The movie starts out with a young woman named Ann Lake who has just moved to London with her four year old daughter to live with her brother, Steven. Ann is first seen right after she drops her daughter, Bunny, off at nursery school (her daughter is not shown) but when Ann goes back a few hours later to pick up her daughter she is no where to be seen and no one from the school even remembers having seen her. Ann and Steven call the police and start a suspenseful hunt for the missing Bunny. The police soon discover that the school has no records of Bunny ever being admitted to the school and Bunny's belongings seem to have mysteriously disappeared from their new home. These strange occurrences cause the police to start questioning whether or not Bunny actually exists as well as Ann's sanity.
This movie, although filmed in black in white, does a great job at gripping your attention from start to finish. The images shown throughout the movie (especially in the doll hospital) are both eerie and beautiful. The entire cast of the film did an incredible job with all of their roles and the plot/ending is not as predictable as many other thrillers released back then and even now. If you love a good thriller and can stand watching a movie that's not in technicolor, do give this one a shot!
Fun facts:
- The movie is based off of a novel with the same title by Merriam Modell.
- Columbia Pictures wanted Preminger to cast Jane Fonda as Ann Lake, who was eager to play the role, but Preminger insisted upon using Carol Lynley.
- Just like Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, audiences were not allowed into the movie after it had started. There were even posters that stated, "No One Admitted While the Clock is Ticking!". The Zombies also 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!"
- This movie was dismissed by both critics and Preminger as insignificant upon its release in 1965. Luckily, it later has become known as a cult classic and has been given highly supportive reviews by critics such as Andrew Sarris.
- The Zombies have a few cameos via televisions and radios throughout the movie.
- The doll hospital shown in the movie was actually Barry Elder's Doll Museum in Hammersmith.
- The 'Frogmore End' house in the film was the former home of Daphne du Maurier's (famous novelist who also happens to be one of my favorite authors) father.
SPOILER ALERT (don't read this last one unless you've already seen the movie)!
- Preminger was unhappy with the ending of the novel so he changed the kidnapper/ to-be murderer for the movie.
This movie is not rated, but if I were to give it a rating I would say all viewers over 12 should be ok viewing this film.
Link to the trailer
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