Tom Ripley is the creation of writer Patricia Highsmith, who also wrote the Hitchcock classic Strangers On A Train. Ripley is a villain who made crime pay. A villain who spawned a terrific literary series. A villain who gets away.

Other Ripley films to check out are Rene Clement's Purple Noon (if anyone has it, please lend it to me) and Wim Wenders' The American Friend.

The Hitchcockian thrill is that the film is told through the villain's point of view, and though he does some nasty things, we have but no choice but to become his co-conspirators. We want, we hope that Ripley gets away.

The greater the villain, the better the picture, said Alfred Hitchcock. Ripley is a great villain because he is so much like us.

Also read: Hollywood's top assassins

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