Who is the best Femme Fatale?

Theda Bara in just about anything.

Lena Olin in Romeo Is Bleeding. (as far as a more modern reference to the femme fatale)

Still, Stanwyck is right up there.

I agree…Lena is very good in Romeo is Bleeding..

Faye Dunaway in Chinatown, a woman so secretive and so unpredictable in what she conveys about Evelyn Mulwray that she kept us guessing until the shocking ending.

jean gillie in DECOY… most double-crossing dame ever

^ ooh, good choice.

Joan Bennett in Scarlet Street. Poor man..
Peggy Cummins in Gun Crazy.

But the best (and despite not being a very good movie), i will have to agree with Sharon Stone on Basic Instint adding that terrific humor to the movie. Pretty shocking role by her.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RO9wiK27iHM

Not forgetting

I’d definitely go with Double Indemnity.

I’m in the Ann Savage camp on this one…

I wouldn’t jaywalk for Barbara Stanwyck in Double Indemnity, let alone kill her husband. My vote goes towards Rita Hayworth in Lady From Shanghai or Joan Bennett in Scarlet Street.

Emmanuelle Seigner in Bitter Moon. Sultry and seductive Mimi played mesmerisingly by Emmanuelle Seigner.

Audrey Totter in everything

Ice in her veins…Icicles in her heart.

Leslie Brooks in Blonde Ice (1948) is one nasty little femme fatale.

There are certainly a lot of classic femmes fatale better than Kathleen Turner, but if I met a woman like this, I wouldn’t even think twice about setting fire to an orphanage, if she asked me to.

Hazel Brooks. She had very few roles but she’s unforgettable in every one. I really don’t think I’ve ever seen a sexier and more believable femme fatale…

Anyone who has not seen Hazel Brooks in Douglas Sirk’s Sleep, My Love is not qualified to discuss femmes fatales! Deep-six my earlier pick and I’ll choose Hazel Brooks too.

Yes!! Sleep, My Love is a fantastic film but even if Hazel Brooks was the only good thing about it it would still be one of my favorites.

Hanna Ralph as Brunhild in Die Nibelungen: Siegfried

Yeah, it’s unfortunate that Hazel Brooks really only had two notable roles in Sleep, My Love and Body and Soul.

Amazingly enough Netflix doesn’t even list her among the cast credits for Sleep, My Love.

C’mon Netflix! Jeez…

I’m gonna have to give it a re-watch. At least they have it streaming.

EDIT: I haven’t seen Arch of Triumph so I don’t know how big of a role she had in that.

Joan Greenwood’s Sybilla in KIND HEARTS AND CORONETS — cold-hearted, warm-blooded and damnably appealing. That husky voice of hers, man oh man.

Kathleen Turner in THE MAN WITH TWO BRAINS — the absolute embodiment of man-eating destructiveness, she gleefully tortures any man unfortunate enough to get in her path, and it’s one of the funniest single performances in American movies.

Aw yes, Joan Greenwood – possibly the greatest, most appealing voice in movie history. I’m surprised no one mentioned Veronica Lake yet?

Also
Marie Windsor in The Killing
Claire Trevor in Murder, My Sweet
Simone Signoret in Casque D’Or
Jennifer Tilly in Bound

Janis Carter in Night Editor 1946. Good noir flick.

This is one of my new favorite femme fatale’s Jean Gillie in Decoy 1946. As far as nasty goes her character Margo Shelby is right up there with the best of them. And that film is off the wall.