Bunny Lake Is Missing

Carol Lynley and Noel Coward in Bunny Lake Is Missing (dir. Otto Preminger, 1965).

Later Preminger piece in which a young woman's daughter goes missing--or is she simply imagining that she ever had a daughter in the first place? Visually very elegant. The acting is a mixed bag, and when it fails it's mostly the script's fault. For instance, there's the old absurdity wherein a character behaves more or less like a normal person until it is revealed that they are insane, at which point the character starts acting like a child, making the entire climax sort of daffy. Noel Coward is unbearably slimy. Lawrence Olivier gives a subtle, soothing performance as a police detective. There's a particularly creepy scene in a doll hospital. Footage of The Zombies (Rod Argent et al.) is inserted gratuitously here and there.

I heard this was going to be remade with Reese Witherspoon in the lead role, but then she pulled out. Not sure if the project is still on.