Greatest Femmes Fatales

The Greatest
Femmes Fatales
in Classic Film Noir

Part 4

Introduction: Classic film noir developed during and after World War II, taking advantage of the post-war ambience of anxiety, pessimism, and suspicion, and possibly reflecting male fears of female liberation and independence during the war years. Film noirs first evolved in the 1940s, became prominent in the post-war era, and lasted in a classic "Golden Age" period until about 1960. A film noir story was often developed around a cynical, hard-hearted, disillusioned male character [e.g., Robert Mitchum, Fred MacMurray, or Humphrey Bogart] who encountered a beautiful but promiscuous, amoral, double-dealing and seductive femme fatale [e.g., Mary Astor, Veronica Lake, Jane Greer, Barbara Stanwyck, Joan Bennett or Lana Turner were the most prominent]. Femme fatale literally means "killer (or deadly) woman."

The females in film noir were either of two types (or archetypes) - dutiful, reliable, trustworthy and loving women; or femmes fatales - mysterious, duplicitous, subversive, double-crossing, gorgeous, unloving, predatory, tough-sweet, unreliable, irresponsible, manipulative and desperate women. Usually, the male protagonist in film noir wished to elude his mysterious past, and had to choose what path to take (or have the fateful choice made for him).

Key to Icon Symbol:

- The best (or greatest - worst - of all) femmes fatales

Note: The films that are marked with a yellow star in the following list are the films
that Greatest Films has selected as the "100 Greatest Films"

Greatest Femmes Fatales
in Classic Film Noir
(chronological, Part 4)
Introduction | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10

Film Title
and Director
Femme Fatale
Film Description Example

The Blue Dahlia (1946)
d. George Marshall Helen Morrison
(Doris Dowling) Boozing, unfaithful estranged wife Helen Morrison (Doris Dowling) made her first appearance in the film kissing LA's The Blue Dahlia nightclub owner Eddie Harwood (Howard Da Silva) at a party she was hosting in her ritzy bungalow house; clad in a slinky trouser suit, she seemed unapologetic to her returning discharged WWII veteran and naval flier husband Johnny Morrison (Alan Ladd); Helen hinted that Johnny might now be violent: "Maybe you've learnt to like hurting people?"; she then admitted to him that their young son had been killed in a DUI accident while she was driving, causing him to angrily walk out on her while leaving his gun in her bungalow; soon, Johnny was accused of Helen's murder and became a fugitive, encountering Harwood's separated blonde wife Joyce (Veronica Lake) in a dreamy drive up the coast to Malibu

Gilda (1946)
d. Charles Vidor
Gilda Mundson Farrell
(Rita Hayworth)
Rita Hayworth was featured in this dark and complex noir (of a love triangle) with her sleek and sophisticated eroticism, lush hair and peaches and cream complexion; the 'love goddess' portrayed the sexy, hedonistic, auburn-haired wife of South American casino owner Ballin Mundson (George Macready), who had recently hired gambling drifter Johnny Farrell (Glenn Ford) as his casino manager; in one of filmdom's best-known film entrances, she was introduced as Balin's new exuberantly healthy American wife to Johnny (Mundson: "Gilda, are you decent?" Gilda: "Me?" (she gave a long, sensual look at Johnny, and pulled up one side of her strapless dress) "Sure, I'm decent") as she threw back her head and tossed her thick mane of hair, responding sexily; she was also the ex-wife of Johnny - who was entrusted with watching over her; with her lingering love for Johnny, Gilda served herself up to be the object of a tension-filled, love-hate relationship between the two sexual rivals, as Johnny expressed his obsessive love for her: "I hated her so, I couldn't get her out of my mind for a minute. She was in the air I breathed, the food I ate..."; to torture and inflame Johnny's jealous passions, Gilda danced and flirted with another good-looking male escort Gabe Evans (Robert Scott) - and when dragged from the casino dance floor by Johnny, Gilda delivered her most famous one-liner: "Didn't you hear about me, Gabe? If I'd been a ranch, they would've named me the Bar Nothing"; when Balin mysteriously 'died,' Johnny assumed control over the casino business and treated Gilda with increasing sadomasochism and abuse after taking her as his wife; in the film's most famous scene, Gilda - in a strapless black satin gown slit up to her thigh - gave a sultry and bawdy performance as she stripped off her elbow-length black gloves to the tune of "Put the Blame on Mame"; in an upbeat finale to satisfy the Hays Code censors, Johnny admitted how wrong he was and they reconciled with each other after many months of an explosive relationship

