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Not bad, just drawn that way: Ten of our favorite film femme fatales
The highly stylized film adaption of the comic book The Spirit is coming out soon (Christmas Day, to be exact), and in addition to the hotness of Gabriel Macht as the title hero, we also get three sexy, badass dames to enjoy. Scarlett Johansson plays Silken Floss (love that name!), accomplice to The Octopus (Samuel L. Jackson); Eva Mendes is Sand Saref, whose cold heart may be melted by former flame The Spirit; and Jaime King is Lorelei Rox, who lures men to their deaths with her siren song. Why do tough, dangerous broads prove so irresistible to so many gay men? While we ponder that question, let's take a look at some of our other favorite film femme fatales! Our top ten, after the break... Gene Tierney in Leave Her To Heaven Despite three Oscar nominations (including one for Best Actress), Leave Her To Heaven is not as well-remembered as other classic femme fatale movies of the 1940's (Double Indemnity, Gilda, etc.) but it's my favorite from that era. Gene Tierney stars as a ... misunderstood woman who wants nothing more than to be loved by her husband. And if people get in the way of that (even an unborn child and a handicapped youngster), well ... it's their own damn fault! Kathleen Turner in Body Heat Kathleen Turner became a star with the release of the 1981 neo-noir Body Heat. She stars as a woman who really wants to be with her new lover (William Hurt), but her pesky husband is standing in the way. What is a girl to do? Classic line: "You're not too smart, are you? I like that in a man." Tell us about it! Olga Baclanova in Freaks Todd Browning's 1932 Freaks is one of the most infamous cult films of all time, and features a classic femme fatale in the character of Cleopatra. Played by Olga Baclanova, Cleo is a trapeze artist who marries a sideshow midget for his inheritance, but carries on an affair with the circus strong man. When the other "freaks" learn that she's been trying to poison her new husband, they ... well ... I won't spoil it for you, but you'll never look at a chicken dinner the same way again. Linda Fiorentino in The Last Seduction Linda Fiorentino played one of the all-time great femme fatales in this 1994 film, toying with Peter Berg mercilessly and inflicting serious damage on a certain chain-link fence. In one of the worst Oscar travesties in history, she was deemed ineligible for a Best Actress nomination because the movie was shown on HBO once before it hit theaters. Jessica Rabbit in Who Framed Roger Rabbit In the 1988 fantasy Who Framed Roger Rabbit, sexbomb Jessica Rabbit filled the screen like Rita Hayworth, had the smoky voice of Kathleen Turner, and wasn't afraid to flash her goodies. She also answered the question, "Can a flesh & blood person fall in love with a toon character?" Of course, I already had that answer when I found myself lusting after Liono from Thundercats. Grace Jones in A View To A Kill You can take your pick of any number of Bond babes for this list: You might prefer Octopussy or Xenia Onatopp, but you can't get much better than Grace Jones as May Day in A View To A Kill. After having sex with her, James Bond is asked the next morning, "did you sleep well?" and he responds, "a little restless, but I got off eventually." Rebecca Romijn in Femme Fatale Director Brian DePalma has had a frustratingly uneven career in Hollywood. For every Sisters and Carrie, there's a Snake Eyes and Black Dahlia (which I couldn't even finish). In 2002 he hit the jackpot again with the completely insane Femme Fatale, which I adore even in the face of universal derision. Rebecca Romijn (when she was still married to Blackie from General Hospital) was terrific as the title character, and the ending was brilliant for its sheer audacity. Anjelica Huston, John Cusack, and Annette Bening in The Grifters We get a twofer with the fabulous 1990 thriller The Grifters, with both Annette Bening and Anjelica Huston at the very top of their games as very dangerous con-women. The claws immediately come out the moment they meet, and poor John Cusack is caught in the middle. The shocking ending still packs a punch (hey, he should have listened to his mother!). Pia Zadora in Butterfly I realize I'm alone in worshipping at her altar, but what can I say ... she's Pia Zadora-ble! She made her debut in the 1982 jawdropper Butterfly as a manipulative teen sexpot who seduces her (could be) father and tries to work her feminine wiles on the town judge ... Orson Welles! That alone was deserving of her Golden Globe. You can see the white hot trailer below ..."if that's bad, then I wanna be bad!" Of course, there are plenty of killer femme fatales in screen history (enough to fill a hundred lists). Are any of these sexy, dangerous dames your choice, or do you have your own favorites? Let us know! (And I know what you're thinking: "Where is Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction?" Sorry, but I just can't abide bunny abuse.) Submitted by on Mon, 2008-12-15 15:11. |
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Elaine Stewart in "The Bad and the Beautiful"
has always been my fave. She pops up towards the end of this clip
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZ-kgzr0Edk
OoOo fun.....
