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List Price: $29.95Amazon.com's Price: $21.99 You Save: $7.96 (27%)Prices subject to change.
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Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: Unrated
Binding: DVD
Brand: Image Entertainment
EAN: 0715515020527
Format: Black & White, Dolby, DVD-Video, Full Screen, NTSC
Label: Criterion
Manufacturer: Criterion
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Criterion
Region Code: 1
Release Date: November 07, 2006
Running Time: 95 minutes
Sales Rank: 27595
Studio: Criterion
Theatrical Release Date: November 07, 2006
Editorial Review:
Product Description:
The Fallen Idol was the first of three collaborations between director Carol Reed and writer Graham Greene who would later team up on the legendary The Third Man and is a small masterpiece itself. An elegant thrilling balancing act of suspense and farce this tale of the fraught relationship between a boy and his beloved butler whom the child eventually believes might be guilty of murder is a visually and verbally dazzling knockout with enough tricks up its sleeve to stand with the best of early Hitchcock. Special Features: New restored high-definition digital transfer'A Sense of Carol Reed' a 2006 documentaryOriginal press bookNew essays by critic Geoffrey O'Brien author David Lodge and Nicholas WapshottIllustrated Reed filmographySystem Requirements:Running Time: 95 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: NR UPC: 715515020527 Manufacturer No: CC1655DDVD
Amazon.com:
In the impressive filmography of British director Carol Reed, The Fallen Idol is sandwiched between Odd Man Out and The Third Man--the second of three consecutive masterpieces (adapted by Graham Greene from his short story 'The Basement Room') by a filmmaker at the peak of his artistic powers. Of those three, The Fallen Idol is the most delicately subdued, but it's a flawlessly plotted thriller that achieves considerable tension through the psychology of its characters. By telling the story through the eyes of a child, the plot gains even greater urgency as a variation on the theme of 'the boy who cried wolf,' as young Phillipe (Bobby Henrey)--the 8-year-old son of the French ambassador to England--struggles to clear his beloved embassy butler Baines (Ralph Richardson) from being wrongfully accused of murder.
Baines is burdened with a shrewish, overbearing wife (Sonia Dresdel) whose rigid, disciplinarian control of Phillipe sets the stage for suspense; when Mrs. Baines dies in a terrible fall on the embassy staircase, her husband (who has been having a secret affair with an embassy typist) is the prime suspect. Phillipe, caught between his love for Baines and his suspicion of the butler's guilt, tries to convince investigators of Baines's innocence. But the boy's pleas are ignored, and The Fallen Idol expertly plays on the child's good but woefully misguided intentions. In Reed's visual strategy, a simple paper airplane can become the focus of almost unbearable suspense, and as incriminating evidence builds a strong case against Baines, Reed maintains that suspense to the final moments of the film. Low-key and yet still highly effective, the film received Oscar nominations for Reed's direction and Greene's adapted screenplay. --Jeff Shannon
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - wrong format
unfortunately the video which you sent, would not play on my Australian DVD and I had to watch it on my computer. I have not had this problem before, when ordering from Amazon.com. I can only imagine it was the wrong format. I still enjoyed watching the film and was just as impressed as I was the first time I saw it. I think the child who played phile was quite superb.
Rating:  - Mildly Charming British Noir
"The Fallen Idol" is a nice little film but anybody expecting director Carol Reed to reach the heights achieved with his masterwork, "The Third Man", may be mildly disappointed. The film is certainly well mounted evoking a noirish feel to it. Ralph Richardson is first rate as Baines, the embassy butler who spins tall tales to impress his young charge, Philipe(Bobby Henrey). Henrey gives a natural performance as the boy who idol worships Baines. The story is a good one. The theme is essentially ... Read More
Rating: - A time long ago
I first saw this film as a young man and have always considered it one of my all time favorites. I purchased this film as an old man and found the film to be better then I remembered. If you can put yourself in a frame of mind of a youngster who thinks his best friend killed his wife then you have found the key to unlock this marvelous film. I just gave it to my daughter to see with my 16 year old grandson. It knocked the socks off both of them. It is not only the fine story and directing, but the ability ... Read More
Rating: - Middling British tale of suspense
The Carol Reed produced and directed "The Fallen Idol" a modestly appealing drama centering on the relationship between a boy and his faithful and beloved butler. Phillippe, a lonely young lad played by 9 year old Bobby Henrey is the son of the French ambassador to England. His household is run by the butler Baines played by Ralph Richardson and his acerbic, vitriolic wife played by Sonia Dresdel, who is despised by both the boy and her husband.
Richardson has been carrying on an affair with ... Read More
Rating: - Gem of a film from postwar Britain . . .
This is a film that cries out to be seen on a big screen. The gorgeous black and white cimeatography, the deep focus that fills the frame with detail, and the imaginative lighting, treatment of camera angles, and night-time montages make this a remarkable visual experience. Meanwhile, the story is an absorbing and entertaining child's perspective of an affair between his father's butler and an attractive young member of the household staff, which leads to an accidental death that looks to the police like murder. ... Read More
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