The Fallen Idol

Although their jointly created masterpiece The Third Man is better known among cinephiles, director Carol Reed and writer Graham Greene began their brilliant collaboration with this equally impressive but comparatively low-key 1948 thriller (based on Greene's short story "The Basement Room”), which is set in a foreign embassy in London, where a tragic incident could be the result of murderous intentions or simply an accident. The story is largely told through the eyes of an eight-year-old boy named Phillipe (Bobby Henrey), who will say almost anything to spare his beloved butler, Baines (Ralph Richardson), from being charged with murder. Baines is burdened with a shrewish, overbearing wife (Sonia Dresdel), whose rigid, disciplinarian control of Phillipe is key to the ensuing events—when Mrs. Baines dies in a terrible fall on the embassy staircase, her husband (who has been having a secret affair with an embassy typist) becomes the prime suspect. The Fallen Idol expertly plays on the child's good but woefully misguided intentions, as Phillipe—caught between his love for Baines and his suspicion of the butler's guilt—tries to convince investigators of Baines's innocence. Subtle, yet still highly effective (in Reed's visual strategy, a simple paper airplane can become the focus of almost unbearable suspense), the film received Oscar nominations for Reed's direction and Greene's adapted screenplay. Criterion's new DVD release includes the 2006 documentary short “A Sense of Carol Reed” on the director's career, featuring interviews with several of Reed's surviving collaborators. In addition, viewers will find a reproduction of the film's original pressbook and a booklet of critical essays. Highly recommended. (J. Shannon)