Jane greer in 'out of the past'
'
Lana turner in 'postman always rings twice'
Great choice in selecting
Great choice in selecting Gene Tierney in Leave Her To Heaven. The scene on the lake is still chilling in its simplicity and pure blind ambition. The other choices are good as well. I would recommend a few others:
Ava Gardner as Kitty Collins in her first stand out role in the film The Killers.
Barbara Stanwyck in Double Indemnity inspired Kathleen Turner's role in Body Heat.
Faye Dunaway in Bonnie & Clyde.
Mary Astor as Brigid O'Shaughnessy in The Maltese Falcon gave us this better exchange with Humphrey Bogart that turmps anything the horrid Pia Zadora ever said...
Brigid O'Shaughnessy: I haven't lived a good life. I've been bad, worse than you could know.
Sam Spade: You know, that's good, because if you actually were as innocent as you pretend to be, we'd never get anywhere.
"Jeepers, I love you, Johnny!"
Kitty March (Joan Bennett) in Scarlet Street.
Veda Pierce (Ann Blyth) in Mildred Pierce.
Sue Ann Stepanek (Tuesday Weld) in Pretty Poison.
Do we count Rhoda Penmark (Patty McCormack) in The Bad Seed?
Lizabeth Scott, the 'Threat'
The gorgeous, icy Lizabeth Scott in the 1949 film noir classic 'Too Late For Tears/Killer Bait' as Jane Palmer, the ruthless ice-cold money hungry femme fatal who murders both her husband and her lover/partner in crime to get exactly what she wants... cold hard cash. Great movie.
In fact, Lizabeth Scott was undisputidly the queen of film noir, having acted in more noir movies during her career than any other actress in history. She was a classic femme fatal!
Even better, she was a lesbian! Sadly, her career ground to a halt when Confidential ran an expose on her sexuality in 1955. She only acted in a few movies after that, and faded into obscurity, except in the minds of fans of classic Hollywood and film noir...
Brandon wait! We still have some yodels left!
lesbian?
hm, had never heard about lizabeth scotty being a lesbian before. confidential magazine was always spreading lies about people though. I know supposedly Claudette Colbert was also gay.....
..haha, just when i think i know about everyone, a new story or something pops up. of course, my fave speculation i have ever read was that Judy Garland dated a woman back in the late 40's. :-P
Two glaring oversights...
You left out the most legendary femme fatale of all...Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard. She didn't lure men with sex, like these younger ladies above, but she did lure Joe Gillis with money. She got him used to "the style to which he had become accustomed". Then when he tried to leave, she left him floating face-down in the pool.
Also...can't believe you left out Veda Pierce, Mildred's evil, money-hungry, social-climbing daughter, who would do whatever it took to get what she wanted. Including stealing her own mother's husband, then murdering him and getting Mildred to take the rap for it, to boot. You actually put Denise Richards on this list, over these greats?
Denise Richards?
Where do you see Denise Richards on my list? Hmphhh...
As I said, there are plenty of femme fatales to go around, especially during the golden age of the 40's and 50's, I just wanted to spread it around it a little.
Can you handle THE 80'S ACCORDING TO SNICKS?
Norma Desmond?
I've never thought of Norma as a femme fetale. in fact, I don't think she's even the villian in Sunset Boulevard. She's vain, insecure, manipulative and, ultimately commits a crime at the end of the story, but it's Joe who's the user, not Norma. We're hearing HIS side of the story, and throughout, he speaks derisively about her. He's a hack who uses her celebrity to advance his own career as a screenwriter.