The Killers (1946)
d. Robert Siodmak
Kitty Collins
(Ava Gardner)
This classic, definitive film noir (a tale of robbery, unrequited love, and brutal betrayal in a twisting double-cross) - an adaptation of a 1927 short story by Ernest Hemingway, was told in eleven taut flashbacks after a bravura opening murder sequence; two professional hit men cold-bloodedly murdered doomed ex-boxer Ole 'Swede' Andersen (Burt Lancaster, in his film debut) who had been hiding out in a New Jersey town under an alias for six years; he was warned in a nearby boardinghouse to flee, but was indifferent to their deadly approach and passively awaited his death on his bed; the Swede accepted his death stoically because, as he admitted fatefully: "I did something wrong once," referring to the film's complex tale of crime and treacherous betrayal - all revolving around a beautifully-glamorous, mysterious, double-crossing, manipulative, vixenish femme fatale named Kitty Collins (Ava Gardner); at a swanky hotel party, the Swede first met and fell under the spell of gorgeous Kitty (wearing a sexy black dress and singing "The More I Know of Love") and her sleazy underworld racketeering friends, led by gangster/boyfriend Big Jim Colfax (Albert Dekker) (who was absent and in jail at the time); the Swede first took a jail sentence rap in Kitty's place for stolen jewelry, and later, while planning a hat factory heist with Colfax, the Swede again fell under the allure of the treacherous Kitty; late one night just before the robbery, she duplicitously told him that he was being set up by the betraying Colfax, confessed her love, told him: "I'm poison, Swede, to myself and everybody around me", and then persuaded him to get revenge on Colfax by stealing the payroll; she lied to him, promising the Swede that the money would allow her to get away from her hated boyfriend Colfax; trusting blindly in Kitty, the Swede double-crossed the gang and robbed them of the payroll at the farm house, but then Kitty double-crossed him by stealing the money and ditching him; the film ended when she was revealed to be Colfax's wife and partner in crime; she knelt by her husband's body as he was dying and again expressed how heartless and selfish she was, by repeatedly begging her dying husband to lie for her (as the Swede once did) ("Say, 'Kitty is innocent. I swear, Kitty is innocent.' Say it, Jim, say it! It'll save me if you do"), to save her from serving prison time, and to declare her innocence about the hired killers - but Colfax, her potential fall guy, expired after asking for a cigarette; his silence criminally implicated Kitty and condemned her

The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)
d. Tay Garnett
Cora Smith
(Lana Turner)
This stylish, sexually-charged, moody and fatalistic film about lust and murder (adapted from James M. Cain's novel) by director Tay Garnett was best known for one of the hottest portrayals of a sultry and seductive femme fatale - it was one of "sweater girl" Lana Turner's finest performances; the film was advertised with posters that described the illicit passion between drifter Frank Chambers (John Garfield) and married, libidinous, restless and unsatisfied platinum-blonde waitress Cora Smith (Lana Turner) in a roadside cafe, advertised in the tagline with: "Their Love was a Flame that Destroyed!"; Frank's first look at hot-blooded, voluptuous Cora was prefaced by her lipstick case noisily rolling across the floor of the cafe toward him; the camera tracked back to her nude slim legs in the doorway; Frank looked at all of her - she was provocatively sexy and scantily clad in white shorts, white halter top, and white turban; immediately smitten, Frank proposed to the voluptuous Cora to leave with the promise of adventure to escape her life of boredom and defeat, and her marriage of convenience; they hatched a plot to get rid of her good-hearted husband Nick (Cecil Kellaway), although Frank knew that Cora's smoldering sexuality was also a trap which pulled him further toward murder; the lovers planned to eliminate the woman's unloved husband - unfaithful and soul-less Cora planted the idea of murder into Frank's head so that they could be together; their second awkwardly-executed attempt to kill Nick was successful, but ultimately led to their mutual destruction in unexpected ways; as the star-crossed lovers drove along the highway and neared their home after mutual recriminations, Frank asked for a long-awaited kiss as Cora said: "When we get home, Frank, then there'll be kisses, kisses with dreams in them. Kisses that come from life, not death" - but distracted during the 'kiss that comes from life' while he was driving, he ran off the road, killing Cora ('with a kiss that comes from death') in a fatal auto accident; subsequently, Frank was tried and falsely convicted of her murder, and in his last words to the priest, accepted his fate: "Somehow or other, Cora paid for Nick's life with hers. And now I'm going to. Father, would you send up a prayer for me and Cora, and if you could find it in your heart, make it that we're together, wherever it is?"

