The seductress is one of the great roles in cinema. Who wouldn’t want to play the girl that all the guys want, and can manipulate any situation in her favour? We’ve found our 11 favourites.

As a great man said, “this is not ‘Nam Smokey, this is bowling. There are rules”. So what are the rules here?

1. We are looking for the Seductresses. We are not looking for “The Sexiest Actresses Ever!!!” or “Hot Babes of Cinema!!!!!!!!!”. This ain’t no tabloid sleaze. We are looking for seductresses, they have to seduce the other characters in their film, and us as an audience. They might be classic femme fatale’s, they might be manipulative leading ladies, but they all have a charm. This is all about allure, and nothing to do with sex appeal. The rule with horror films is that it is sometimes what you don’t see that scares you. With seductresses, it is often what you don’t see that lures the audience in.

2. The character has to be sympathetic. The audience might well be pleased when they get their just desserts, but a part of you has to want them to get away with whatever they are trying to get away with.

3. Your seductress has to have an evil streak in her. She doesn’t have to be a villain, but you just don’t get good girl seductresses.

Our top 11 are…

Elsa Bannister - The Lady From Shangai (1947)

Rita Hayworth had a number of fantastic seductress roles in her time, and arguably the most famous was as Gilda, in the film of the same name. So why haven’t we picked that one? How do you make an actress renowned for her femme fatale roles, even more alluring? Cast her opposite her husband- Orson Welles. Welles directed the film, and cast his wife in the role of Elsa- the eponymous Lady- in late 1946. Throughout the shooting of the film, the couple were arguing and showing signs that their marriage was not a happy one. By the time of the US release in 1948 they were estranged. Welles is a likable everyman, but Hayworth’s portrayal of Bannister is feisty, vulnerable and manipulative all at the same time. As a side note, this film is cited by conspiracy theorists as proof that Welles knew (or was) the killer of Elizabeth Short (aka the Black Dahlia), as there are several scenes alleged to have been cut from this film, which mirrored real events in the infamous 1947 killing.

Brigid O’Shaughnessy - The Maltese Falcon (1941)

Mary Astor’s portrayal of the desperate woman in need has been the template for Hollywood Femme Fatale’s for the last seven decades. Her performance mixes a desperate need for guidance (from Bogard’s Sam Spade) and a ruthless calculation perfectly. She gives the role the sass that would become the staple of the 1940’s and 50’s leading lady. How many actresses in the last 50 years could genuinely be described as being “sassy”?

Bridget Gregory - The Last Seduction (1994)

John Dahl’s The Last Seduction is arguably the first Feminist Film Noir to make the mainstream, but that is not to say that Linda Fiorentino’s performance is any less seductive. Fiorentino plays the wife of a drug dealer, who decides to steal his money and have some fun. The character of Bridget Gregory is so completely in control of her situation, and the men around her (notably Mike Gregory) that it is difficult to dislike her, even when she is involved in murder and blackmail. Unlike many of the other characters on this list, Gregory never relies on a facade of sweetness or innocence. She takes what she wants (including Mike Gregory, memorably) and manipulates every situation to her advantage.

Catherine - Jules et Jim (1962)

Jeanne Moreau’s Catherine is the free spirited woman who comes between lifelong friends, Jules and Jim. Catherine is far from the typical femme fatale, and is initially as likable (if not more so) as either of her two suitors. This doesn’t stop her from being manipulative, and if there is anything we can learn from this list, “hell hath no fury like…”

Madeleine Elster/Judy Barton - Vertigo (1958)

Despite the dark subject matter of the majority of Hitchcock’s films, it is remarkable how many of them have an autobiographical angle to them. Vertigo is just one of such films, as it is suggested that Hitchcock, just like Jimmy Stewart’s character, was obsessed with his leading ladies and with defining their look. Some have even gone as far as to suggest that Hitchcock only ever wrote one part for his female characters, and worked it into each of his films. Kim Novak played the part of Madeleine Elster - who is the object of “Scottie” Ferguson’s obsession - and Judy Barton - the woman who Ferguson tries desperately to transform into his lost love. Novak is not the traditional seductress in either role, as she is first the object of affection and then obsession. What makes her so alluring is we are never sure just how much she is aware of what she is doing to Ferguson.

