The Fallen Idol (1948)

An essay by film historian John DiLeo about the film The Fallen Idol (1948) starring Bobby Henrey, Ralph Richardson, Sonia Dredel and Michèle Morgan. Excerpted from John DiLeo’s Screen Savers II: My Grab Bag of Classic Movies, “The Fallen Idol (1948): The Butler Didn’t Do It.” The Fallen Idol tells a more intimate story primarily from the focus of an eight-year-old boy. The film’s enthralling suspense is heightened by dual and parallel realities: what is actually happening, and what is perceived by the child to be happening, thus elevating a rudimentary domestic situation into an unusual and insightful look into a child’s mind.