The Fallen Idol

(Carol Reed, UK 1948, 95 min., 35mm)

Nitrate Picture Show Festival Favorite. The first edition of the Nitrate Picture Show ended with a bang. The mysterious Blind Date with Nitrate turned out to be a screening of George Eastman Museum’s gorgeous 35mm nitrate print of Carol Reed’s masterpiece The Fallen Idol. The very same print that stunned our international crowd in 2015 returns to remind you of the upcoming edition of Nitrate Picture Show in May 2017.

Carol Reed, one of England’s most celebrated directors, probes the complexity and callousness of human relationships in this Oscar-nominated adaptation of a story by Graham Greene. Told through the naive eyes of an upper-class boy, the film centers on his idealization of his father’s butler, Baines, who entertains him with extravagant (and fictional) accounts of heroic adventures. Contrasting this is the reality of Baines’s unhappy, loveless marriage and his dreams of escaping his lot in life. Top-shelf performances from Ralph Richardson, Michèle Morgan, and young Bobby Henrey fuel this suspenseful, exceptionally written story of loyalty, betrayal, and everything in between.