christopher-underwood This begins quietly enough and if Ralph Richardson is effective as the butler, there is no real hint that this is going to rise much above the level of a decent melodrama. Things do pick up, however, and an effective thriller seems to rise out of very little other than meticulous directing, flawless cinematography and fine acting. Bobby Henrey is enormously effective as the young boy although I understand this was more down to the personal efforts of director carol reed and careful editing than any particular acting skills on his part. Nevertheless he is most convincing and as the tension mounts the frustration surrounding his ability to know who to trust works extremely well. As with the 1946 film, Spiral Staircase, a central set of stairs is crucial to the tale with almost all action taking place on or through a door off them. There are one or two outside exclusions to the London streets and one particularly effective and evocative one towards the end when the boy runs out into the stunningly lit night streets. Absorbing, involving with a most exciting last act.

evanston_dad This Carol Reed/Graham Greene collaboration is a sort-of warm up to their 1949 classic "The Third Man." Not as well known as the later picture, "The Fallen Idol" is actually a bit more psychologically complex. It's about the frequently necessarily duplicitous world of adults as seen through the eyes of a little boy, unable to understand why it's o.k. to lie sometimes but not others, and who sees the man he looks up to as his father figure (Ralph Richardson's butler Baines) turn out to be so much more flawed and untrustworthy than he had thought. It's even a little bit tragic, even if the tragedy is one that we must all endure at some point in our lives: that transition from the simple answers of childhood to the complicated ambiguities of being an adult.Richardson is superb, as are the two principal females, Michele Morgan as Baines' lover and Sonia Dresdel as his terrifying wife. There's at least one astonishing scene -- that in which Baines, his lover and the little boy play hide and seek in a huge empty house while Mrs. Baines looks on unawares -- even if as a whole the film's style doesn't rival that of "The Third Man." And "The Third Man" is probably the more fun of the two, but if you liked that one, you will probably like this.Grade: A-

Spikeopath The Fallen Idol (AKA: The Lost Illusion) is directed by Carol Reed and adapted to a screenplay by Graham Green from his own short story called The Basement Room. Additional dialogue was scripted by Lesley Storm and William Templeton, the music is by William Alwyn and Georges Périnal is the cinematographer. It stars Ralph Richardson, Bobby Henrey, Michèle Morgan, Sonia Dresdel and Denis O'Dea.Film is told thru the eyes of Phillipe (Henrey), the young son of a diplomat living at the French Embassy in London. With his parents often away from home, Phillipe has latched onto the family butler, Baines (Richardson), for friendship and guidance. Baines regales the boy with fanciful tales of adventure, but in truth Baines himself is unhappy, stuck in a loveless marriage to the shrewish Mrs. Baines (Dresdel). When Bobby happens upon Baines in the company of a young woman named Julie (Morgan), it thrusts the youngster into a world he doesn't understand, and when a tragedy occurs, Bobby is in danger of shattering the friendship between Baines and himself.The first of Graham Greene's literary works to be directed by the great Carol Reed, The Fallen Idol took some time to come out of The Third Man's shadow and be heralded in its own right. What transpires over 95 minutes is a tight psychological thriller that leaves a lasting image of childhood confusion, disillusionment and the innocence that's lost. Throw into the mix adult secrets, human conundrums and a gripping mystery investigation at its peak, and it's not hard to see why it's such a well revered picture. It's also a film that thrives on dialogue, again not surprising given that Green himself always said it was the best film adaptation of his work, while some of the deep-focus photography from Périnal adds real atmosphere to the proceedings. Richardson is superb, and he leads a hugely effective cast, where Dresdel is scarily witch like and Henrey, plucked from nowhere to star as the naive boy, paints an indelible portrait of a child struggling to comprehend the mysterious world of the adults around him. In support there is quality thespians such as Bernard Lee and Jack Hawkins. The ending is notably different to that in the original story, and no doubt about it, the original ending would have garnered a different reaction from many. But Greene was happy to change his own source for the screen, so if it's good enough for him then it surely is good enough for us? Certainly time has been kind to The Fallen Idol, it's Hitchcockian feel blended with literary smarts has made it a lasting favourite of critics and fans alike. 8.5/10

