While Carol Reed’s The Fallen Idol stretches the definition of noir with its juvenile narrator and unadulterated Britishness, this tale of betrayal and death among household servants swims in ambiguity and tension. Based on a Graham Greene story, Reed’s BAFTA-nominated film fashions an urban Gothic milieu in a marble mansion with threatening staircases, landings, and ledges, surrounded by a nocturnal expressionism outside to which young Philippe (Bobby Henrey), a dubious witness to a homicide inside the house, escapes more than once to seek aid from anyone who will listen. The loveless marriage between the head servant (Ralph Richardson) and shrewish housekeeper (a genuinely frightening Sonia Dresdel) culminates in a homicide in the first half, while the police investigation, co-led by Chief Inspector Crowe (Denis O’Dea) and Detective Ames (Jack Hawkins) dominates the second half with exceptional acting from the whole cast, even if French actress Michèle Morgan is under-utilized as the other woman.
By Michael Bayer
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The film is based on the short story The Basement Room by Graham Greene. My noir club really enjoyed this one, stayed on the edge of the seats. Interestingly, like some work of Dickens, it is mostly taken from the point of view of the child which can be recalled by each in all its wonder and fear of the unknown. Denis O’Dea was outstanding in his role here and it was great to see a young Jack Hawkins. Sonia Dresdel, frigid.
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