I think Danny Peary put it better in his book Cult Movies (edited a tad):
"At first glance Sunset Boulevard appears to be a film about how pathetic Norma Desmond is and how unfortunate it is for Joe to have fallen in her clutches. But this is only the story if we are to go along with Joe's perception (his narration). Joe only speaks of Norma in pitiful terms...He is even rude to her face...Joe tries to get our sympathy by telling us how low he has fallen by getting hooked up with Norma, but it is the other way around. When they dance, she says that Valentino, another gigolo, told her, "there's nothing like tile for a tango." She was once intimate with the world's most renowned lover but now she has Joe-it's clear that she is the one who has lowered herself. Joe maintains his superior attitude throughout, failing to acknowledge that Norma was a great star and is still talented...while he has never accomplished anything in his life...He may laugh at Norma's writing deficiencies but writing is not her skill-acting is. He is the writer, and he should be the one to suffer the insults of the Paramount brass directed at the Salome script-after all, he spent many months revising it. He is just one more person of the sound era who has refused to give Norma her due, one of the many Hollywood men who have knifed her in the back."
I could also add that Norma is mentally and emotionally unstable, and Joe has no reservations about taking advantage of this.
Lizabeth Scott is still around
thanks so much for
thanks so much for including Olga Baclanova. Freaks impressed me deeply when I first watched it some twenty years ago. Best non-horror-horror-movie ever ;)
Fatale with a twist...
What about Jennifer Tilly in Bound?
She convinced Gina Gershon to help her kill her man, and even better, the girl gets the girl in the end.
Five of my faves
Miranda Richardson in "The Crying Game" ("You're never out of it, Fergus.")
Jodie Foster in "Inside Man" (A smile without even a flicker of warmth)
Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, "The Color of Money" ("Vincent's sweet...real sweet.")
Michelle Pfeiffer in "Into the Night" ("Ladyhawke," another mysterious femme, is a close second)
Isabella Rossellini, "Blue Velvet" ("I looked for you in my closet tonight")
Human Cloning Prohibition Act! regarding S.Johansson (actress)
Natasha Fatale
She may have trouble triumphing over Moose and Squirrel (although I'd place that blame on Boris and his rotten plans), but I have no doubt she could kick Pia Zadora's butt.
Ummm....
To paraphrase Seth and Amy: Pia Zadora -- REALLY? I can't find anything fatale about her, let alone femmy...but if the underage brat thing floats yer boat....
Still, how could Ms. Zzzzzzadora compare to Rita Hayworth in "Gilda"? I mean--REALLY!
Yet, I've heard that Pia's husband -- at a cast party for that hit, "The Lonely Lady," toasted his wife with, "She's not much of an actress, but she can suck a man dry." (Really.)
The blog has little zadoration.
Agreed, wagville...
I was watching the Butterfly clip up until the point Ms. Z stated ..."if that's bad, then I wanna be bad!"
I yelled "Objective achieved!" and shut the clip down.
Michelle, Madonna and Glenn
Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman in "Batman Returns."
Also, Madonna as Breathless Mahoney in "Dick Tracy." She's a terrible actress, but she serves the role beautifully, as the character herself is not terribly deep. A cartoon actress for a cartoon movie. My favorite line:
Tracy: "No grief for Lips?"
Mahoney: "I'm wearing black underwear."
And who could forget Glenn Close -- either as the Marquise de Merteuil in "Dangerous Liaisons," OR Alex Forrest in "Fatal Attraction." (I prefer the former.)
OK -- and as Cruella de Vil in "101 Dalmations." (Kidding.)
Helen Mirren and Karen Black
Mirren for "The Comfort of Strangers" (although it could be argued that Christopher Walken was really the femme fatale in that movie), and Black for "Day of the Locust". True, the Faye Greener character wasn't intentionally leading the hero into doom and gloom, but she was his guide into the horrors that were inevitable.
And how can we leave off Theresa Russell in "Black Widow" where the object of affection is Debra Winger and not one of the male characters.
Oops
Oh, and how could I forget Rebecca DeMornay?
Her performance in "Risky Business" was enough to make a nascent gay boy pause and question if he was really, REALLY sure he was gay. She also has some of the most quotable dialogue of the 80's. ("Joel, go to school, go learn something.") DeMornay has the greatest talent you need in a femme fatale: you instinctively know that virtually every word from her lips is probably a lie, yet you still can't take your eyes off of her.
My favorite bit is when Cruise-as-Joel wonders if she's taking him for a ride, or is she really his girlfriend? "You tell me: yes, no, maybe?" DeMornay, walking towards him, verrrrrrrrrrrry slowly: "Yes...no...................................maybe."