Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons^™

The “Bad Girl” Turned Feminist: The Femme Fatale And The Performance Of Theory, Michelle Mercure

Undergraduate Review

Picture the murderous femme fatale Jane Palmer in Byron Haskin’s 1949 film noir Too Late for Tears, as embodied by the talented actress Lizabeth Scott: gorgeous blonde locks, beautiful long legs and luscious thick lips, all dolled up in a shimmery evening gown fit for a Hollywood starlet and sporting a gaudy necklace that sparkles the way stars light up the night sky. Now, picture this dazzling figure stumbling over a balcony and plummeting to her untimely death after the police barge into her luxurious hotel suite in Mexico, accusing her of the murder of not one, but two …