What are Femme Fatales?

Femme Fatales are easy to spot in a Film Noir but they are not that easy to define. They are much more complex than an attractive woman which leads men who love them to doom. It is easy to spot their traits like Roger Ebert did in the quote below, but it doesn’t capture it all. Are they woman the rebel against the norms of their era and seek a life free from the chains of traditional marriage or are they simply bad girls. These characters are what makes Film Noir great and they deserve much more credit. I have listed a couple of dozen or so of the top Femme Fatales roles in the table below. There are many more ladies that deserve to be on the list. Roles played by Gloria Grahame, Lizabeth Scott, Marie Windsor, Carolyn Jones, and Anna May Wong deserve mention and will eventually have to expand the list.

Femme Fatale Traits – Low necklines, floppy hats, mascara, lipstick, boudoirs, calling the doorman by his first name, high heels, red dresses, having gangsters as boyfriends, having soft spots for alcoholic private eyes, and sprawling dead on the floor with every limb meticulously arranged and every hair in place.
Roger Ebert – A Guide to Film Noir Genre

Femme Fatale – an attractive and seductive woman, especially one who will ultimately bring disaster to a man who becomes involved with her.

So below is my list of the top Femme Fatales of classic Film Noir. I look forward to your comments.

Great Femme Fatales

Rank	Actress - Role	Movie	Comment	Image
1	Jane Greer - Kathie Moffat	Out of the Past (1947)	Jane Greer playing Kathie Moffat is the pure embodyment of evil as she cheats, murders, bribes, and double- and triple-crosses her lovers.	Jane Greer as Kathie Moffit in Out of the Past (1947) FU
2	Barbara Stanwyck - Phyllis Dietrichson	Double Indemnity (1944)	Barbara Stanwyck as Phyllis Dietrichson has ice water in her veins. She is determined to murder her husband and pin the crime on her lover, while working every other angle.
3	Gloria Swanson - Norma Desmond	Sunset Boulevard (1950)	Gloria Swanson was amazing as aging film star Norma Desmond. She did not start out to harm Joe Gilis but when things didn't go her way she took him for a swim.
4	Audrey Totter - Adrienne Fromsett	Lady in the Lake (1946)
5	Jan Sterling - Lorraine Minosa	Ace in the Hole (1952)	Jan Sterling as Lorraine Minosa plots, cheats, and schemes to make money as her husband lies trapped in a cave. She needs enough money to get away while he is trapped.
6	Gloria Grahame - Vicki Buckley	Human Desire 1954
7	Mary Astor - Brigid O'Shaughnessy	The Maltese Falcon (1941)	I think a lot more of the character Brigid O'shaughnessy than I do of the actress Mary Astor. O'shaughnessy would murder, love, bretray, or set-up. Whatever it took to get her prize.
8	Lizabeth Scott - Jane Palmer	Too Late For Tears (1949) AKA Killer Bait (1955)	Dan Durya as Danny is playing checkers while lizabeth Scott as Jane is playing 3 dimenonal chess
9	Joan Bennett - Kitty March	Scarlet Street (1945)	Joan Bennett as Kitty March is brutal as she and her boyfriend fleece a lone older man.
10	Rita Hayworth - Elsa Bannister	The Lady from Shanghai (1947)	With Rita Hayworth as Elsa Bannister, it is hard to tell who she is playing and how far she will go to get what she wants. Adultery and murder are fine with her.
11	Marie Windsor - Mrs. Frankie Neall	The Narrow Margin (1952)
12	Marie Windsor - Sherry Peatty	The Killing (1956)
13	Ava Gardner - Kitty Collins	The Killers (1946)
14	Lana Turner - Cora Smith	The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)
15	Claire Trevor - Helen Brent	Born to Kill (1947)
16	Janis Carter - Jill Merrill	Night Editor (1946)	Janis Carter played the sadomasochistic Femme Fatale, Jill Merrill
17	Gene Tierney - Ellen Berent	Leave Her to Heaven (1945)
18	Marilyn Monroe - Rose Loomis	Niagara (1953)	If you ever think Marilyn Monroe can't act, watch Niagara (1953). She is great and great at being evil.
19	Lee Remick - Laura Manion	Anatomy of a Murder (1959)
20	Helen Walker - Lilith Ritter	Nightmare Alley (1947)	One of the greatest, yet subdued, femme-fatale, she uses greed instead of sex to drive a man to the lowest depths possible at the end of a Gin bottle.
21	Gloria Grahame - Debby Marsh	The Big Heat (1953)	Gloria Grahame as Debby Marsh tries to reform but opts for revenge in a gristly manner.
22	Gloria Grahame - Irene Neves	Sudden Fear (1952)
23	Barbara Stanwyck - Kathy Doyle	Crime of Passion (1957)
24	Lauren Bacall - Amy North	Young Man with a Horn (1950)
25	Lizabeth Scott -'Dusty' Chandler	Dead Reckoning (1947)	You never see Lizabeth Scott as 'Dusty' Chandler coming for you
26	Lizabeth Scott - Jane Palmer	Too Late For Tears (1949)
27	Merle Oberon - Jessica Warren	The Price of Fear (1956)	I kept waiting for the redemption
28	Janis Carter - Christine Norman	The Woman on Pier 13 (1949)/I Married a Communist (1949)
29	Ann Savage - Vera	Detour (1945)	Ann Savage as Vera has to control everything until it comes to an end for everyone.
30	Rita Hayworth - Gilda	Gilda (1946)	Rita Hayworth as Gilda played a lonely confused woman stuck between two men and maybe a lot more. She wasn't a killer, just a schemer.
31	Lana Carlson - Ida Lupino	They Drive By Night (1940)

Review Films with Femme Fatales