Film Title and Director	Femme Fatale	Film Description	Example
The Blue Dahlia (1946) d. George Marshall	Helen Morrison (Doris Dowling)	Boozing, unfaithful estranged wife Helen Morrison (Doris Dowling) made her first appearance in the film kissing LA's The Blue Dahlia nightclub owner Eddie Harwood (Howard Da Silva) at a party she was hosting in her ritzy bungalow house; clad in a slinky trouser suit, she seemed unapologetic to her returning discharged WWII veteran and naval flier husband Johnny Morrison (Alan Ladd); Helen hinted that Johnny might now be violent: "Maybe you've learnt to like hurting people?"; she then admitted to him that their young son had been killed in a DUI accident while she was driving, causing him to angrily walk out on her while leaving his gun in her bungalow; soon, Johnny was accused of Helen's murder and became a fugitive, encountering Harwood's separated blonde wife Joyce (Veronica Lake) in a dreamy drive up the coast to Malibu
Gilda (1946) d. Charles Vidor	Gilda Mundson Farrell (Rita Hayworth)	Rita Hayworth was featured in this dark and complex noir (of a love triangle) with her sleek and sophisticated eroticism, lush hair and peaches and cream complexion; the 'love goddess' portrayed the sexy, hedonistic, auburn-haired wife of South American casino owner Ballin Mundson (George Macready), who had recently hired gambling drifter Johnny Farrell (Glenn Ford) as his casino manager; in one of filmdom's best-known film entrances, she was introduced as Balin's new exuberantly healthy American wife to Johnny (Mundson: "Gilda, are you decent?" Gilda: "Me?" (she gave a long, sensual look at Johnny, and pulled up one side of her strapless dress) "Sure, I'm decent") as she threw back her head and tossed her thick mane of hair, responding sexily; she was also the ex-wife of Johnny - who was entrusted with watching over her; with her lingering love for Johnny, Gilda served herself up to be the object of a tension-filled, love-hate relationship between the two sexual rivals, as Johnny expressed his obsessive love for her: "I hated her so, I couldn't get her out of my mind for a minute. She was in the air I breathed, the food I ate..."; to torture and inflame Johnny's jealous passions, Gilda danced and flirted with another good-looking male escort Gabe Evans (Robert Scott) - and when dragged from the casino dance floor by Johnny, Gilda delivered her most famous one-liner: "Didn't you hear about me, Gabe? If I'd been a ranch, they would've named me the Bar Nothing"; when Balin mysteriously 'died,' Johnny assumed control over the casino business and treated Gilda with increasing sadomasochism and abuse after taking her as his wife; in the film's most famous scene, Gilda - in a strapless black satin gown slit up to her thigh - gave a sultry and bawdy performance as she stripped off her elbow-length black gloves to the tune of "Put the Blame on Mame"; in an upbeat finale to satisfy the Hays Code censors, Johnny admitted how wrong he was and they reconciled with each other after many months of an explosive relationship
The Killers (1946) d. Robert Siodmak	Kitty Collins (Ava Gardner)	This classic, definitive film noir (a tale of robbery, unrequited love, and brutal betrayal in a twisting double-cross) - an adaptation of a 1927 short story by Ernest Hemingway, was told in eleven taut flashbacks after a bravura opening murder sequence; two professional hit men cold-bloodedly murdered doomed ex-boxer Ole 'Swede' Andersen (Burt Lancaster, in his film debut) who had been hiding out in a New Jersey town under an alias for six years; he was warned in a nearby boardinghouse to flee, but was indifferent to their deadly approach and passively awaited his death on his bed; the Swede accepted his death stoically because, as he admitted fatefully: "I did something wrong once," referring to the film's complex tale of crime and treacherous betrayal - all revolving around a beautifully-glamorous, mysterious, double-crossing, manipulative, vixenish femme fatale named Kitty Collins (Ava Gardner); at a swanky hotel party, the Swede first met and