Not only was Phyllis Dietrichson a horrid woman, the laughable hairstyle and her manipulative cruelty made her even more hideous. What on earth was Fred McMurray's character thinking???
Just for the fun of it, consider Cloris Leachman in YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN. Okay, so maybe she does not strictly qualify as the "femme fatale," but you're perhaps rethinking your definition. Right? And why not give Frau Bleucher a little attention (as comic relief if nothing else) within this context?
Wow. A tough call. I'd go with Gloria Graham for numero uno because of her complexities. She's trashy and devious yet intelligent and capable of both compassion and empathy. Her sexual appeal, which is considerable, is always an expression of many emotions--her melancholy, her fear, her longing for safe harbor. She is frequently a victim of her own cunning. But there are so many fine actresses on the list I feel guilty for even citing a numero uno.
Kathleen Turner from BODY HEAT was the first that came to my mind, then Rita Hayworth from GILDA and Gene Tierney in LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN. I would also enter Glenn Close for DANGEROUS LIAISONS and FATAL ATTRACTION. And, I need to catch up with more Gloria Graham with all the kudos being thrown her way. Thanks.
Barbara Stanwick, absolutely. But not in DOUBLE...rather, I like her confused, dark character seeking redemption through Fred MacMurray in the almost noir Xmas film, REMEMBER THE NIGHT.
This is my speciality and so far no votes for my favorites. Lisabeth Scott in Too Late For Tears and Janis Carter in Night Editor (and in Framed for that matter) Also Marie Windsor in The Killing! And a lot of people have mentioned Gloria Grahame (amen!) but I think he best Femme fatale role is Human Desire. But pretty much everything mentioned so far is in the top 10.
Stanwick. Veronica Lake. Kim Novak in Vertigo. Elizabeth Taylor in Cat on A Hot Tin Roof, Barbara Hale as Della Street in the Perry Mason series. Bacall when she was with Bogie. Hedy Lamarr. Bergman in Casablanca. Tierney.
Peggy Cummins in GUN CRAZY. Perhaps not a femme fatale in the strictest sense, but a gun-handling woman so seductive she lured a good man to a Clyde Barrow doom. That her co-star, John Dall, was gay (and knew all about forbidden love) adds a truly odd, crazy texture to a film that conveys lust between a man and a woman in almost painfully vivid terms.
He knows she's nuts -- a homicidal maniac, really. And he can't make himself care....
Amazingly there are several movies here I haven't seen. Never saw Gloria Grahame in General. (Only kidding, of course). Good to pick a novel-- Dust Devils, which I loved. Peggy Cummins--man what was one scary picture. Never saw Phantom Lady although read the book. I've never seen Human Desire. Love Lisabeth Scott. So gorgeous. What's the movie where she sang. Haunting. Oh, Remember the Night was a great one. This is a great list but notice how few of them are after 1970. How about Linda Fiorentino in The Last Seducion or Lara Flynn Boyle in Red Rock West.
Virginia Madsen In THE HOT SPOT ("I'm gonna fuck you to death!") certainly qualifies as the scariest femme fatale in neo-noir. Angelica Huston in THE GRIFTERS would come in a close second.
Jane Greer in OUT OF THE PAST, Ann Savage in DETOUR, Joan Crawford in THE DAMNED DON'T CRY, and Barbara Payton in BAD BLONDE would be my list in the classic film noir category.
Tuesday Weld counts as a great one even on Dobie Gillis. God, what a waste she stopped making movies. How about Jessica Lange in the remake of Postman? You never hear that role/sequel mentioned. Body Heat only got better over the years. William Hurt is the perfect patsy. Angelica came and went too fast. Virginia Madsen too. Sideways was a pale reminder.
I thought Madsen rather good in SIDEWAYS...certainly her passage about the living quality of wine is the best thing in the film.
The problem with neo-FFs is that most of us don't actually believe that Innocent Men are lured into depravity by That Sort of Woman any longer.
Fritz Leiber's short story "Coming Attraction" has a lot of sport with this sort of thing.
I'm a fan of Turner (as I've recently established...also quite good as SERIAL MOM), Fiorentino, and certainly Jennifer Tilly in BOUND, and Gina Gershon getting to be more the FF in PICTURE CLAIRE (PALMETTO also a slight neo film but at least allows Elizabeth Shue to fill that role rather amusingly). Shu Qi in SO CLOSE.
