THE FALLEN IDOL

This highly regarded film from 1948 has the unusual setting of a foreign embassy in London,  and is directed by Carol Reed from a short story written and adapted by Graham Greene.

Ralph Richardson plays Baines, the butler there who is unhappily married to the head housekeeper, and who has for a few months been conducting an affair with Julie, a foreign typist at the embassy.

Things come to a head one weekend when Julie, realising that Mrs Baines will never agree to a divorce, tells Baines that she is returning home.  Around the same time Mrs Baines learns of the affair, leading to a violent argument with her husband.  

When a few minutes later she falls to her death from a window ledge, unseen by anyone, landing at the foot of the embassy's huge staircase, Baines reasonably assumes she must have slipped and fallen down the staircase.  The police are brought in and when their investigation reveals that Baines’ explanation is inconsistent with her injuries, and then they learn of his affair with Julie, they begin to suspect foul play.

Things are looking bad for Baines, and he is about to be escorted from the embassy when fortunately the police discover some evidence that explains how in fact Mrs Baines did fall.   

The story therefore ends with Baines off the hook and free to marry Julie.

What gives the film an extra dimension, which distinguishes it from a run-of-the-mill thriller, is the presence at the embassy of 8-year old Philippe, the son of the absent ambassador.

He has no friends to play with and so he has formed an attachment to Baines, amounting to hero worship, who is kind to him and regales him with stories (which is all they are) of his supposed wartime exploits in Africa.

Early in the film the boy accidentally comes across Baines and Julie in a tea shop, and although he is then sworn to secrecy he later inadvertently alerts Mrs Baines to the affair.

When he witnesses Baines’ argument with his wife at the top of the staircase, and then a few moments later he sees her dead body at the foot of the stairs, he leaps to the conclusion that Baines must have killed her.

Poor Philippe wants to lie to the police to protect Baines, and Baines certainly doesn't want him to tell them about Julie.  Unsurprisingly the young boy can't keep his story straight, which only fuels the suspicions of the police.  

One review which I came across argued that the ending of the film is a bittersweet one because Philippe has lost his innocence in that he has been made to realise that the adult world is full of lies and deception.

I can see that this is a reasonable interpretation but the direction by Reed in the final moments doesn’t emphasise this aspect of the story, although this may simply be an example of Reed’s understated approach.

The young actor who plays Philippe acquits himself well in a very demanding role, which suggests that Reed was comfortable with child actors, which no doubt came in handy a couple of decades later when he directed ‘Oliver!’

However I did find the boy rather irritating which may be one of the reasons why I was left at the end feeling mildly disappointed that this wasn’t quite the masterpiece I had been hoping for.

Another problem was that I didn’t for one moment believe in the relationship between Baines and Julie, due to the fact that Julie is played by a French actress, Michèle Morgan, who is far took young and attractive to be hooking up with Richardson.  Yet again I couldn’t help feeling that Richardson’s acting style is a curiously detached one which in this case pervades the entire film.

Pauline Kael describes the film as a ‘polite thriller’ which might have benefited from the injection of a bit more drama, and I’m inclined to agree.  

Notwithstanding these reservations Reed does do a masterful job of ratcheting up the suspense in a way which I found very stressful.

RATING: ✓✓ Good Times