The Fallen Idol

As a child you overwhelmingly annoy, completely irksome the most irritating boy, poor old Baines must entertain, while trying to break from the chain, and make off with lover Julie, for some joy. But events occur and you see things unfold, then you promise to keep secret what you're told, causes you to get Tourette's, and then become almighty pest, as the cops arrive, it's hard to be consoled. The web that's spun then catches hold and yarns unwind, constabulary find a way to not be blind, you increase in irritation, continuous without cessation, I'm sure your parents will ensure, you are confined.

Ever so slightly dated, with language that defines the era, although Ralph Richardson is great as the stereotypical British tongue biting bloke.

Fallen Idol is a great film, with all actors in fine form, especially Ralph Richardson, and including the boy. Richardon is the embassy butler married to a shrewish, domineering wife. He has an illicit, albeit discreet love affair with a beautiful young embassy secretary - you can't help but feel for them both. When the shrew is found done in by a fall down the ornate embassy staircase, the wonderful gentlemen detective types enter, ever so politely, of course. Fallen Idol is an example of the best of British movie-making: low key, sympathetic, civilized. The boy's pet snake is a nice touch. A gem; a good example of the type of fine film that I wish could be made more available here. A Graham Greene story, directed by Carol Reed - what more could we want. Another great Carol Reed 'lost' film is 'Outcast of the Islands', also with Ralph Richardson.

When the great directors of film are named these days, the incomparable Carol Reed is rarely mentioned. He has been completely surpassed in the public esteem by his British contemporary David Lean. After the success of Reed's English films, a period which began in 1940 with the coal-mining film "The Stars Look Down" and ended with "The Outcast of the Islands" in 1954, the director was discovered by the big Hollywood studios; he went on to direct a number of big-budgeted Technicolor international productions –-"Olivier," "The Agony and the Ecstasy," and "Trapeze"—all of which he handled with consummate professionalism, but somehow their box-office success unfairly diminished his reputation with the critics. He is perhaps best remembered today for "The Third Man," which many people erroneously think Orson Welles directed. Although Reed's early films were shot in London films studios and on location all around the word, they remain quintessentially British in understated mood and attack --B&W films made in collaboration with the best expatriate talent that had gathered in London during the war years. ("The Fallen Idol" is photographed by the French cinematographer Perinal, the Jugoslavian editor Hafenrichter, and the Hungarian set designer Vincent Korda.) Reed at his best has the unique ability to portray the most complex of human relationships with voices lowered; witness how masterfully he directs the detectives and suspects in the final reels of this superb film.

A riveting little movie. Very Hitchcockian in its style. Smart, economical dialogue. After a somewhat slow, crafty build, it will grab hold of you. Wonderful bit with a paper airplane. Filled with superb little touches.

This story by Graham Greene is a classic, as is the film. The performances are top-notch, especially that of Ralph Richardson under the expert direction of Carol Reed, one of filmdom's elite directors. Cinematography superior even to that done by Alfred Hitchcock is the dramatic highlight of the film. A young boy sees one thing, while a completely different event is taking place in reality. A true masterpiece of storytelling. Don't miss it.