The Fallen Idol

Despite Phillipe's (Bobby Henrey's) hatred of Mrs. Baines, Henrey's favorite person on-set was the actress who played her, Sonia Dresdel.

Carol Reed used all kinds of tricks to get the results he wanted. In the opening scene, when Phillipe (Bobby Henrey) is supposed to be looking over the banister at Baines (Sir Ralph Richardson) with affection and interest, Reed had a magician perform for Henrey off-camera to get the facial expression he needed.

Although Producer and Director Carol Reed had an outstanding record of working with young actors and actresses, he found Bobby Henrey's short attention span very difficult with which to cope. Many of his scenes were played with the young man looking at his favorite grip or electrician, and his performance was pieced together in the editing room.

For continuity's sake over the course of a long shoot, Producer and Director Carol Reed restricted Bobby Henrey's access to the cake trolley during tea breaks on-set so he wouldn't gain weight. Continuity was also the issue in Reed's only disagreement with Madeleine Henrey. A scene with Bobby running up the stairs was left half-completed at the end of the week's shooting on a Friday evening. Over the weekend, Madeleine decided the boy needed a haircut, and when he returned to the set on Monday, it was impossible to match the remaining shots they needed to the ones taken a few days before. The Make-up Department tried attaching hair pieces to him, but it didn't look right. Reed was furious and had no choice but to rearrange the shooting schedule to complete the stair scene after Bobby's hair grew out. "It's the most expensive haircut in the world!" Reed groused. "Thousands of pounds! That's what it will cost!" The incident was the only delay in an otherwise smooth shoot, which ended up completing on schedule.

The biggest challenge was getting such an amazing central performance out of Bobby Henrey, who had no experience, or much acting ability, yet was on-screen almost the entire movie. Assistant Director Guy Hamilton noted that the boy "couldn't act his way out of a paper bag" and had "the attention span of a demented flea." He also remarked that things got more difficult when Bobby got bored after twelve to fourteen weeks of shooting.