I was a hero-worshipper myself as a boy – I remember my
heart jumping at around age 9 when getting a postcard from a local TV
host. I’ve written a lot about the
psychological aspects of “upward affiliation” on my GLBT-related blogs.
My tendency toward this process attracted some attention
when I was in the Army, especially at Fort Eustis, where some of us in the
barracks invented animal names for our “heroes”, and one buddy, who called
himself “Rado Suhl”, would say to me that my favorite “ocelot” would be found
to have “clay feet”.
So it is with Carol Reed’s 1948 British Lion (essentially
British MGM) film “The Fallen Idol” (1948).
Philippe (Bobby Henrey), a diplomat’s son, idolizes the butler Baines (Ralph Richardson), who has entertained
the boy with all kinds of stories about overseas adventures in Africa and other
exotic places in the old British empire.
When the butler has a fight with his wife, she falls to her death, and Baines
is suspected of a crime because he could have wanted the diplomat’s wife. The boy wants to defend his “idol” but no one
believes him because of his childish ways and tendency to tell fibs.
There’s a critical scene near the end where a police
inspector asks the boy why he uses the word “murder”.
The black-and-white film is based on a short story “The Basement Room” by
Graham Greene. The film had another title, “The Lost Illusion”.
The music score is by William Alwyn, known for his brazen
symphonies on Chandos.
The DVD from Criterion includes an extended short “A Sense
of Carol Reed” (2006), which includes a lot of discussion of “The Third Man” (which I rented a few years ago for a screenwriting class -- a writer layers his work on top of an undercover investigation in a black market of defective medication) and “Odd Man Out”, which I have not seen.
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