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The Fallen Idol (1949)

tomatometer

100

Average Rating: 8.5/10
Critic Reviews: 12
Fresh: 12 | Rotten: 0

No consensus yet.

audience

89

liked it
Average Rating: 4/5
User Ratings: 1,811

My Rating

Movie Info

In this thriller with a twist, the great Ralph Richardson portrays a kindly butler who is falsely accused of murder. The only person who can save him is a small boy, who unwittingly makes the innocent man appear guilty. Graham Greene adapted his own short story into an award-winning screenplay.

Nov 7, 2006

Rialto

Cast

All Critics (31) | Top Critics (13) | Fresh (27) | Rotten (0) | DVD (8)

Masterful 1948 suspense thriller.

October 19, 2006 Comment
Minneapolis Star Tribune
Top Critic IconTop Critic

As a portrait of the sometime destructiveness of innocence and as a sharp fresco of post-war Britain, this movie is a little masterpiece, an idol that has never fallen.

August 25, 2006 Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | Comment
Chicago Tribune
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It's a masterful and unsentimental child's-eye view of the cold, hard adult world.

June 29, 2006 Full Review Source: Dallas Morning News | Comment
Dallas Morning News
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An indelible portrait of childhood's confusions, disillusionments and inevitable lost innocence.

June 15, 2006 Full Review Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution | Comment
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Remains one of those classics that makes you thankful you haven't seen them all.

June 9, 2006 Full Review Source: Denver Post | Comment
Denver Post
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A Hitchcockian thriller with human conundrums to go with the suspense.

May 20, 2006 Full Review Source: Boston Globe | Comment
Boston Globe
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... one of the great films of innocence lost and a powerful portrait of the powerlessness of children in the adult world, where they are so often ignored or discounted.

January 1, 2009 Full Review Source: Turner Classic Movies Online | Comment
Turner Classic Movies Online

It's a gripping mystery story involving adult secrets, childhood lies and betrayal as part of the human equation.

December 9, 2006 Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | Comment
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

separates itself from what would otherwise be a rather rote drama/thriller.

November 14, 2006 Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | Comment
Filmcritic.com

Watching The Fallen Idol is like setting off one of those milelong mazes of dominoes, with ramps and loop-de-loops and sheer drops. First, every element is ingeniously set up; then, everything falls into place.

October 19, 2006 Full Review Source: St. Paul Pioneer Press | Comment
St. Paul Pioneer Press

Many themes are tragic, but Fallen Idol also extols the resilience of innocence.

August 28, 2006 Full Review | Comment
Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL)

This earlier pairing between the two masters is another well-crafted and thought-provoking film. And it makes you wish that Reed and Greene had teamed for more than just three films.

June 23, 2006 Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | Comment
Deseret News, Salt Lake City

Reed and Greene build unbearable tension, with the nifty trick of showing events both as they happen and as little Philippe interprets (and occasionally misinterprets) them.

June 23, 2006 Comment
Salt Lake Tribune
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for The Fallen Idol

Lies, sometimes, are an act of kindness. Many times I hasten to add. The imagination of a lonely child is ignited by a meek man in love. The man, as played by the extraordinary Ralph Richardson, is a mass of contradictions and yet we understand him. Married to a shrew and in love with Michele Morgan no less. Carol Reed

February 10, 2011
matertenebraum

Super Reviewer

Literally about a boy who idolizes someone and finds out their not all that they thought they were. An okay movie, but not very exciting.

October 24, 2010
ajv2688

Super Reviewer

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Foreign Titles

  • The Fallen Idol (1948) (DE)
  • The Fallen Idol (1948) (UK)
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