Criterion Challenge week 16: The Fallen Idol (1948)

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

*Spoilers Ahead*

The Criterion Challenge is an annual online film challenge hosted by the film-loving community of Letterboxd. Although this is the fifth annual challenge, I am participating for the first time.

Last week’s challenge was to watch a film made in the 1960s, to which I watched Lord of the Flies (1963). This week (week 16), the challenge is to watch a film that is currently out of print (no longer being produced or distributed) from the physical collection. Of the 1700+ films making up the Criterion Collection, 159 are listed as films not currently in print. I was surprised to find that I have already watched a few of these films, like The Blood of a Poet (1932), The Red Balloon (1956), and Divorce Italian Style (1961).

For this week’s prompt, I chose The Fallen Idol (1948), directed by Carol Reed. The film is focused on a young boy, Philippe—or Phile—played by Bobby Henrey, whose father is a French ambassador living in London. His mother is said to be in France, and since his father is often traveling or working, Phile is mostly cared for by the butler Baines (Ralph Richardson), whom he idolizes, and Baines’s wife, the housekeeper Mrs. Baines (Sonia Dresdel); whom Phile dislikes.

Mrs. Baines is strict, often telling her husband off for being too lenient with Phile. One day, after being yelled at by Mrs. Baines, Phile sneaks out of the house and follows Mr. Baines into town. He finds him having lunch with a young woman, Julie (Michèle Morgan). Though it is unclear to Phile, the viewer is shown that Baines is having an affair with Julie, a woman who wants to end things and leave the country—though Baines convinces her to stay.

Phile accidentally lets slip that Baines had met with a woman for lunch to his wife, and she is furious. Mr. and Mrs. Baines argue that evening about how he wants to end their marriage, which Phile overhears. The next day, Mrs. Baines is gone, and Baines takes Julie and Phile to the zoo. Julie begrudgingly accepts the invitation to have dinner with them at the house, and they play games with Phile before bed.

In a fun twist, you, the viewer, see that Mrs. Baines had not left town but had been spying on the three inside the house for hours. She sneaks in and wakes Phile, asking him where Julie and Baines are. Baines and his wife then proceed to get into another loud argument while Phile watches from his hiding place. Eventually, Mrs. Baines, in an attempt to look into another room, climbs onto a ledge by the staircase before accidentally falling to her death. 

Phile does not see this, however, and so when he sees Mrs. Baines on the ground, he assumes Baines had pushed her down the stairs, killing her. He runs away, and is found by police officers, who then return him home as they investigate the death of Mrs. Baines.

This movie was interesting and not difficult to watch. Though it was a bit confusing at first. I think this was made clear by the point of view: the story is told from Philippe’s perspective, causing me to not follow nor understand all of the details of the adults’ disagreements. Additionally, my only pacing complaint is that for a 90-minute movie, it felt like it dragged at times. 

I really enjoyed the soundtrack to this film— it added to the drama. While it was certainly not my favorite film for this challenge, or even my favorite 1940s film, it was a fun and interesting watch. I gave it four stars out of five on Letterboxd.