fell under the spell of gorgeous Kitty (wearing a sexy black dress and singing "The More I Know of Love") and her sleazy underworld racketeering friends, led by gangster/boyfriend Big Jim Colfax (Albert Dekker) (who was absent and in jail at the time); the Swede first took a jail sentence rap in Kitty's place for stolen jewelry, and later, while planning a hat factory heist with Colfax, the Swede again fell under the allure of the treacherous Kitty; late one night just before the robbery, she duplicitously told him that he was being set up by the betraying Colfax, confessed her love, told him: "I'm poison, Swede, to myself and everybody around me", and then persuaded him to get revenge on Colfax by stealing the payroll; she lied to him, promising the Swede that the money would allow her to get away from her hated boyfriend Colfax; trusting blindly in Kitty, the Swede double-crossed the gang and robbed them of the payroll at the farm house, but then Kitty double-crossed him by stealing the money and ditching him; the film ended when she was revealed to be Colfax's wife and partner in crime; she knelt by her husband's body as he was dying and again expressed how heartless and selfish she was, by repeatedly begging her dying husband to lie for her (as the Swede once did) ("Say, 'Kitty is innocent. I swear, Kitty is innocent.' Say it, Jim, say it! It'll save me if you do"), to save her from serving prison time, and to declare her innocence about the hired killers - but Colfax, her potential fall guy, expired after asking for a cigarette; his silence criminally implicated Kitty and condemned her
The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946) d. Tay Garnett	Cora Smith (Lana Turner)	This stylish, sexually-charged, moody and fatalistic film about lust and murder (adapted from James M. Cain's novel) by director Tay Garnett was best known for one of the hottest portrayals of a sultry and seductive femme fatale - it was one of "sweater girl" Lana Turner's finest performances; the film was advertised with posters that described the illicit passion between drifter Frank Chambers (John Garfield) and married, libidinous, restless and unsatisfied platinum-blonde waitress Cora Smith (Lana Turner) in a roadside cafe, advertised in the tagline with: "Their Love was a Flame that Destroyed!"; Frank's first look at hot-blooded, voluptuous Cora was prefaced by her lipstick case noisily rolling across the floor of the cafe toward him; the camera tracked back to her nude slim legs in the doorway; Frank looked at all of her - she was provocatively sexy and scantily clad in white shorts, white halter top, and white turban; immediately smitten, Frank proposed to the voluptuous Cora to leave with the promise of adventure to escape her life of boredom and defeat, and her marriage of convenience; they hatched a plot to get rid of her good-hearted husband Nick (Cecil Kellaway), although Frank knew that Cora's smoldering sexuality was also a trap which pulled him further toward murder; the lovers planned to eliminate the woman's unloved husband - unfaithful and soul-less Cora planted the idea of murder into Frank's head so that they could be together; their second awkwardly-executed attempt to kill Nick was successful, but ultimately led to their mutual destruction in unexpected ways; as the star-crossed lovers drove along the highway and neared their home after mutual recriminations, Frank asked for a long-awaited kiss as Cora said: "When we get home, Frank, then there'll be kisses, kisses with dreams in them. Kisses that come from life, not death" - but distracted during the 'kiss that comes from life' while he was driving, he ran off the road, killing Cora ('with a kiss that comes from death') in a fatal auto accident; subsequently, Frank was tried and falsely convicted of her murder, and in his last words to the priest, accepted his fate: "Somehow or other, Cora paid for Nick's life with hers. And now I'm going to. Father, would you send up a prayer for me and Cora, and if you could find it in your heart, make it that we're together, wherever it is?"