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The Fallen Idol 

Film tends to celebrate children's innocence and limn their coming-of-age. Adults, corrupted by desires and compromised by responsibilities, wax nostalgic about simpler days when their worries were light and their fantasies cost nothing. Director Carol Reed's 1948 film The Fallen Idol (aka The Lost Illusion), however, tells a contrary tale. Based on the Graham Greene short story "The Basement Room," the film centers upon 8-year-old Philippe (Bobby Henrey), the son of an ambassador, whose imagination multiplies his troubles. Philippe idolizes his father's butler Baines (Ralph Richardson), who spins adventure yarns about his exploits to entertain the boy. Baines, philandering through an unhappy marriage, manages to hide his flaws from Philippe until his wife (Sonia Dresdel) has a fatal accident. The boy thinks he has witnessed Baines murdering his wife, and he tries to lie to protect Baines during the investigation. It doesn't work. Reed and Greene continued to collaborate after this film, next crafting the classic The Third Man. The film plays at 7 p.m.; subscriptions to the remainder of the current series are $6. Visit cinema-inc.org. —Chris Vitiello