Malcontent correspondent Al Kosa — Hummer salesman by day, movie buff by night — offers his take on the recently re-released classic, “The Fallen Idol”:
As movies go, “The Fallen Idol” doesn’t tell a remarkable story, but it tells it remarkably well. No surprise. The 1948 British flick is based on a Graham Greene short story, and was adapted by the team that produced the more famous follow-up,
“The Third Man”.
“Fallen Idol” stands, no pun intended, on its own. It’s not a cinematic landmark but lives up to its billing as a first-rate psychological thriller. The plot is straightforward, but leaves room for the viewer to think himself into being scared and encompasses big themes — secrecy, respect, honesty and when it’s OK to fib just a little.
The story centers on the relationship between Phillipe, the precocious son of the French ambassador in London, and his best friend Baines, the embassy butler. Phile idolizes Baines and Baines treats Phile with respect and indulges his mischief. Baines’ wife, on the other hand, suffocates any fun around the big, empty mansion.
It’s hard to imagine a contemporary film portraying a relationship between a little boy and an unrelated man without it seeming creepy. “Fallen Idol” pulls it off effortlessly. The little guy and Baines are eminently likeable, while we quickly come to despise the witch Mrs. Baines. Phile has a tiny pet snake but appears to have no friends his own age, and his parents are away during the two days the movie covers.
Things get complicated between the Baineses, and Phile is drawn into ambiguous adult situations that confuse his sense of honesty and his regard for Baines. It works perfectly. Just seeing a crackly old black-and-white picture on the big screen is a treat. So much the better that it was a superb movie that I had never seen.
Grade: A-  
