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The Fallen Idol Review
Fall From Grace
The Fallen Idol
Director: Carol Reed
Stars: Ralph Richardson, Michele Morgan, Sonia Dresdel
The year before The Third Man was released, director Carol Reed adapted Graham Greene’s short story The Basement Room as a film, The Fallen Idol. Greene actually brought his own story to life on the screen and here it is on restored DVD at last. The story here is a simple one at first glance: butler Baines (Ralph Richardson) who works in a foreign embassy in London, is accused of murder when his wife has a fatal accident. The Fallen Idol has all the classic Greene tropes: authority figures tarnished by events, hierarchy questioned and even an illicit love affair (between Baines and Julie (Michele Morgan)). Its themes aren’t as grand and as sweeping as The Third Man but thanks to the masterful performance of Ralph Richardson, who was one of the finest, nuanced actors that Britain has ever produced, and a couple of intriguing cameos (Jack Hawkins as Detective Ames and Bernard Lee (the future M in James Bond) as Detective Hart), The Fallen Idol is more than just a movie curio. Greene was a writer who cast a huge shadow over culture in the twentieth century and it is right and proper that it has been restored for DVD.
JOEL MEADOWS
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