One of my all time favorites! The novel, which was written before the film but came out afterward, has a different ending with the implication that Anna and Holly start a new life together at the end. Greene and director Carol Reed both agreed the film's ending was better, a change that Carol Reed insisted on during filming, at the objection of both Greene and producer Selznick. The novel Greene wrote to get the proper feel of the world and characters, and he wasn't used to thinking in terms of screenplays, so he wrote the whole story in novel form first and then had help adapting it into a screenplay. The novel was eventually released as well due to the film's popularity. It's worth reading if you ever want to pick up a copy! It's usually sold alongside the original story of "The Basement Room" retitled to match its 1948 film title, "The Fallen Idol." Great review and great pick for the list!
Thanks Fish! That's really interesting, I had no idea! When I first watched this film last year, I was really intrigued that Graham Greene was involved with it. I'll have to pick up the novel and see what differences there are. I think that the parallels with Greene's personal life are worth looking further into, and I think that the novel is probably a good first place to do that.
One of my all time favorites! The novel, which was written before the film but came out afterward, has a different ending with the implication that Anna and Holly start a new life together at the end. Greene and director Carol Reed both agreed the film's ending was better, a change that Carol Reed insisted on during filming, at the objection of both Greene and producer Selznick. The novel Greene wrote to get the proper feel of the world and characters, and he wasn't used to thinking in terms of screenplays, so he wrote the whole story in novel form first and then had help adapting it into a screenplay. The novel was eventually released as well due to the film's popularity. It's worth reading if you ever want to pick up a copy! It's usually sold alongside the original story of "The Basement Room" retitled to match its 1948 film title, "The Fallen Idol." Great review and great pick for the list!
Thanks Fish! That's really interesting, I had no idea! When I first watched this film last year, I was really intrigued that Graham Greene was involved with it. I'll have to pick up the novel and see what differences there are. I think that the parallels with Greene's personal life are worth looking further into, and I think that the novel is probably a good first place to do that.