The 1948 film The Fallen Idol set for a new remake? Yeah, it’s true! Thanks to producers Walter Parkes and Laurie McDonald we’ll soon have a chance to see the modern version of a classic film, originally directed by Carol Reed, written by Graham Greene, starring Ralph Richardson and Michele Morgan.
And this time, David Farr, a writer on BBC’s spy series “MI-5” is attached as screenwriter.
The original film was about a butler working in the French embassy in London who falls under suspicion when his wife accidentally falls to her death, the only witness being an impressionable young boy.
But, at this moment we have information that Parkes is updating the story to present-day India and telling the story through the eyes of an 11-year-old American:
“The boy’s family will live in a large colonial mansion run by the English couple. That way, the world which the boy explores outside the house – drab post-war London in the original – will be much more alluring and potentially dangerous. Making the boy older makes his sexual awakening more potent. The butler could also be having an affair with a local girl, breaking another taboo.”
He added that they “thought that the echoes of the class issues depicted in the original short story and film could resonate in contemporary India.”
We guess that this remake could actually be the good choice, since we all remember that the original movie was nominated for two Oscars and picked up a BAFTA for Best British Film. Carol Reed also won a New York Film Critics award for best director and was nominated for the Golden Lion at Venice.
Parkes and McDonald are developing the film through Studio Canal, which owns the rights to the original film and it was said they would not seek out financing until they have a completed script, director, cast and budget lined up.
With every new update about this project, we’ll be back, so stay tuned!
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTEJgT0Cegw[/youtube]
The Fallen Idol 1948