Among the unmentioned folks in the Noirish Age, Claire Trevor (and Evelyn Ankers, the best thing about WEIRD WOMAN). Lauren Bacall's characters, almost (they'd rather not be fatal, but circumstances are forcing their hands).
Here's a list of actresses that portrayed the most 
vivid ones.
Not only was Phyllis Dietrichson a horrid woman, the laughable hairstyle and her manipulative cruelty made her even more hideous. What on earth was Fred McMurray's character thinking???
ReplyDeleteThis is always too close to call for me, but...
ReplyDelete#1) Ava Gardner in the Ernest Hemingway's version of "The Killers." She made it seem plausible that Swede would just sit there and accept his fate.
2) Ella Raines in "Phantom Lady."
3) Gene Tierney in "Laura." Dang, she actually made me believe that Clifton Webb could've been obsessed with her.
Kathleen Turner in BODY HEAT.
ReplyDeleteJust for the fun of it, consider Cloris Leachman in YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN. Okay, so maybe she does not strictly qualify as the "femme fatale," but you're perhaps rethinking your definition. Right? And why not give Frau Bleucher a little attention (as comic relief if nothing else) within this context?
ReplyDeleteAnn Savage in "Detour"--truly terrifying, less a femme fatale than a harpy from hell.
ReplyDeleteRita Hayworth in "Gilda."
Lana Turner in "The Postman Always Rings Twice."
Marie Windsor in anything.
Ida Lupino in anything. Kathleen Turner was a great modern femme.
ReplyDeleteHow about Gene Tierney in Leave Her to Heaven.
Wow. A tough call. I'd go with Gloria Graham for numero uno because of her complexities. She's trashy and devious yet intelligent and capable of both compassion and empathy. Her sexual appeal, which is considerable, is always an expression of many emotions--her melancholy, her fear, her longing for safe harbor. She is frequently a victim of her own cunning. But there are so many fine actresses on the list I feel guilty for even citing a numero uno.
ReplyDeleteCormac is spot on. Ava Gardner in THE KILLERS is tops for me also.
ReplyDeleteToby McCoy's lover Dana in "Dust Devils." She knocked me out.
ReplyDeleteA tough question.
ReplyDeleteI'd go with:
Joan Bennett in "Scarlet Street"
Jane Greer in "Out of the Past"
Gene Tierney in "Leave Her To Heaven"
And Gloria Grahame in general.
Kathleen Turner from BODY HEAT was the first that came to my mind, then Rita Hayworth from GILDA and Gene Tierney in LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN. I would also enter Glenn Close for DANGEROUS LIAISONS and FATAL ATTRACTION. And, I need to catch up with more Gloria Graham with all the kudos being thrown her way. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteBarbara Stanwick, absolutely. But not in DOUBLE...rather, I like her confused, dark character seeking redemption through Fred MacMurray in the almost noir Xmas film, REMEMBER THE NIGHT.
ReplyDeleteLots of good choices on the list, but I'll stick with the first one who popped into my head: Kathleen Turner in BODY HEAT.
ReplyDeleteSO many great choices. If asked by the man on the street to name a femme fatale, the first name that would pop into my head would be Barbara Stanwyck.
ReplyDeleteThis is my speciality and so far no votes for my favorites. Lisabeth Scott in Too Late For Tears and Janis Carter in Night Editor (and in Framed for that matter) Also Marie Windsor in The Killing!
ReplyDeleteAnd a lot of people have mentioned Gloria Grahame (amen!) but I think he best Femme fatale role is Human Desire.
But pretty much everything mentioned so far is in the top 10.
Stanwick. Veronica Lake. Kim Novak in Vertigo. Elizabeth Taylor in Cat on A Hot Tin Roof, Barbara Hale as Della Street in the Perry Mason series. Bacall when she was with Bogie. Hedy Lamarr. Bergman in Casablanca. Tierney.
ReplyDeleteAudrey Totter in Lady in the Lake. Says Marlowe, "Imagine you needing ice cubes."
ReplyDeleteThe all-time greatest?
