This film is part of Rentals

The Fallen Idol
Carol Reed’s Graham Greene adaptation tells the dark but touching story of a young child’s relationship to his friendly, complicated butler.
Thriller 1948 96 mins
Director: Carol Reed
Overview
Carol Reed followed the success of Odd Man Out (1947) with this adaptation of Graham Greene’s short story, The Basement Room. Young Felipe (a revelatory Bobby Henrey) is a son of a diplomat who is never around, who instead forms a friendship with his butler Baines (Ralph Richardson). Baines impresses the young child with tales of his heroic past in Africa and ongoing adventures – when, in fact, he leads a mundane life in a loveless marriage. After believing he witnesses Baines committing a violent act, Felipe does his best to protect his older friend from danger, in Reed’s emotional drama about the loss of childhood innocence.
Reed’s film was nominated for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay (Graham Greene) at the 1948 Academy Awards, and won Best British Film at that year’s BAFTA Awards. There have been many films depicting the transition into adolescence, but The Fallen Idol remains one of the most truthful and heart-breaking.

Accessibility
Related
Thriller

Homebound Homebound
Horror 2017 71 mins Director: Sebastian Godwin
Nothing is as it seems when a woman visits her new husband’s family with chilling results.

Knives Out Knives Out
Thriller 2019 130 mins Director: Rian Johnson
Daniel Craig is the Kentucky Fried Poirot with all-star suspects - Chris Evans, Ana de Armas and Toni Collette among them - in this nimble and brilliant crime caper.

Boiling Point Boiling Point
Drama 2020 95 mins Director: Philip Baranttini
An emotionally scarred London chef (Stephen Graham) struggles to keep it together in this formally extraordinary and beautifully acted single-take thriller.

The Beta Test The Beta Test
Horror 2021 93 mins Director: Jim Cummings
Indie actor-director Jim Cummings returns after his breakout hit Thunder Road with a pacey down-the-rabbit-hole thriller about a Hollywood talent agent who becomes ensnared in a sinister world of sex, lies and murder.

The Courier The Courier
Thriller 2020 112 mins Director: Dominic Cooke
Benedict Cumberbatch is gripping in this true-life spy thriller charting the story of unassuming British businessman Greville Wynne as he is recruited into the Cold War effort.

A Brixton Tale A Brixton Tale
Drama 2021 76 mins Director: Darragh Carey
Affluent YouTuber Leah is drawn to shy youth Benji as the subject for her Brixton documentary, but her desire for edgy footage leads them both down a dangerous path.
Oscars - Best Adapted Screenplay

The Imitation Game The Imitation Game
Biopic 2014 115 mins Director: Morten Tyldum
Benedict Cumberbatch’s roundly acclaimed performance anchors the incredible, Oscar-winning story of code-breaker Alan Turing.

12 Years a Slave 12 Years a Slave
Biopic 2013 134 mins Director: Steve McQueen
Chiwetel Ejiofor and Michael Fassbender star in Steve McQueen’s fearless, Oscar-winning story of a free man who’s sold into slavery.

Moonlight Moonlight
Drama 2016 111 mins Director: Barry Jenkins
Winner of the 2017 Oscar for Best Picture (eventually!), Barry Jenkins’ intoxicating drama follows the furtive life of a gay black boy through 80s Miami.

Slumdog Millionaire Slumdog Millionaire
Drama 2008 120 mins Director: Danny Boyle
Danny Boyle’s crowdpleaser, based around the Indian version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, won the Oscar for best picture.

Tom Jones Tom Jones
Comedy 1963 121 mins Director: Tony Richardson
Tony Richardson's raucous and innovative adaptation of Henry Fielding’s classic novel was the winner of four Academy Awards.

BlacKkKlansman BlacKkKlansman
Drama 2018 135 mins Director: Spike Lee
Spike Lee's stunning crime drama tells the stranger-than-fiction true story of an African-American police officer who infiltrated the KKK in the 1970s.
Featuring Ralph Richardson

Q Planes Q Planes
Comedy 1939 79 mins Director: Tim Whelan
Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier star in a spy drama about the disappearence of prototype military aircraft.

Things to Come Things to Come
Science Fiction 1936 97 mins Director: William Cameron Menzies
H.G. Wells' chilling vision of the future, which imagines the 20th Century as a near-endless war and struggle against tyranny, remains a key milestone in British science fiction.
Featuring Sonia Dresdel

This Was a Woman This Was a Woman
Drama 1948 100 mins Director: Tim Whelan
Frustration seethes beyond the trimmed lawns of suburbia in this post-war melodrama
Directed by Carol Reed

A Kid for Two Farthings A Kid for Two Farthings
Comedy 1954 90 mins Director: Carol Reed
The adventures of a young boy who buys a small goat in the belief that it’s a unicorn that will be able to grant the wishes of him and his friends.

The Man Between The Man Between
Drama 1953 102 mins Director: Carol Reed
Carol Reed follows Odd Man Out and The Third Man with this thriller starring James Mason and Claire Bloom set in post-war Berlin.
New

Ali & Ava Ali & Ava
Drama 2020 94 mins Director: Clio Barnard
Clio Barnard’s latest film is a tremendously warm and tenderly written love story.

Parallel Mothers Parallel Mothers
Drama 2021 123 mins Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Almodóvar at his very best, presenting a riveting drama about two mothers from very different backgrounds whose lives become intertwined.

Wake Up Punk Wake Up Punk
Documentary 2022 84 mins Director: Nigel Askew
Nigel Askew's documentary explores the punk movement, featuring revealing insights from designer and punk icon Vivienne Westwood.

We're All Going to the World's Fair We're All Going to the World's Fair
Horror 2021 86 mins Director: Jane Schoenbrun
This remarkable debut from Jane Schoenbrun is destined to be a cult classic.

Murina Murina
Drama 2021 96 mins Director: Antoneta Alamat Kusijanovic
Tensions rise between restless teenager Julija and her oppressive father Ante when an old family friend arrives at their Croatian island home.

Compartment No. 6 Compartment No. 6
Drama 2021 107 mins Director: Juho Kuosmanen
Juho Kuosmanen’s grungy train journey to Siberia, in a Finnish student’s shared sleeper carriage with a volatile Russian labourer, won the 2021 Cannes Grand Prix.