THE FALLEN IDOL

This highly regarded film from 1948 has the unusual setting of a foreign embassy in London. 

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 she then falls to her death unseen by anyone Baines assumed she slipped and fell down the huge staircase at the embassy.  The police are brought in and when their investigation reveals that Baines’ explanation is inconsistent with her injuries, and then they learn of the affair, they suspect foul play.

Things are looking bad for Baines, and he is about to be escorted from the embassy when fortunately the police discover evidence that explains how in fact Mrs Baines did fall (it was from a window ledge rather than from the top of the stairs). 

Baines is now off the hook and free to marry Julie.

End of story.

The film is expertly directed by Carol Reed from a short story written and adapted by Graham Greene.  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.

However this didn’t stop me being invested in Baines’ fate and finding the build-up of suspense as the story unfolds very stressful.

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.

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

Later he witnesses Baines’ argument with his wife, and then when a few moments later he sees her dead body at the foot of the stairs he leaps to the conclusion that Baines has killed her.

Poor Philippe wants to lie to the police to protect Baines, and Baines doesn't want him to tell them about Julie.  Unsurprisingly he 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 may contain 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, which may simply be an example of Reed’s subtlety and his understated approach.

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

The young actor who plays Philippe acquits himself well in a very demanding role, which suggests that Reed was very good with child actors, which 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.