The film critic for BBC Radio London picks The Fallen Idol, It Always Rains on Sunday, Sparrows Can’t Sing, Pool of London, The Small World
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1948
Carol Reed
Based on a short story by Graham Greene, The Basement Room, The Fallen Idol tells the story of Phillipe (Robert Henrey), the young son of a diplomat who often finds himself alone in the big embassy. To entertain the boy, the household butler, Baines
(Ralph Richardson, Doctor Zhivago, Our Man in Havana), invents wildly adventurous stories about his past. The child idolises him, but when Baines’ wife (Sonia Dresdel, While I live, The Trials of Oscar Wilde) falls to her death in suspicious circumstances, a bewildered Phillipe panics and embroils himself in the investigation, with potentially disastrous consequences for his hero.
The Fallen Idol, upon its release, won both the BAFTA for Best British Film and The International Award for Best Screenplay at The Venice Film Festival and is still cited
as being one of the most enthralling and realistic films to be told from a child’s point of view.
Written By Graham Greene
The Digital Film restoration was funded by STUDIOCANAL in collaboration with the BFI’s Unlocking Film Heritage programme (awarding funds from the National Lottery).
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The film critic for BBC Radio London picks The Fallen Idol, It Always Rains on Sunday, Sparrows Can’t Sing, Pool of London, The Small World