Plein soleil (1960)

Director:

René Clément

Writers:

Patricia Highsmith (novel)
René Clément (adaptation) ...

Release Date:

10 March 1960 (France)

Genre:

Crime | Thriller | Drama

Tagline:

Passion at ten. Envy at eleven. Murder at noon.

Plot:

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.

Plot Keywords:

Moocher | Police | Typewriter | Famous Score | Poker

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Alain Delon	...	Tom Ripley / Philippe Greenleaf
Maurice Ronet	...	Philippe Greenleaf
Marie Laforêt	...	Marge Duval
Erno Crisa	...	Riccordi
Frank Latimore	...	O'Brien
Billy Kearns	...	Freddy Miles (as Bill Kearns)
Ave Ninchi	...	Signora Gianna
Viviane Chantel	...	The Belgian lady
Nerio Bernardi	...	Agency Director
Barbel Fanger
Lily Romanelli	...	Housekeeper
Nicolas Petrov	...	Boris
Elvire Popesco	...	Mrs. Popova

Also Known As:

Purple Noon (UK) (USA)
Blazing Sun (UK)
Delitto in pieno sole (Italy)
Full Sun (Australia) (literal English title)
Lust for Evil (USA) (reissue title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for momentary violence and sexuality.

Runtime:

112 min | Argentina:115 min | France:115 min | Hungary:110 min | UK:118 min

Country:

France | Italy

Language:

French | Italian | English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:L | Australia:PG | Argentina:13 | Finland:K-16 | UK:PG | USA:PG-13 | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Ischia Island, Naples, Campania, Italy

Company:

Robert et Raymond Hakim

Trivia:

Author Patricia Highsmith, on whose novel "Plein soleil" was based, expressed satisfaction with the film, which she called "very beautiful to the eye and interesting for the intellect," and with Alain Delon's performance as Tom Ripley. She was, however, disappointed with the film's ending, calling it "a terrible concession to so-called public morality."

Goofs:

Continuity: The position of the boom on the sailboat.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Nouvelle vague (1990)

Under the Sun, a film about the story of Mr Tom Ripley

Two stars of the French cinematography, Alain Delon and Maurice Ronet, combined their efforts in this excellent film, which showed good views of Rome and Italy in its first half. The second part becomes the decisive one when Ripley (Delon)jealous of the wealthy position of Philippe Greenleaf (Ronet) decides to kill him in a yacht. Ripley intelligently was able to behave and sign bank checks as if he was Greenleaf. Even he conquered the love of Greenleaf's girl friend, but the end surprised him and everyone watching the film.

This type of films should be among the 250 best of the last century, but for unknown reasons it is not included.