This begins quietly enough and if Ralph Richardson is effective as the butler, there is no real hint that this is going to rise much above the level of a decent melodrama. Things do pick up, however, and an effective thriller seems to rise out of very little other than meticulous directing, flawless cinematography and fine acting. Bobby Henrey is enormously effective as the young boy although I understand this was more down to the personal efforts of director carol reed and careful editing than any particular acting skills on his part. Nevertheless he is most convincing and as the tension mounts the frustration surrounding his ability to know who to trust works extremely well. As with the 1946 film, Spiral Staircase, a central set of stairs is crucial to the tale with almost all action taking place on or through a door off them. There are one or two outside exclusions to the London streets and one particularly effective and evocative one towards the end when the boy runs out into the stunningly lit night streets. Absorbing, involving with a most exciting last act.

Shortly after watching director Carol Reed's very good,but sadly overlooked 1939 Pre-Code film A Girl Must Live,a fellow IMDb'er asked me if I had seen Reed's 1948 Film Noir The Fallen Idol.Despite the title being one of my dad's all time favourite films,and Reed's classic Spiv Film Noir The Third Man,and his high-kicking musical Oliver being two titles that I had greatly enjoyed,I had somehow never gotten around to taking a look at The Fallen Idol,which led to me putting the title at the top of my "must buy" list.A week later:Opening an unexpected parcel that had arrived earlier in the day,I was shocked to discover,that a very kind IMDb'er had sent me a surprise parcel containing not one,but two Carol Reed titles!,which led to me excitingly getting ready to at last witness the fall of an idol.The plot:Finding Phillipe being left on his own in the French embassy,as his parents go on a short holiday,loyal butler Baines decides to cheer Phillipe up,by telling him wild,made up stories,about his adventures in Africa.Looking less than amused at her husbands wild tales,and also not being particularly happy about Phillipe keeping a pet snake hidden,Mrs.Baines tells her husband that he should not be encouraging Phillipe with his crazy stories.Going past one of the main windows in the embassy a few days later,Phillipe notices Baines sitting in a near by café with a woman who is not his wife.Sneking out of the embassy,Phillipe rushes to the café,where he discovers Baines talking to a woman called Julie.With having a deep desire to see Julie, (who he has been having a long- term secret affair with) one last time before she has to go back to France,Baines invites Phillipe to come along with him and his "close friend" Julie to a trip to the zoo.Returning to the embassy later that night, (with Julie quietly creeping in,so as to not raise the attention of Mrs.Baines)Phillipe soon discovers that Baines new "friendship" will soon lead to him witnessing the horrifying sight,of his idol falling from grace.View on the film:Limiting any sense of genuine cheer to the oddly up-beat scored ending in his adaptation of his own short story The Basement Room,co-writer (along with Lesley Storm and William Templeton) Graham Greene gradually builds an unsettling Film Noir world,whose inhabitants turn out to be much different than they originally appeared.Keeping the plot based from a child's point of view,the writer's show Phillipe's "innocent" outlook on the adults to be one that is rotted away by the adults,with Philipe discovering,that instead of joy and optimism,the fractured face of the adults hide the dark shadows of deceit,dissolution,mistrust,and possibly,even murder.Fully displaying the low-lit world that Phillipe's embassy is enclosed in,director Carol Reed and cinematography Georges Perinal expertly use high-angle to show the darkness that surrounds the people in Philipe's life,from a height that Phillipe will never be able to reach.Along with the stylish high-angles,Reed also works closely with editor Oswald Hafenrichter to give the "fall" of Phillipe and "the idol" a tremendously gripping tension,with Reed using Hafenricter's snappy editing to show that a "murder" may not be what it originally appears to be.Despite being a bit of a pain to work with on set, (although this would not stop Reed from working with child actors in the future)Bobby Henrey gives an excellent performance as Phillipe,with Phillipe never being allowed to become a sickly-sweet character,thanks to Henrey showing Philipe's smile to slowly fade away as the "true" faces of the adults are revealed,which leads to Philipe's smile being replaced by a strong sense,of anger,confusion and disbelief.Joining Henrey,and backed by a wonderful supporting cast which includes a charmingly gruff Bernard Lee,Ralph Richardson gives an amazing performance as Baines,with Richardson complementing Henrey's performance by showing Baines to be someone who is deeply humble,but is also unable to stop the deadly mist which is stopping any light from entering his life,which Baines soon discovers stops him saving the fall of an "idol",that leads to Phillipe's childhood innocence being permanently decayed from the fallen idol.

Even though this is a well made movie regarding direction and cinematography, I found the plot to be lacking in depth, and the characters are not very likable. Not likable enough as to care what happens to them anyways. Philip, the little boy that is the protagonist, is one of the most annoying kids ever captured on film. He is exactly how Dennis the Menace would look if you were to put him in a film noir. I found my self thinking that I would never want to have kids on more than one occasion during this film ! As the entire plot revolved around the ill-mannered little devil, i found it to be very very thin. I wouldn't bother watching this film if I knew what it was about. Much better "film noir" movies out there...

The "idol" is Baines (Ralph Richardson), the butler in the French embassy in London and the ambassador's little son, Philippe (Bobby Henrey), is the one who loves and worships him. Baines is devoted to the boy and never tires of spending time him, regaling him with tall tales that Philippe believes, of course. One day, Baines asks Philippe to keep a big secret from the hateful Mrs. Baines and this secret eventually changes all of their lives.This is a wonderful movie. Richardson is flawless and little Bobby Henrey gives one of the very best child performances ever. He is completely natural, a real boy who dotes on his pet snake and would do anything for Baines, and acts in both English and French. The story is a domestic drama turned homicide investigation and it kept me on the edge of my seat. Heartily recommended.