The Fallen Idol (1948)

A re-working of a short story by Graham Greene, was Carol Reed's first and more favoured collaboration with the mighty writer. A rites of passage tale, it follows a lonely boy, Felipe, played out with great cadence and complex sensitivity for a screen debut by Bobby Henrey. Felipe, the son of an absent French ambassador and sick mother, all but abandoned within the confines of his father's embassy building, forms a close bond with the butler Baines, played tenderly by Ralph Richardson. The boy yearns for his parents' love and in one sad scene confesses to Baines that he cannot even recall his mother's face. Mrs Baines, played by Sonia Dresdel, proves to be no substitute and is cold and indifferent towards the boy. After an accident following the revelation of Baines' relationship with a mistress, Felipe's loyalty to Baines is tested. The use of wide angle photography by Georges Perinal portrays the bleakness of the Belgravia interiors as no place for a sensitive child like Felipe and serves to highlight his lonely existence. Reed, a trained actor before working his way through the ranks of the British Lion Film Corporation, was well known for a talented instinct in his canny casting of exactly the right person for each role.

The new print of The Fallen Idol screens at the NFT from 28/07 till 14/08. A new print of Carol Reed's most well known film, another Greene collaboration, The Third Man (1949), screens at the NFT from 11/08 till 24/08. Both The Fallen Idol and The Third Man are being shown in conjunction with a Carol Reed retrospective (Part I runs in August and Part II in September).