Main Cast: Ralph Richardson, Michèle Morgan, Bobby Henrey, Sonia Dresdel, Jack Hawkins, Denis O'Dea
Release Year: 1948
Country: UK
Run Time: 92 minutes
MPAA Rating: NR
Plot
Adapted from the Graham Greene story The Basement Room, director Carol Reed's The Fallen Idol is told almost completely from a child's eye view-but it isn't a children's story. Young Bobby Henrey idolizes household butler Ralph Richardson. Therefore, when it seems as though Richardson might be implicated in a murder, Bobby does his best to throw the police off the track. The boy succeeds only in casting even more suspicion upon Richardson. As the story progresses, Henrey's hero worship is eroded by Richardson's shifty behavior, and even more so when the boy discovers that the butler's boasts of previous heroism are just so much hot air. The ending of the film differs radically from Greene's story. While it would seem that director Reed was merely paying homage to the "happy ending" philosophy (hardly likely, given the doleful climaxes of such films as Odd Man Out and The Third Man), the director had very solid reasons for altering the story: he was more fascinated by the concept of the boy's imagination nearly sending his idol to the gallows, rather than having the butler entrapped by facts. And though the ending is happy for the boy, the butler's fate is much more nebulous. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
In the first of his three collaborations with screenwriter Graham Greene, he and Carol Reed fashion a memorable film on one of the writer's pet themes: a child's discovery of the world of adult morality. In this case, the hero-worship of a young boy (Bobby Henrey) for the kindly butler (Ralph Richardson), in whose care he has been left, is damaged when he stumbles on the servant's adulterous affair. Told from the boy's point of view, it underlines his complete isolation when, in spite of his disillusionment, he tries to protect the butler during a police investigation. The filmmakers have maninpulated the plot to create a more suspenseful ending in allowing the boy to be tortured by his imagination, a childhood affliction which fascinated Greene. Richardson gives arguably his finest performance on film as a gentle, even noble character, whose concern for his charge eventually contributes to his undoing. Reed was especially gifted with child actors, and here, he elicits a higly nuanced performance from Henrey. Working without his usual cameraman, Robert Krasker, Reed nevertheless gets superb work from Georges Périnal, who transforms the narrow physical confines of this story into a fully dimensional world. ~ Michael Costello, All Movie Guide
Phil Brandon - Associate Producer, Ivy Baker - Costume Designer, Guy Hamilton - First Assistant Director, Carol Reed - Director, Oswald Hafenrichter - Editor, William Alwyn - Composer (Music Score), Dr. Hubert Clifford - Musical Direction/Supervision, Dorrie Hamilton - Makeup, John Hawkesworth - Production Designer, Vincent Korda - Production Designer, James Sawyer - Production Designer, Georges Périnal - Cinematographer, Carol Reed - Producer, David O. Selznick - Producer, Vincent Korda - Set Designer, James Sawyer - Set Designer, W. Percy Day - Special Effects, Graham Greene - Screenwriter, Lesley Storm - Screenwriter, William P. Templeton - Screenwriter, Graham Greene - Short Story Author
