Plot
Tom Ripley (Delon) has been sent to Italy to persuade his wealthy friend, Philippe Greenleaf (Maurice Ronet), to return to the United States and take over his father's business. Philippe intends to do no such thing, however, and the impoverished Tom enjoys living a life of luxury, so the two men essentially spend money all day and carouse all night. Tom is fixated on Philippe and his girlfriend Marge (Marie Laforêt), and covets the other man's life. The spoiled, arrogant Philippe eventually grows bored with his friend's fawning and becomes cruel and abusive to him. The final straw is when, during a yachting trip, Philippe strands Tom in the dinghy and leaves him to lie in the sun for hours.
Back on board, Tom hatches a plan to kill Philippe and steal his identity. First, he leaves evidence of Philippe's philandering for an outraged Marge to find. After Marge goes ashore, Philippe confronts Tom, who admits his plan quite casually. Philippe, believing it to be a joke, plays along and asks Tom for the plan's details. Suddenly frightened, Philippe offers Tom a substantial sum to leave him and Marge alone, but Tom states that he can obtain this sum anyway, and far more. At last pretending to accept his offer, Tom stabs Philippe to death as the latter screams Marge's name. He casts the body overboard and returns to port.
Upon returning, Tom informs Marge that Philippe has decided to stay behind. He then goes traveling around the country using Philippe's name and bank account, even flawlessly mimicking his voice and mannerisms; in effect, Tom has become Philippe.
When Philippe's suspicious friend, Freddie Miles (Billy Kearns), begins to suspect the truth, Tom murders him as well. Freddie's body is soon found and the Italian police inevitably get involved. However, Tom continues playing his charade, switching between his own identity and Philippe's, depending on what the situation demands. After carrying out an elaborate scheme to implicate Philippe in Freddie's murder, Tom forges a suicide note and a will, leaving the Greenleaf fortune to Marge.
In the aftermath, Tom has survived a long string of close shaves, thrown the Italian police off his trail, and seems to have outwitted everybody. He even succeeds in seducing Marge, with whom he begins openly cohabiting. However, when Philippe's yacht is being moved into dry dock, his decomposed body is found still attached to the boat because the anchor cable used to sink his corpse had become tangled around the propeller. Tom is unknowingly called toward the police shortly thereafter; it is implied that he will be arrested.
Read more about this topic: Purple Noon
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