Femme Fatal Attraction: Phyllis And Mrs. Robinson

Fatal Attraction

Sultry, sexual, seductive, lethal—all of these are elements that make up the femme fatale character, a female character type found in many modern films. Defined as a ruthless siren who utilizes her sexuality to lure her unsuspecting male victim into a world of sinful desire for her own benefit, the femme fatale character has become increasingly popular since the film noir movement in the 1940s (Walker-Morrison 25). These temptresses rely on their sexuality and their cunning abilities to achieve their ultimate goals, paying little attention to the heartache and destruction they cause in the process. Perhaps the two finest examples of these sexy but dangerous characters are the sultry Phyllis Dietrichson in the 1944 film noir

classic, Double Indemnity, and the notorious Mrs. Robinson in the 1967 blockbuster sensation, The Graduate. Although decades separate these two films, both Phyllis and Mrs. Robinson force viewers to draw parallels between the two characters’ bewitching personalities. Through camerawork and characterization, both Phyllis in Double Indemnity and Mrs. Robinson in The Graduate serve as accurate representations of femme fatale characters.
In order to convey a certain emotion or reveal a character’s personality, directors often rely on camerawork as a medium for portraying these elements.

Because both Phyllis and Mrs. Robinson are similar in their characterization, the two women are shot in similar ways that depict their power as femme fatale characters in their respective films. Deborah Walker-Morrison writes in her article, “Sex Ratio, Socio-Sexuality, and the Emergence of the Femme Fatale in Classic French and American Film Noir” that the femme fatale’s “ruthless agency and narrative power are often signaled by her visual dominance within the frame” (25). Billy Wilder, director of Double Indemnity, puts this into practice. For example, when Walter Neff, played by Fred MacMurray, meets Phyllis Dietrichson, played by Barbara Stanwyck, for the first time in her home, the low-angle shot features Walter standing at the foot of a grand staircase looking up at Phyllis, who stands at the top of the stairs. The low-angle shot, coupled with Phyllis’s dominance in the frame as she looks down on Walter, suggests her power over him as a seductress. Although Walter may be unaware of the events to come, the shot alludes to the idea that Phyllis will act as his superior, influencing him with her sexuality and

femininity.
Similarly, director Mike Nichols also employs an almost identical shot in The Graduate to illustrate Mrs. Robinson’s power over Benjamin Braddock as the femme fatale. All femme fatale characters lead the otherwise unassuming male into a “nocturnal world of transgressions, betrayals, and, ultimately, his demise” (106). Viewers begin to see this idea at work, as well as a foreshadowing of the events to come for Ben and Mrs. Robinson’s relationship, in the shot featuring Mrs. Robinson, played by Anne Bancroft, and attempt to seduce Benjamin, played by Dustin Hoffman, for the first time in her home. In this scene, Mrs. Robinson is filmed from the top of the stairs looking down on Ben, who stands at the bottom of the staircase. Although filmed from a high-angle rather than a low-angle, the scene is equally as effective at portraying Mrs. Robinson’s control over Ben. Ben’s location at the bottom of the stairs as Mrs. Robinson’s backside looming at the top of the staircase implies that Mrs. Robinson will be the cause of Ben’s own demise and downward spiral in leading him into a loveless affair with her. Through clever camerawork, both directors Billy Wilder and Mike Nichols effortlessly demonstrate Phyllis and Mrs. Robinson as dynamic femme fatale characters who are ready to claim their respective victims.
In addition to utilizing camerawork to portray both Phyllis and Mrs.

Robinson as femme fatale characters, the directors also rely on characterization in the form of costuming and marital situations to depict these women as lethal temptresses. During Walter and Phyllis’s initial meeting in Double Indemnity, Phyllis wears only a towel as a costume before excusing herself for a moment to change into a skirt and blouse. As Phyllis descends the stairs to formally greet him, Walter notices an anklet around the bottom of her bare leg, an accessory that becomes a part of Phyllis’s wardrobe throughout the remainder of the film. In her article, “Femme Fatale: Negotiations of Tragic Desire,” author Elisabeth Bronfen writes that the anklet serves as a bridge between these two scenes because the anklet serves as “an image of this body part [the leg] as a transition between the glance at her almost naked upper body and the fully dressed woman Walter can visually enjoy” (108). Drawing attention to her bare legs, Phyllis takes advantage of the anklet as a tool to attract Walter because he associates the anklet with her bare upper body he sees in the prior scene. As a result, Walter is excited by the anklet because he is able to visually imagine a fully naked Phyllis. At the same time, Phyllis benefits from the anklet as a part of her costume because she exploits the fact that Walter is physically attracted to her. She knows he has a weakness for her and a strong desire to obtain her for

