The Fallen Idol - Carol Reed

Carol Reed was a fairly prolific director, and worked in quite a few different genres. He has done comedies, musicals (Oliver), dramas, and thrillers. I know him mainly from his spy/thriller films, such as The Fallen Idol (based on a short story by Graham Greene), and Night Train to Munich. A few of these are based on Graham Greene novels - such as The Third Man, and Our Man in Havana. 

The Fallen Idol tells the story of the French Ambassador to England leaving the Embassy for a weekend to gather his wife and bring her back to England with him. While he does this, he leaves his young 8-yr old son Phile with the live-in butler and housekeeper who are married. Phile has a knack of watching the goings on in the house, and truly loves Baines, the butler. Phile (Bobby Henrey) acts his age which means he can be a bit demanding - wanting Baines to take him on a walk in the park, or eating snacks and so not eating his lunch. Mrs. Baines (Sonia Dresdel) does not have time for his shenanigans and is quite strict with Phile. Baines (Ralph Richardson), on the other hand, treats him as the kid he is and understands that he wants to have fun, etc. Mrs. Baines (who reminded me a bit of Mrs. Danvers from Rebecca) gets mad at Phile for not eating his lunch and sends him to his room. While there, Phile sees Baines leave and so he sneaks down the fire escape and follows him. Phile finds him in a cafe sitting with the Ambassador's secretary Julie (Michéle Morgan). It is clear to the adult audience that Baines and Julie might be having an affair. Julie talks about leaving, and Baines talks about telling his wife and finding a way out for the two of them. This conflict eventually leads to the death of...well, Phile thinks that Baines is a murderer. He runs away in the middle of the night, running bare footed through wet streets, and eventually is stopped by a policeman. The last part of the film deals with the investigation. During it Phile finds somethings out about Baines, which I think is where the title comes from. Baines who was an idol of Phile's is now fallen as he isn't what Phile thought he was. 

If you have seen The Third Man, you have seen some of the famous footage of people running down dark streets, all shadows, light, angles, and mystery. This is seen here as well when Phile runs away in the night. Visually there are some fantastic moments, as there are in quite a few Reed films. I have not read any Graham Greene and I wonder how the short story is. I found there to be tension in this film, as there should be, and a lot of it is done visually. I watched the Criterion Collection edition (spine 357), which has a visual filmography of Reeds, as well as a short feature about him as a director. Heads up, there are snakes in this film so if that makes you uncomfortable - this may not be the film for you.