‘Bunny Lake’ to open Cinematheque restoration series

The child disappeared from the school where she had just been enrolled, according to her mother (Carol Lynley).

One small problem: No one there remembers either of them.

The police detective (Laurence Olivier) investigating this disturbing disappearance begins to wonder if little Bunny exists entirely in the slightly unhinged mind of her mother. In the hands of director Otto Preminger, the film “Bunny Lake is Missing” (1965) shifts swiftly and smoothly from suspense thriller to psychological drama. In addition, it features British stage legend Noel Coward as a Chihuahua-carrying landlord, long preceding Paris Hilton.

“Bunny Lake is Missing” opens the 2005 Cinematheque series Reborn: Restorations From America’s Archives.

Other titles in the series include:

“The Connection” (1962), one of the first low-budget American indies, Saturday, Jan. 29.
The uncensored “Baby Face” (1932), featuring Barbara Stanwyck as a young girl whose father forces her to dance semi-nude at stag parties. This film led to the infamous production code of 1934. Saturday, Feb. 5.
“The Big Parade” (1925), director King Vidor’s indictment of war, Saturday, Feb. 12.
“House of Bamboo” (1955), a crime drama starring Sessue Hayakawa, Robert Ryan and Robert Stack, directed by Samuel Fuller, Saturday, Feb. 19.
“Roman Holiday” (1953), Audrey Hepburn is a runaway princess and Gregory Peck is the journalist who pursues her (in all senses of the phrase), directed by William Wyler, Saturday, Feb. 26.
“Where the Sidewalk Ends” (1950), Preminger directs Dana Andrews as a discredited cop trying to pin a murder on a racketeer, Saturday, March 5.
“Paths of Glory” (1957), directed by Stanley Kubrick. When soldiers refuse to continue with an impossible attack during World War I, their superiors decide to make an example of them, Friday, March 11.
“The King and I” (1956), with Yul Brenner and Deborah Kerr. With “Carousel” (1956) “The King and I” was only one of two films shot — but never shown — in CinemaScope 55. Because no CS 55 versions survive, this screening will be in 35 mm, Friday, April 29.
“The Man with the Golden Arm” (1955), directed by Preminger and starring Frank Sinatra as a one-time heroin addict trying hard not to return to his habit, Saturday, April 30.

Schawn Belston, executive and former director of film preservation at 20th Century Fox, and Michael Pogorzelski, director of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences film archive, will introduce the two films in April and discuss the art and science of film restoration.

“This series provides a golden opportunity for the university community, as well as members of the wider community, to discover — or rediscover — some of the best American cinema as it was meant to be seen,” says Tom Yoshikami, graduate student in communication arts and coordinator of the Cinematheque series.

Cinematheque will launch another series on Friday, Jan. 21, featuring the work, neglected in this country, of revered French director Maurice Pialat, who died in 2003. Pialat’s honest takes on life have had a profound impact on such better-known directors as Jean-Luc Goddard, Claude Chabrol and Francois Truffaut.

“Our retrospective will seek to rediscover him and perhaps acquaint an entirely new audience with his films,” says Yoshikami.

The series will begin at 7:30 p.m. with “Loulou” (1980), in which Isabelle Huppert moves in Gerard Depardieu to the chagrin of husband Guy Marchand’s wishes.

All Cinematheque screenings take place in 4070 Vilas Hall, are free and open to the public. The Recent Restoration films all will begin at 7:30 p.m.; the Pialat films have varied start times.

Check university calendar listings for specific times.