The Fallen idol [study extract]

The excerpt covers the following: Baines, Julie and Felipe and a day of stolen happiness with a riotous game of hide and seek in the empty Embassy, not knowing that Mrs Baines is spying on them. Felipe is awakened later by Mrs Baines who tries to involve him in her plot against her husband. The terrified boy witnesses a violent struggling quarrel between husband and wife, and believes that Baines has killed his wife. He rushes into the night in his pyjamas but is apprehended and taken in charge by a friendly policeman. The extract is chosen to illustrate Reed’s style, his ability to handle actors, (especially the child), the use of a large number of shots and quick cutting back and forth, imaginative lighting and the creation of suspense.