Adaptations
Highsmith's first three Ripley novels have all been adapted into films. The Talented Mr. Ripley was filmed as Purple Noon (fr: Plein Soleil) in 1960, starring Alain Delon as Ripley, and under its original title in 1999, starring Matt Damon. Ripley Under Ground was adapted to film in 2005, starring Barry Pepper. Ripley's Game was filmed in 1977 as The American Friend, starring Dennis Hopper, and under its original title in 2002, starring John Malkovich.
The Ripley novels have also been adapted for television and radio. The Talented Mr. Ripley was adapted for a January 1956 episode of the anthology television series Studio One, and Jonathan Kent played Ripley in a 1982 episode of The South Bank Show titled "Patricia Highsmith: A Gift for Murder", dramatizing segments of Ripley Under Ground. In 2009, BBC Radio 4 adapted the complete Ripliad with Ian Hart as Ripley.
Of the Ripley portrayals that Highsmith saw in her lifetime, she praised Delon's performance in Purple Noon as "excellent" and described Jonathan Kent as "perfect." She initially disliked Hopper's Ripley in The American Friend but changed her mind after seeing the film a second time, feeling that he had captured the essence of the character.
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