himself, and the anklet effectively allows Phyllis to manipulate Walter simply by diverting his attention to her best attributes. Utilizing the anklet as a means of teasing Walter and tempting him into an adulterous relationship, Phyllis demonstrates that her costuming is effective in achieving her ultimate goal.
Aside from Phyllis’s calculating use of costuming to depict herself as a femme fatale character, Mrs. Robinson’s wardrobe in The Graduate also effectively portrays her as a lethal female character. When Mrs. Robinson and Ben begin their love affair at the Taft Hotel, Mrs. Robinson is filmed wearing a leopard print coat underneath a black blouse. Rebecca Neumann writes in her article, “Predator, Prisoner, and Role Model: The Evolving Figure of Mrs. Robinson,” that director Mike Nichols and the production designer dress Mrs. Robinson in animal prints and furs in order to compare her to jungle hunters, such as tigers and leopards (3). In comparing her costume to her role as the femme fatale, these animal prints imply that Mrs. Robinson is a sexual prowess on the hunt for her next victim. Just as Phyllis’s anklet implies her intentions to draw Walter’s eyes to her body, Mrs. Robinson also employs a similar tactic by using her animal prints to attract Ben’s attention. In addition, the animal prints featuring the leopard, which is often seen as a cunning and ruthless animal, serves as an accurate comparison to Mrs. Robinson’s destructive personality. Mrs. Robinson sees Ben as the ideal prey to fulfill her own lustful desires. As a result, Mrs. Robinson uses these animal prints to her advantage to convey herself as a sultry and sexy mature woman in order to entice Ben into a sexual relationship. Both Phyllis and Mrs. Robinson offer subtle hints into their ulterior motives and hidden fatal personalities through their costuming.
Aside from relying on costuming to depict Phyllis and Mrs. Robinson as femme fatale characters, directors Wilder and Nichols also create similar toxic marital situations that further characterize the women as deadly females. Upon meeting Walter, Phyllis explains that she is trapped in a loveless, emotionless marriage that leaves her feeling alone in her own home. Elisabeth Bronfen writes in her article that the femme fatale relies on her situation as a means of justifying her actions, stating that the femme fatale “uses her seductive charms and her intelligence to liberate herself from the imprisonment of an unfulfilling marriage” ( “Femme Fatale: Negotiations of Tragic Desire” 106). In the same way, Phyllis plays to Walter’s sympathies by presenting a single side of her marital story in which her husband pays her no attention and acts as if he does not care for her. Viewers can see that Phyllis is blatantly using her intelligence to manipulate Walter into falling into her trap. Because he is blinded by her seductive charm and deceit and ultimately follows suit in her murderous plans to kill her husband, Walter demonstrates that Phyllis is successful in using her heartbreaking situation to toy with Walter. Phyllis effortlessly plays the part of helpless victim to spark Walter’s desires to save her from her situation at any cost.
Comparatively, Mrs. Robinson also makes use of her dismal marital situation to rationalize her affair with Ben and persuade him to continue the affair. As Rebecca Neumann explains in her article, Mrs. Robinson reveals that an unplanned pregnancy leads to her marriage to Mr. Robinson, and now Mrs. Robinson is a prisoner in a “loveless marriage and empty nest” (“Predator, Prisoner, and Role Model” 3). Similarly to Phyllis using her situation to support her motives to murder her husband, Mrs. Robinson depends upon her depressing situation to validate her affair with Ben. Mrs. Robinson explains to Ben during one of their sexual encounters at the Taft Hotel that she did not marry Mr. Robinson out of love, in hopes that Ben will continue to fulfill her desires because she is alone in her own marriage. Mrs. Robinson plays the role of the ultimate female villain, exploiting Ben’s youth and naïveté for her own benefit. A mechanism for ensnaring their men, Phyllis and Mrs. Robinson use their situations as part of their characterization to their benefit.
Evil and beautiful, cunning and sexy, seductive and enticing, femme fatale characters add an element of interest and complexity to film. Though Double Indemnity and The Graduate find themselves on opposite ends of the spectrum as far as the storyline is concerned, directors Billy Wilder and Mike Nichols present their viewers with two similar femme fatale characters. Creative camerawork, coupled with flawless characterization, effortlessly portray Phyllis Dietrichson and Mrs. Robinson as the epitomes of femme fatale characters.