Reply With QuoteA vintage 8 x 10 glossy press still of Bobby Henrey as Phillipe.
A rare and unusual publicity photo that has just arrived in my collection. On location in Belgrave Square in September, 1947,
Michele Morgan is given directions by a policeman. I'd never seen this one before.
A vintage 8 x 10 glossy press still of Bobby Henrey as Phillipe.
Over two months later, I still haven't received a reply to the emails I sent to the BFI and Studio Canal, save for the automated acknowledgments received at the time. I don't think they answer anyone's emails and it makes them look ignorant. This is the main reason I won't buy any DVDs directly off them. No doubt if I did and the DVD failed to arrive and I emailed them to ask whether they'd sent it out, they'd completely ignore me, although having managed to take my money off me. Yes, they would have managed to do that. Their customer service is dreadful. In fact, I don't think they have any customer service!
Dear BFI,
Although I'm very pleased about your newly restored BFI / Studio Canal DVD
and BluRay November 16th release of The Fallen Idol (1948), with its six
Special Features items, I'm a bit disappointed that you haven't seen fit to
include the original theatrical trailer for this classic British film, as it
would have been very interesting to see how the film was pitched to cinema
audiences in 1948. It seems strange that the trailer for The Third Man is
available on DVD, but not the one for The Fallen Idol. Do you have access to
the trailer, or isn't it available? I would be grateful for any news about
the trailer. I have contacted Studio Canal twice about this matter, but they
haven't seen fit to reply.
Yours Sincerely,
David Rayner.
In this 8 x 10 press still, Phillipe (Bobby Henrey) presses his right cheek against the glass of the tea shop window (something he doesn't do in the completed film),
whilst looking at Baines and Julie sitting inside.
In June, 1949, wearing his 'Phillipe' costume, Bobby Henrey went to Paris and Montmartre to publicise the French release of The Fallen Idol, retitled Premiere Desillusion for France and these photos have been scanned from a French magazine of the time, covering the event. Here, Bobby gets his photo taken beside the Arch de Triumph; looks across the river at the Paris skyline and is greeted by the children of Montmartre, where he attends an open air banquet held in his honour.
In the latest issue of Movie Memories Magazine (Issue 85 - Spring 2016), there is a very interesting review of The Fallen Idol, in the review, there is a nice Fallen Idol Poster, and a very nice Photograph of Ralph Richardson and Michele Morgan, in a relaxing pose, the review of The Fallen Idol, is followed by an interesting article, entitled - Remembering Sonia Dresdel.
http://www.moviememoriesmagazine.com/home.html
That's nice to know, Billy, but it can't be seen at that link. Is it available in the shops? I've never seen it around. Maybe you can only get it by mail order.
The Address of the Editor of Movie Memories Magazine, can be found on the Movie Memories Magazine Website - http://www.moviememoriesmagazine.com/contact-us.html I can let you know (by private message) the Editor's current email address.Originally Posted by darrenburnfan
It gives the editor's email address on that link, Billy. But it doesn't say how much the magazine costs.
Last edited by Steve Crook; 21-04-16 at 08:46 PM. Reason: Don't give email addresses. It attracts spammers
The photo that changed the life of Bobby Henrey. Here he is, aged 3 years in 1942, looking out of the window of his family's flat in Piccadilly onto a scene of wartime London. The story goes that in the early summer of 1947, while Carol Reed was preparing production on his new film The Lost Illusion (later to be retitled The Fallen Idol), Sir Alexander Korda showed him a book written by Bobby's parents entitled A Village in Piccadilly, which was an account of their experiences during the London blitz and on the dust jacket was this photo, also reproduced as a full page photo inside the book (as seen below). When Carol saw the photo, he told Korda that this boy was exactly how he had imagined Phillipe, the boy in the film, to be and just knew that he had found the right boy to play him, even though the photo showed Bobby as he had been five years earlier. Bobby's parents were contacted with a view to giving Bobby a screen test and the rest, as they say, is history.
