Upon returning from New York, I revert to my old ways. I sit on my huge bed typing on my laptop and watch Channel 31, Turner Classic Films.
I had eaten my crab dip and celery. I pretend I work at Pathmark and have invented the dip to sell to our customers. I keep adding this n that to make it savory and irresistible. Nothing works. The dip lacks potency. It is too sweet. Where is the fulsome crab flavor? I have failed as an inventor of crab dip at Pathmark. And now, I must eat.... crab.
While munching away, I watch one of my favorite movies: The Fallen Idol. This black & white British film is a masterful portrayal of an unhappy British household and in particular a confused little boy about 8 years old who is the center of the film. His acting is so superb, so natural, all eyes are upon him; he is one of those child actors who seemingly has a long acting career ahead of him. Or so one thinks.
I goggle his name.
Before I tell you what I found, lemme tell you I checked out a Graham Greene book of short stories at the library. Greene, a Catholic convert and a manic depressive besides, had written a story called The Basement Room. It is the very same story upon which this movie - The Fallen Idol - is based upon.
I rejoice experiencing the story in another format. It is a sad story as stories are about unhappy people, but it is saved by that little boy, his innocence, his love of childlike things like lizards, ices and cakes, and this strange moral rectitude he has, perhaps like Graham Greene's himself.
But you see the child actor was so difficult to work with, so very hard to get to cooperate and stop fooling around, that not only was he nearly fired from The Fallen Idol but he got only a couple more parts before his career ended.
