French director René Clément’s 1961 crime thriller Purple Noon (Plein soleil) was based on Patricia Highsmith's critically acclaimed and award-winning 1955 novel called The Talented Mr. Ripley. The first in a series of five books that revolve around the titular character, the American author’s psychological thriller got several television, film, radio and theater adaptations over the years, with the most notable ones being Anthony Minghella’s 1999 movie of the same name, starring Matt Damon, Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow and, of course, Clément’s Purple Noon.
In the latter, Alain Delon portrays Tom Ripley, an underprivileged man who is promised a handsome amount of money if he goes to Italy and brings the rich Philippe Greenleaf (played by Maurice Ronet) back to San Francisco, so that he could take over the family business, something Philippe has no intention of doing. Ripley joins Philippe and his girlfriend Marge (Marie Laforêt) in living the high life, but starts enjoying it a bit too much. Purple Noon is a perfect example of filmmaking at its finest, a riveting work of art that is wonderfully shot, written, edited and acted, with the source material’s author praising both Delon and the film itself, calling it “very beautiful to the eye and interesting for the intellect”.
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