This particular studio portrait of Sir Ralph Richardson and Michele Morgan, taken by Ted Reed, was used on the design for the original quad poster.
^ That's a quite attractive photograph of them both (because, as much as I admire Sir Ralph, he could never really claim to be a handsome movie star).
I wonder if they developed a rapport during the filming? (I always feel their characters are rather stunted in that they're both seen through the child's eyes).
Yes, I heard Sir Ralph being interviewed once about his non-matinee idol looks and he said that when he looked in the mirror, he'd seen better looking faces on a Hot Cross bun. They did seem a very unlikely couple and you wonder what attracted Julie to Baines. I was far better looking than him when I was younger and no girl ever fancied me. But then again, girls are very difficult to fathom. I'm nearly 70 now and I still can't figure them out. As far as I know, they got on together alright on the set, but maybe the unnaturalness of their relationship was what we were viewing from Phillipe's point of view. He didn't want anyone coming between him and Baines and resented him giving his time to Julie, even telling her that he, Phillipe, didn't like girls and that Baines didn't like them, either...not really.
An original French poster.
A recent article from The Telegraph.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/cla...d-masterpiece/
A vintage 8 x 10 press still from The Fallen Idol. "This is just a friendly conversation", said the policeman. "We are friends, aren't we?" "No!", said Phillipe, firmly.
What an amazing thread. I just read it through for the first time (in several sessions) and it is apparent that this film has a great many fans and DarrenBurnFan in particular!
I shall watch out for my chance to see it when it comes along.
Some observations, if I may, that only partly relate to the film.
Why do people go on about The Beatles having long hair? Have you see Phillipe?!
Back in 1948, before teenagers were invented, you had to wear shorts until you officially became an adult?! Was Bobby Henrey expected to go everywhere in that outfit? Presented to the Queen at a Premiere, public appearances in Paris and elsewhere, in shorts?
I remember my father praising Carol Reed for the fantastic performances he got out of children, referring to Mark Lester in "Oliver!", but I wonder now if he had seen this film also.
Filming in Belgravia. Some of the most expensive real estate in the capital, where most of the buildings are embassies or homes to the incredibly wealthy. You can see just how expensive it is by the recent google streetviews which show how little has been changed. Road markings and traffic flow has been the most significant difference in the pictures.. oh, and the many security cameras and immaculate outside paintwork.
Even as late as 1957, when I was ten years old, I was still wearing short trousers and only got to wear a pair of long trousers because one day, I tripped on a neighbour's garden path and gashed open my right knee very badly. I've still got the scar there almost 60 years later. After that, my parents thought that I should wear long trousers for protection against a similar accident. I think that certainly while he was promoting The Fallen Idol, Bobby Henrey would have worn the same outfit of short trousers; short sleeved white shirt and sleeveless blue pullover. However, I have a photo of him with his grandmother taken in 1954 when he was 15 and he's still wearing short trousers even at that age. I don't think he had hair as long in the film as The Beatles would wear theirs many years later, although, due to the eight months long production of the film, the length and thickness of his hair in it comes and goes. As one critic says on the extras of the new DVD and Blu-Ray issued last November, "It's a very seductive film. I thought for the purpose of this interview that I would run the first five minutes again and found myself watching it all the way through again."
The film appositely shows the traditions of that time. I became having to be educated in strict-code church school lifestyle in the mid-60s whereby long trousers were not only seen but also declared as a privelige and it was a 15th birthday or something when they were allowed to be worn (unless for birthmark or similar disability) and then only if approved our housemaster or prefect.
The British film "IF..." in 1969 was a riot when us 15/16 year olds sneaked out to see it at our local ABC cinema. More on this topic I expect!
Last edited by Rick C; 07-09-16 at 06:48 PM.
At 16 in 1969 Rick, you would have been old enough to be allowed to see an 'X' film like if... in a cinema. If I remember correctly though, the age of admission was raised to 18 in 1970.
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