ReplyDeletePeggy Cummins in GUN CRAZY. Perhaps not a femme fatale in the strictest sense, but a gun-handling woman so seductive she lured a good man to a Clyde Barrow doom. That her co-star, John Dall, was gay (and knew all about forbidden love) adds a truly odd, crazy texture to a film that conveys lust between a man and a woman in almost painfully vivid terms.
He knows she's nuts -- a homicidal maniac, really. And he can't make himself care....
Gloria Grahame in Human Desire?
ReplyDeleteAmazingly there are several movies here I haven't seen. Never saw Gloria Grahame in General. (Only kidding, of course). Good to pick a novel-- Dust Devils, which I loved. Peggy Cummins--man what was one scary picture. Never saw Phantom Lady although read the book. I've never seen Human Desire. Love Lisabeth Scott. So gorgeous. What's the movie where she sang. Haunting. Oh, Remember the Night was a great one. This is a great list but notice how few of them are after 1970. How about Linda Fiorentino in The Last Seducion or Lara Flynn Boyle in Red Rock West.
ReplyDeleteI find both of the neo-noirs you mentioned overrated.
ReplyDeleteAnd I find Dennis Hopper's Charles Williams adaptation, THE HOT SPOT, underrated. Virginia Madsen is a great femme fatale in that one.
From the '70s, it's very, very tough to top Tuesday Weld in PRETTY POISON...although Kathleen Turner in BODY HEAT comes very damn close....
Whoops -- PRETTY POISON is '60s, isn't it? ('68)
ReplyDeleteAnd BODY HEAT is '80s. ('81)
Still, those are two of the great femme fatales -- Tuesday and Kathleen.
Virginia Madsen In THE HOT SPOT ("I'm gonna fuck you to death!") certainly qualifies as the scariest femme fatale in neo-noir. Angelica Huston in THE GRIFTERS would come in a close second.
ReplyDeleteJane Greer in OUT OF THE PAST, Ann Savage in DETOUR, Joan Crawford in THE DAMNED DON'T CRY, and Barbara Payton in BAD BLONDE would be my list in the classic film noir category.
Tuesday Weld counts as a great one even on Dobie Gillis. God, what a waste she stopped making movies.
ReplyDeleteHow about Jessica Lange in the remake of Postman? You never hear that role/sequel mentioned.
Body Heat only got better over the years. William Hurt is the perfect patsy.
Angelica came and went too fast.
Virginia Madsen too. Sideways was a pale reminder.
Classic Femme Fatale? Gloria Graham
ReplyDeleteShe's been covered by others.
Contemporary Femme Fatale:Linda Fiorentino-- three words, The Last Seduction. She'd calculating, cruel, manipulative and just plain nasty.
Oh, Lena in Romeo. Good choice. She is pretty darn scary. I have THE HOT SPOT sitting on my shelf (book). Please God may I get to half of them.
ReplyDeleteI thought Madsen rather good in SIDEWAYS...certainly her passage about the living quality of wine is the best thing in the film.
ReplyDeleteThe problem with neo-FFs is that most of us don't actually believe that Innocent Men are lured into depravity by That Sort of Woman any longer.
Fritz Leiber's short story "Coming Attraction" has a lot of sport with this sort of thing.
I'm a fan of Turner (as I've recently established...also quite good as SERIAL MOM), Fiorentino, and certainly Jennifer Tilly in BOUND, and Gina Gershon getting to be more the FF in PICTURE CLAIRE (PALMETTO also a slight neo film but at least allows Elizabeth Shue to fill that role rather amusingly). Shu Qi in SO CLOSE.
Among the unmentioned folks in the Noirish Age, Claire Trevor (and Evelyn Ankers, the best thing about WEIRD WOMAN). Lauren Bacall's characters, almost (they'd rather not be fatal, but circumstances are forcing their hands).
Missed Richard's mention of Bacall.
ReplyDeleteOh, I liked VM in Sideways but she was no longer a femme fatale.
ReplyDeleteOn behalf of the Brits:
ReplyDeleteIt has to be Diana Dors in films like 'Tread Softly Stranger' and 'Yield To The Night'.
Gaby Rodgers in KISS ME DEADLY.
ReplyDeleteGood question. Man, I'll have to think on this. My first impression is Kathleen Turner in Body heat.
ReplyDelete