Turfseer For awhile, 'The Fallen Idol" was part of the Criterion Collection but according to what I've read, the rights have now been acquired by Lionsgate. Be that as it may, any film that ends up as part of the Criterion Collection (even for a short while) is supposed to be considered a highly rated 'art' film, if not a 'masterpiece.' Certainly the film has things going for it including some wonderful noirish cinematography, Director Carol Reed's remarkable coaching job of a child actor, solid acting performances on the part of the adult actors and haunting on-location shots in 1948 London.Despite the classy 'look' of the film, the screenplay itself is weak and as a result, I relegate the whole affair to the pantheon of 'B' melodrama. The weakest aspect of the film is obvious: the character of Mrs. Baines, who is just such a vapid, unlikeable martinet who would have been probably diagnosed as bipolar if she were alive today. And is Mr. Baines much better a character than the evil Mrs.? What exactly do we find out about the wily butler besides the back story that he killed a black man while he was living in Africa before working at the Embassy? As it turns out, that's just a tall tale Baines has made up to impress Phillipe. Otherwise, Baines spends most of his time trying to convince Phillipe to keep his mouth shut so that no one finds out about his affair with Julie, an Embassy employee who works in the steno pool.I suppose it was very progressive of director Reed to hold up Baines and Julie as 'the good guys' despite the fact that they were having an affair (Reed himself was the product of an illegitimate union). But why should we hold them in such high esteem? Just because they're the victims of the unreasonable Mrs. Baines? I appreciate the fact that Baines wins points because he's kind to Phillipe but really that's all we know about him. And as far as Julie is concerned—to my mind, she's seems to be a complete empty vessel.In watching the documentary about director Reed as part of the DVD 'supplement', we learn that he was master in extracting wonderful performances from the child actors he worked with during his long career. The case of Bobby Henrey who played Phillipe was no exception. Henrey reportedly could never sit still and eventually Reed had to hire a magician to perform tricks for the boy in order to keep his attention. Reed expertly brings out the child's confusion as he misunderstands the reason for Mrs. Baines' death which leads to Baines being placed in jeopardy (the child believes that Baines 'murdered' his wife after confusing that event with Baines' tall tale which initially the butler appeared to communicate as a 'murder' but later clarifying it as 'self defense').The rest of "Fallen Idol" involves the rather stodgy police investigation into Mrs. Baines' death. Will the boy gum things up despite attempting to cover for the butler at every turn? Since he's just a kid, he's unable to cover up the discrepancies in Baines and Julies' story and after they're found out, Baines is on the verge of suicide. Fortunately an eagle eyed cop comes upon Mrs. Baines' footprint next to the window where she fell; this of course ends up exonerating the happy (or shall we say semi-happy) couple. I believe that the original ending from the book the film was based on, was Baines doing himself in, and some internet posters would prefer the more unpleasant denouement. I was actually pleased that the films' scenarists changed the ending to a happy one as the thought of having that child experience such an awful event as suicide would have ruined the picture for me.If there is a moral in this story, it's probably 'always be honest' because Baines and Julies' decision not to tell the truth almost led to their arrest and complete downfall. Despite the fact they prevail in the end, I would have much preferred that Phillipe had a direct hand in saving them. As it turned out, it was pure coincidence that saved Baines from the hangman's noose and not little Phillipe who will only be remembered for not being able to keep his big mouth shut.Like Hitchcock, The Fallen Idol is concerned with an innocent man being unjustly accused. Unlike Hitchcock, the characters of The Fallen Idol have little or no ambiguity. And when the protagonist is finally saved, it's not from his own exciting efforts or efforts on the part of a valuable ally (in this case, a nine year old boy) but from a slow-paced, pedestrian police investigation. Where was Hitchcock when you needed him?