What to stream: Silver-screen gems starring French icon Alain Delon

French actor Alain Delon, one of the most memorable screen icons of the ‘60s and ‘70s, died Sunday at 88. Though he fell into his career through a couple of actress girlfriends who encouraged him to pursue film acting, with his blazing blue eyes and good looks, it was clear that Alain Delon’s face always belonged on screen.

Even as his career took off, his personal life sometimes memorably intersected with his roles, making him a celebrity and media darling, but on the silver screen, Delon was undeniably mesmerizing, defining a certain kind of sleek, tailored European cool. Take the time to remember his life and work with a selection of his best films available on streaming.

While Delon’s breakout role was in the 1959 French comedy “Women are Weak,” which was a big hit in France and the first of his films that was seen in the United States, it was the 1960 film “Purple Noon” (or “Plein Soleil” in France) that defined him as an international superstar. In this adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s “The Talented Mr. Ripley,” Delon plays the shapeshifting conman Tom Ripley, sent to Italy to retrieve Philippe Greenleaf (Maurice Ronet), a handsome trust fund baby whiling away his time with his fiancee Marge (Marie Laforet) and Freddy (Bill Kearns). A fascinating counterpoint to the 1999 Anthony Minghella adaptation starring Matt Damon in the Ripley role, it’s impossible to take your eyes off Delon in this sun-drenched noir. Stream it on the Criterion Channel or Kanopy.

Also in 1960, he also starred in “Rocco and His Brothers,” the first of two films he would make with Luchino Visconti. Delon stars as Rocco, who moves with his family from Southern Italy to Milan in the wake of his father’s death, where they attempt to make their way in the world. He and his brother both enter into the world of boxing as a way to obtain money and fame, and they have a falling-out over a woman. Stream it on the Criterion Channel and Kanopy.

Delon and Visconti reteamed in the 1963 film “The Leopard,” in which Delon plays the nephew of Burt Lancaster’s Don Fabrizio Corbera, an Sicilian nobleman caught in the poltical upheaval of the Italian unification in the 19th century. The film won the Palme d’Or at the 1963 Cannes Film Festival, and is now regarded as one of the greatest movies ever made. Rent it on iTunes or Amazon.

Delon also enjoyed a productive working relationship with Jean-Pierre Melvill, starting with the Neo-noir thriller “Le Samouraï” in 1967. Delon starred as a louche, stylish hit man who has been spotted on one of his jobs in a nightclub, and spends the rest of the film evading capture by the Commissaire. Stream “Le Samouraï” on Max, the Criterion Channel, Tubi or Kanopy. Unfortunately, their 1970 crime thriller “Le Cercle Rouge” is not streaming, but check out 1972’s “Un Flic,” in which Delon plays the Commissaire now, opposite Catherine Deneuve. It was Melville’s last film before his death in 1973. Stream “Un Flic” on Kanopy.

In 1969, Delon starred opposite his former fiancee Romy Schneider and with his “Purple Noon” co-star Maurice Ronet in “The Swimming Pool” (“La Piscine” in France). Directed by Jacques Deray, “The Swimming Pool” is one of the great sexy vacation thrillers. The heat between Delon and Schneider is palpable, and Ronet is fantastic as Harry, a friend who crashes their holiday with his daughter (played by Jane Birkin). Everything about “La Piscine” is tangible, textured and imbued with pleasure and danger. Luca Guadagnino later riffed on the film with his unofficial remake “A Bigger Splash.” Stream “The Swimming Pool” on Max or the Criterion Channel.