Purple Noon

Rene Clement, 1961, France (7.4*)
This French film was the first cinematic version of Patricia Highsmith’s novel Mr. Ripley. The blue-eyed matinee-idol Alain Delon plays Tom Ripley, who is in Europe with a childhood friend, played by Maurice Ronet. Ripley is there at the hire of his friend’s father to convince him to quit his bohemian ways in the Mediterranean and come home. Since Ripley has no money of his own, he’s living off of his friend, hence his dilemna. There are some plot twists that I won’t spoil, but I think I prefer the remake with Matt Damon, which is a more menacing and diabolical version. This version is sunnier and shot like a romantic comedy, I’m sure to add to the disarming and shocking nature of the crime, but I sometimes feel like I'm on vacation. Fans of the book should watch both films, perhaps the remake first, then the earlier version.