Director Carol Reed with Ralph Richardson, Bobby Henrey, Michèle Morgan

What a brilliant film. Richardson was outstanding as Baines the butler. Kindly, amusing and flawed. The little boy was natural and very watchable without being stomach-churningly cute. He was in almost every scene, so the audience always had a simultaneous sense of the adult and the child’s view of what was happening. The photography – angles, framing (Philippe half-wrapped in his blanket or through the banisters) – was a delight. It even had an uncertain outcome – would the gun be used? – which maintained suspense.