musical score by composer Paul Glass . A remake to this film was planned during the period of 2007-2009 , Reese Witherspoon was attached to the project which was ultimately shelved. This engrossing , riveting picture was effective and compellingly directed by Otto Preminger . At the beginning he became a stage director and subsequently a notorious secondary actor . Otto directed several films , nowadays many of them are considered as classic movies . He made ¨Laura¨ that was released in 1944 and Preminger ranked as one of the top directors in the world . He realized all kind of genres as Court drama such as the great success ¨Anatomy of a murder¨, ¨Court martial of Billy Mitchell¨ , Noir film as ¨Laura¨ which made him an A-list director in Hollwyood , ¨Angel Face¨ , ¨Man with a golden arm¨, Religious drama as ¨The Cardinal¨ , Musical as ¨Porgy and Bess¨, ¨Carmen Jones¨ , Western as ¨River with no return¨ and historical as ¨Saint Joan¨, ¨Exodus¨ though also had some flop as ¨Rosebud¨ getting scathing reviews , though with ¨The human factor¨ won him respectful notices . However , his powers began to wane after and by the end of the decade of the 60s he was considered washed-up . ¨Bunny Lake is missing¨ resulted to be one of the his best films . Rating : Better than average . Worthwhile watching .