morrison-dylan-fan Shortly after watching director Carol Reed's very good,but sadly overlooked 1939 Pre-Code film A Girl Must Live,a fellow IMDb'er asked me if I had seen Reed's 1948 Film Noir The Fallen Idol.Despite the title being one of my dad's all time favourite films,and Reed's classic Spiv Film Noir The Third Man,and his high-kicking musical Oliver being two titles that I had greatly enjoyed,I had somehow never gotten around to taking a look at The Fallen Idol,which led to me putting the title at the top of my "must buy" list.A week later:Opening an unexpected parcel that had arrived earlier in the day,I was shocked to discover,that a very kind IMDb'er had sent me a surprise parcel containing not one,but two Carol Reed titles!,which led to me excitingly getting ready to at last witness the fall of an idol.The plot:Finding Phillipe being left on his own in the French embassy,as his parents go on a short holiday,loyal butler Baines decides to cheer Phillipe up,by telling him wild,made up stories,about his adventures in Africa.Looking less than amused at her husbands wild tales,and also not being particularly happy about Phillipe keeping a pet snake hidden,Mrs.Baines tells her husband that he should not be encouraging Phillipe with his crazy stories.Going past one of the main windows in the embassy a few days later,Phillipe notices Baines sitting in a near by café with a woman who is not his wife.Sneking out of the embassy,Phillipe rushes to the café,where he discovers Baines talking to a woman called Julie.With having a deep desire to see Julie, (who he has been having a long- term secret affair with) one last time before she has to go back to France,Baines invites Phillipe to come along with him and his "close friend" Julie to a trip to the zoo.Returning to the embassy later that night, (with Julie quietly creeping in,so as to not raise the attention of Mrs.Baines)Phillipe soon discovers that Baines new "friendship" will soon lead to him witnessing the horrifying sight,of his idol falling from grace.View on the film:Limiting any sense of genuine cheer to the oddly up-beat scored ending in his adaptation of his own short story The Basement Room,co-writer (along with Lesley Storm and William Templeton) Graham Greene gradually builds an unsettling Film Noir world,whose inhabitants turn out to be much different than they originally appeared.Keeping the plot based from a child's point of view,the writer's show Phillipe's "innocent" outlook on the adults to be one that is rotted away by the adults,with Philipe discovering,that instead of joy and optimism,the fractured face of the adults hide the dark shadows of deceit,dissolution,mistrust,and possibly,even murder.Fully displaying the low-lit world that Phillipe's embassy is enclosed in,director Carol Reed and cinematography Georges Perinal expertly use high-angle to show the darkness that surrounds the people in Philipe's life,from a height that Phillipe will never be able to reach.Along with the stylish high-angles,Reed also works closely with editor Oswald Hafenrichter to give the "fall" of Phillipe and "the idol" a tremendously gripping tension,with Reed using Hafenricter's snappy editing to show that a "murder" may not be what it originally appears to be.Despite being a bit of a pain to work with on set, (although this would not stop Reed from working with child actors in the future)Bobby Henrey gives an excellent performance as Phillipe,with Phillipe never being allowed to become a sickly-sweet character,thanks to Henrey showing Philipe's smile to slowly fade away as the "true" faces of the adults are revealed,which leads to Philipe's smile being replaced by a strong sense,of anger,confusion and disbelief.Joining Henrey,and backed by a wonderful supporting cast which includes a charmingly gruff Bernard Lee,Ralph Richardson gives an amazing performance as Baines,with Richardson complementing Henrey's performance by showing Baines to be someone who is deeply humble,but is also unable to stop the deadly mist which is stopping any light from entering his life,which Baines soon discovers stops him saving the fall of an "idol",that leads to Phillipe's childhood innocence being permanently decayed from the fallen idol.

demetrius11 Even though this is a well made movie regarding direction and cinematography, I found the plot to be lacking in depth, and the characters are not very likable. Not likable enough as to care what happens to them anyways. Philip, the little boy that is the protagonist, is one of the most annoying kids ever captured on film. He is exactly how Dennis the Menace would look if you were to put him in a film noir. I found my self thinking that I would never want to have kids on more than one occasion during this film ! As the entire plot revolved around the ill-mannered little devil, i found it to be very very thin. I wouldn't bother watching this film if I knew what it was about. Much better "film noir" movies out there...

cmeneken-1 This film is virtually unknown in America, but must be considered one of the greatest films of all time. Its a movie that could not have been made here since the censors and right wing hacks would have cut it up left and right. Aside from the great acting, direction, and cinematography is dialog that is so perceptive, witty, and tinged with sarcasm, yet still fresh and amazing after more than six decades. Some examples: --after being told he cannot go for a walk, the boy whispers to Ms. Baines: "I hate you." Then won't apologize, and when sent to his room states: "I don't care". --when he laments the death of his snake and proposes a tombstone heading: "Maacgregor, killed by Mrs. Baines. (pause) And the date." --the prostitute on finding out that the boy is the son of the ambassador: "Oh, I know your daddy."And the vivid scenes of London then, with little traffic, horse drawn wagons, noir streets; the embassy as a great haunted Gothic symbolic universe. What a film!

Atreyu_II 'The Fallen Idol' is in theory a good and interesting film. The final result can be disappointing. At least on an early impression. This is a complicated movie to rate and judge. It's not confusing or inconsistent but it's complex and doesn't always make sense. Nevertheless, it can grow on you with time.Visually it is one of the best-looking films in black and white. The plot is interesting although it could be better worked at times. This film is often said to be "hitchcockian" for its film-making and "suspense". There is some suspense but nothing all that "hitchcockian". And that's where lies one of the weaknesses of this film: it definitely could use more true suspense, more darkness, more terrifying moments.The film takes place in London, in a fancy big house with a french little boy named Phillipe, the butler Baines and the butler's wife Mrs Baines. Phillipe idolizes the butler, but can't stand Mrs. Baines. And rightfully so, she's a horrible person. She is mean for Phillipe (she even slaps him) and she hates MacGregor (Phillipe's little pet snake). MacGregor is a cute name for a little snake and, even though I never think of any snake as being cute, I think MacGregor is a cute snake. Phillipe is very fond of his beloved MacGregor and very loving towards him. Mrs. Baines is so cruel that she burns poor innocent MacGregor alive! So it's not like she doesn't deserve her fate, even if accidental.Phillipe witnesses Mrs. Baines's accidental death, but thinks he saw Baines intentionally murder her. Phillipe is a strange little boy. On one hand, he's utterly cute and adorable. On the other hand, he's not annoying but he often has erratic behaviors and seems to be a very confused and immature boy and has the bad habit of stubbornly lying. He doesn't seem to have a stable personality. That may be in part due to the abuse he suffered from Mrs. Baites. Or perhaps he was already born with some kind of personality disorder. He also runs away like crazy after witnessing Mrs. Baines's death as if he was terrified but acts as if he wasn't. He lies to the police and his clumsy attempts to protect his idol almost put Baines in trouble. Phillipe is a complicated character, definitely not an easy one to evaluate. He seems like a child who is losing his innocence and hides his emotions as much as possible.Actors do well in their roles: Ralph Richardson as Baines, Michèle Morgan as Baines's lover Julie, Sonia Dresdel as Mrs. Baines and Bobby Henrey (who really is french) as Phillipe.This should definitely be on Top 250.