At the Summit: Two with Graham Greene

Abstract

One would think that the great critical and commercial success of Odd Man Out would have made it inevitable that Rank sponsor another project of Reed’s. Instead, the two parted professional company forever, and Reed’s next five films were made for Alexander Korda’s London Films. Even at this juncture in his career, Reed was becoming oriented towards American-scaled budgets, and the Rank organization was simply not geared towards such prodigious expenditures, even for a major director. Reed’s next film, The Fallen Idol, was a joint British—American production financed by Korda and David Selznick. Based on Graham Greene’s short story ‘The Basement Room’, it had a script by the author himself and a cast that included Ralph Richardson, fresh from his triumph in The Heiress, and Michèle Morgan, the popular French beauty. The pivotal role in the tory, a seven-year-old boy, was taken by Bobby Henrey, a youth of French—English parentage who had never acted before.