The Fallen Idol

Ben Mankiewicz introduces The Fallen Idol, 1948.

Ben Mankiewicz introduces The Fallen Idol, 1948.

Director Carol Reed shooting at the zoo in London’s Regent’s Park, diplomat’s son Phil (Bobby Henrey) with his beloved but self-aggrandizing and philandering butler Baines (Ralph Richardson), meeting his lover (Michele Morgan), whom he’s explained is his niece, in The Fallen Idol, 1948.

Philippe (Bobby Henrey), son of a European diplomat briefly away from London, follows his much admired butler-friend Baines (Ralph Richardson) leaving the grounds, put off when he finds him with a friend (Michele Morgan) unknown to him, in Carol Reed and Graham Greene’s The Fallen Idol, 1948.

Could be director Carol Reed gave cinematographer Georges Perinal free rein, as butler Baines (Ralph Richardson) and his lover (Michele Morgan) try to cheer Philippe (Bobby Henrey), their employer’s son, grieving over his dead pet snake, not realizing his wife (Sonia Dresdel) is lurking, in The Fallen Idol, 1948.

Opening from director Carol Reed and Graham Greene’s story and screenplay, Bobby Henrey is Philippe, son of a European diplomat (Gerard Heinz), departing his embassy on London’s Belgrave Square, the boy’s chief interest Ralph Richardson, the butler and title character, in The Fallen Idol, 1948.

Hero-worshipping Philippe (Bobby Henrey), whose ambassador father is away, can’t get enough of butler Baines (Ralph Richardson), showing off his pet snake, and not hiding his contempt for the man’s wife (Sonia Dresdel), early in Carol Reed’s The Fallen Idol, 1948.

Baines (Ralph Richardson) asks Phillipe (Bobby Henrey) to keep a secret as they cross London's Belgrave Square in Carol Reed's The Fallen Idol, 1948, from Graham Greene's screenplay.