Tom Ripley is a talented mimic, moocher, forger and all-around criminal improviser; but there's more to Tom Ripley than even he can guess.Tom Ripley is a talented mimic, moocher, forger and all-around criminal improviser; but there's more to Tom Ripley than even he can guess.Tom Ripley is a talented mimic, moocher, forger and all-around criminal improviser; but there's more to Tom Ripley than even he can guess.
- Awards
- 1 win
Marie Laforêt
- Marge Duval
- (as Marie Laforet)
Billy Kearns
- Freddy Miles
- (as Bill Kearns)
René Clément
- Le serveur maladroit
- (uncredited)
Walter Grant
- Bit
- (uncredited)
Paul Muller
- Blind Man
- (uncredited)
Jacqueline Parey
- Ingrid
- (uncredited)
Romy Schneider
- Freddy's companion
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaAlain Delon's then girlfriend Romy Schneider appears in the very first scene as a friend of Freddie Miles.
- GoofsOnlookers are clearly visible in the background in the fish market scene.
- Quotes
Philippe Greenleaf: That's why you took my bank statements?
Tom Ripley: Exactly.
Philippe Greenleaf: So you kill me and you're rich?
Tom Ripley: Don't miss a trick, do you?
Philippe Greenleaf: It seems awfully complicated. You'd be caught immediately.
Tom Ripley: No necessarily. I might not look it, but I've got lots of imagination.
- ConnectionsEdited into Catalogue of Ships (2008)
Featured review
Clément's camera is always in some unexpected place that enhances the drama and tightens the suspense; Alain Delon makes an excellent Tom Ripley
I'm fascinated by a scene at a restaurant. We get an extreme close-up of a woman who is kept out of focus while another character in the background, who is speaking and is in the center of the shot, remains in focus. Is the woman who is out of focus important or not? More to the point, was shooting it this way a good idea? It illustrates by contrast how sure-footed René Clément is most of the time. Usually there can be no debate.
I wasn't familiar with Clément's work until this film, but my God, he's good. His camera is always in some unexpected place that enhances the drama and tightens the suspense. He shares that talent with Orson Welles (meaning the Welles of "Citizen Kane" and "The Magnificent Ambersons," not, say, "Lady from Shanghai"), who also made decisions that are surprising yet invariably right.
Tom Ripley (Alain Delon) and Phillipe Greenleaf (Maurice Ronet) are lately inseparable friends. They're both idling in Europe, but on papa Greenleaf's dime. Phillipe's fiancée Marge (Marie Laforêt) feels sorry for Tom but resents his presence. Phillipe's other friend, Freddie (Billy Kearns), considers Tom Ripley a worthless moocher. But there's more to Tom Ripley, the mimic, the forger, the talented criminal improviser, than anyone, even Tom Ripley himself, can guess.
Alain Delon, with his chiseled looks and cold beauty, makes an excellent Tom Ripley. The script is brilliantly adapted from Patricia Highsmith's terrific suspense novel, "The Talented Mr. Ripley": the dialogue is always bringing the themes of duplicity, love, self-love, the nature of identity, ruthlessness and murder to the surface where they are given a brilliant sheen by Clément and his cinematographer Henri Decaë.
We're left to figure things out for ourselves, which is rare. Do we need to be told what Tom thinks of when he sees all those dead fish? When a door with a mirror swings open toward Tom, do we need to see Tom's mirror image to understand the mirror's significance? Or is it enough that we know there's a mirror next to Tom? I know what the answers would have been in Hollywood—in 1960 and now. Here, the answers are no, no and yes.
I wasn't familiar with Clément's work until this film, but my God, he's good. His camera is always in some unexpected place that enhances the drama and tightens the suspense. He shares that talent with Orson Welles (meaning the Welles of "Citizen Kane" and "The Magnificent Ambersons," not, say, "Lady from Shanghai"), who also made decisions that are surprising yet invariably right.
Tom Ripley (Alain Delon) and Phillipe Greenleaf (Maurice Ronet) are lately inseparable friends. They're both idling in Europe, but on papa Greenleaf's dime. Phillipe's fiancée Marge (Marie Laforêt) feels sorry for Tom but resents his presence. Phillipe's other friend, Freddie (Billy Kearns), considers Tom Ripley a worthless moocher. But there's more to Tom Ripley, the mimic, the forger, the talented criminal improviser, than anyone, even Tom Ripley himself, can guess.
Alain Delon, with his chiseled looks and cold beauty, makes an excellent Tom Ripley. The script is brilliantly adapted from Patricia Highsmith's terrific suspense novel, "The Talented Mr. Ripley": the dialogue is always bringing the themes of duplicity, love, self-love, the nature of identity, ruthlessness and murder to the surface where they are given a brilliant sheen by Clément and his cinematographer Henri Decaë.
We're left to figure things out for ourselves, which is rare. Do we need to be told what Tom thinks of when he sees all those dead fish? When a door with a mirror swings open toward Tom, do we need to see Tom's mirror image to understand the mirror's significance? Or is it enough that we know there's a mirror next to Tom? I know what the answers would have been in Hollywood—in 1960 and now. Here, the answers are no, no and yes.
helpful•743
- J. Spurlin
- Mar 6, 2007
- How long is Purple Noon?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- Lust for Evil
- Filming locations
- Ischia Ponte, Ischia Island, Naples, Campania, Italy(as Mongibello)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross worldwide
- $107,205
- Runtime1 hour 58 minutes
- Aspect ratio
- 1.66 : 1
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