The Fallen Idol – 1948 | 92mins | Thriller, Drama | B&W

Plot Synopsis

Carol Reed‘s The Fallen Idol was loosely adapted from the Graham Greene story The Basement Room, it’s told almost completely from a child’s eye view – Philippe (Bobby Henrey), eight-year-old son of an ambassador in London, is left for a weekend in the care of the butler Baines and his stern housekeeper-wife (Sonia Dresdel). Baines, whom Philippe hero-worships, is in love with Julie (Michele Morgan), a typist at the embassy. The little boy follows the lovers to a tea shop and overhears their decision to part, as the future can hold no happiness for them. Mrs Baines tricks him into repeating the conversation; later he hears a violent quarrel between husband and wife.

While spying on Julie, Mrs Baines falls to her death from a window above the stone hall. Terrified, the boy runs into the street in his pyjamas when the police bring him back, he tries to shield his hero, who is suspected of murder. The police find a clue, however, which, even though they misinterpret it, leads them to exonerate the butler. Philippe now finds that though they believed him when he lied, they will not listen to his truthful explanation of the clue.

His disillusionment is completed by the realisation that Baines had lied to him, with stories of an adventurous life, merely to entertain him. Indeed, his world seems to be crashing about him. Then the ambassador and his wife return. With the resilience of youth, Philippe’s doubts and dismay are forgotten in the joy of having his mother and father home again.