Wow, yet another striking movie from the early 1960's or even before. This is so much better than most of the sterile mainstream movies that are being made nowadays. The performances of the three main characters are quite extraordinary. Alain Delon as poor Tom Ripley gives a perfect innocent looking but coldly calculating young lad who would do almost anything to live a life of riches. Comprehensible that this performance made Alain Delon a star. Gaining recognition also by Patricia Highsmith, who created the character in her novel, is another sign of quality.Show me a spoilt, arrogant, but not even that dislikeable young man, who sees life as a game in which other people only exist to entertain him. Then look at Maurice Ronet as rich Philippe Greenleaf who prefers the "dolce far niente" in Italy over taking over some kind of responsibility in the US business of his millionaire father. His attitude becomes already obvious in his starting phrase, in which he complains that going from Naples to Rome (only to have a drink) in a jet plane would have been faster than flying a propeller-driven aircraft.Likewise, the hurt feelings of beautiful Marie Laforet as Margot for not being taken serious by her rich American boyfriend come across very plausible. Equally understandable that Tom envies Philippe for having this lovely French girlfriend.Then on a boat trip, Maurice Ronet makes the mistake of discussing in theory how Tom would manage to take over his place, what, as it seems, only confirms Tom in his vaguely made plan to eliminate his rich fellow. What is still a game for the one has soon become deadly serious for the other and then sooner than expected the murder in fact has taken place.The rest of the movie is about playing hide and seek and about Tom pretending to be his victim. This is very diverting and the story never loses its speed. I kept on constantly asking myself how Tom would fail while almost admiring him for his talent of improvisation. Then, when eventually one gets the feeling that he might in fact get away with it, bad luck catches up on him. I don't really see, why Patricia Highsmith was so unhappy about this ending (which is different to the novel) because according to me the film clearly conveys the message that getting away with a crime like this is quite a plausible option.The nice Italian port sceneries, how ever cheesy they might sometimes be, also contribute to the special character of the movie. Unfortunately, the Italian locals sometimes only serve as a somewhat basic decoration for the American protagonists, which would be less surprising, if it was an American movie, which it is not. After so much praise, a little bit of critique must be allowed.There are also some unnecessary show effects in the movie, that make appear the story a bit overdone without adding anything new to the movie. Why for example does Alain Delon have to jump into the water for plunging the wrapped and anchor burdened corpse of his murder victim in the sea, where he then even loses contact to the rope still connected to the boat. Despite a very rough sea, he still manages to work his way back to the boat and climb aboard. Quite unlikely.Another scene, which I did not fancy very much, is the one, in which Philippe and Tom on the nightly streets of Rome buy the stick of a blind man what leaves this man behind helpless. This scene clearly serves the purpose of demonstrating their view that anything can be done with money but here, still right at the beginning, I almost got the feeling that the two protagonists have such simple characters that keeping on watching the movie is not worthwhile. Lucky me I did not stop watching here.Last but not least there is the interesting aspect that Romy Schneider has a cameo appearance of less than one minute at the beginning of the movie. She then was already married to Alain Delon but was not yet successful in the French movie industry. I always find it interesting to see that also great film stars had to start with truly small parts.

I was a callow early teen when I first saw this movie. It showed in a local cinema which was a bit of a dive - it has long since closed. the whole thing intrigued me and I cannot actually remember whether it was dubbed or subtitled , it was so long ago. However the convoluted story and denouement fascinated and stayed with me ever after. It was half forgotten until I saw The Talented Mr Ripley and I wondered if it was the same story. Delon and Ronet were excellent in Plein Soleil and the very sexiness of the story held my youthful attention. it was an introduction to a Hitchcockian plot and treatment. I wanted the anti-hero to get away with his awful plan he was a hero to me, even though I was sad to see Ronet as Dickie Greenleaf come to a sad end. A wonderful film - it would be good to see it again.

In scenic Italy, criminally handsome Alain Delon (as Tom Ripley) has become friendly with hedonistic Maurice Ronet (as Philippe Greenleaf). Hired by his friend's wealthy father, Mr. Delon hopes to collect $5,000 for bringing Mr. Ronet back home to San Francisco. They may never get there. The party-loving men go out on Ronet's boat, along with girlfriend Marie Laforet (as Marge Duval). There, murderous intentions bubble to the surface...There are few minor problems with this revision of novelist Patricia Highsmith's "The Talented Mr. Ripley" (1955). Still, you will see a lot of perfection on the screen. Under skillful and innovative direction from Rene Clement, Delon's devastatingly handsome, aloof and sneaky anti-hero perversely appealed to viewers. He became a major star. On or off the water, Henri Decae's photography is appropriately drop-dead gorgeous and Nino Rota's musical score is surprisingly complimentary. The story was memorably re-made in 1999 by director Anthony Minghella, with the primary roles filled by Matt Damon, Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow. The 1999 version took gay subtext and shoved it up your screen. You did not see much of that in 1960... Even in France... Although it drifts too far from the source, this version still rocks the boat.********* Plein soleil (1960-03-10) Rene Clement ~ Alain Delon, Maurice Ronet, Marie Laforet, Billy Kearns

A social climber is intent on pursuing the good life even if he has to commit murder to achieve his ends. The first screen treatment of Highsmith's "The Talented Mr. Ripley" is a success, thanks to the talented Mr. Delon and the sure direction of veteran Clement. There are good performances from Laforet, in her film debut, and Ronet, but this is Delon's movie. He is perfectly cast as bad boy Ripley, handsome, charming, and cold-blooded. The film is a bit too long; it could have perhaps benefited from trimming the extended expository scenes. The ending, a departure from the novel, is too contrived, but a reflection of the sensibilities of the time in which the film was made.