Matty Walker - Body Heat (1981)

Despite the fact that the “erotic thriller” has become synonymous with seedy, sub standard films (see Body of Evidence, In The Cut, Poison Ivy), there was a time when the genre was genuinely new. Body Heat was one of the first films to inhabit the post-modern “cinema world” that directors like Quentin Tarantino love so much, as it is set in both modern 1981, and the classic 1940’s and 50’s era of film noir. Kathleen Turner plays the role of Matty Walker, who seduces Ned Racine (played by William Hurt), and convinces him to kill her rich husband. Lawrence Kasdan (credited with co-writing Empire Strikes Back handles Turner’s femme fatale perfectly, and portrays her as an even more forthright, sexually aggresive version of…

Phyllis Dietrichson - Double Indemnity (1944)

Double Indemnity is arguably the archetypal Film Noir, and it is hardly surprising considering the three writers involved were Billy Wilder, Raymond Chandler and James M. Cain. Phyllis Dietrichson was portrayed by Barbara Stanwyck, herself no stranger to tangled relationships - she was alleged to have had lesbian affairs with Patsy Kelly and Tallullah Bankhead, while her husband Robert Taylor romanced Ava Gardner and Lana Turner. Her Dietrichson is beautiful, dangerous, calculating and completely seductive.

Kathryn Merteuil - Cruel Intentions (1999)

Cruel Intentions might not be the best film on this list, but Sarah Michelle Geller’s modern version of the Marquise de Merteuil is as delightfully wicked as anyone else we have mentioned. She even manages to out-evil Glen Close, who played the Marquise de Merteuil in Dangerous Liasons a decade earlier.

Cora Smith - The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)

We have seen the plot to this film several times on this list - woman seduces man into killing her husband - the ending of this film is entirely different. Cora Smith was portrayed by Jessica Lange 35 years later, and while both versions have their own merits, Lana Turner’s Cora is more vulnerable, seductive and completely evil. Lana Turner was never better.

Jessica Rabbit - Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)

And why not. One part Veronica Lake, one part Kathleen Turner.

Sylvia - Brotherhood of the Wolf (2001)

Monica Bellucci plays the role of Sylvia in Christophe Gans’ Horror-Mystery. Sylvia is an Italian prostitute who is far more involved than she appears. The film itself tells the (true) story of suspicious killings in 18th century France, by what appeared to be a wolf. The role of Syvia introduced Bellucci to Hollywood as a leading lady, and she has never been as seductive as here.

Occasionally you get a character in a film who is the epitome of cool. What makes them cool? Why do we sympathise so much with these characters? What makes them so great? We’ve found our 11 coolest characters.

As ever, we have to set the rules

1. The character has to have a completely magnetic onscreen personality, with a perfect balance of arrogance and self belief. Things that they want to happen, need to happen, without them seeming flustered and without them trying too hard. More often than not, the character won’t be perfect, and they will almost certainly have a mean streak in them, but it is this that adds to their cool. They are never a traditional “hero”.

2. They need to make us WANT to be in their situation. Who can say they would honestly want to be John McClane in his Die Hard situations, even if they handled it like he did? Now, who can honestly say they WOULDN’T want to be Han Solo, or Frank Bullitt, even if faced with their problems?

3. They have to be cool, not good or fun to watch or a brilliant actor. Al Pacino is great in Scarface, Donnie Brasco and Heat, but he isn’t cool in these films. Oliver Reed is amazing as Athos is the Muskateers films, but not cool. Ferris Bueller might have seemed cool when you first watched the film, but watch it again and he is just annoying. John Cusack’s Martin Blank is Grosse Point Blank is a great character but would you want to be him? As Lloyd Dobler in Say Anything though…

4. In cinema, the following things are very, very, very cool:- smoke, fast cars, motorbikes, snappy one liners and not caring what other people think.

So, who are the coolest characters in all of cinema?

Jim Stark (Rebel Without A Cause)

Ok, so we start with an obvious one. Arguably the coolest character, by the coolest actor, ever. Not many people on this list can say they have redefined (or possibly even defined) what it is to be cool the way that James Dean did. His iconic role as Jim Stark has been parodied a thousand times since, but never with the same attitude. Stark defined the newly coined “teenager”, a 17 year old who had to take charge of his family and defy all those who stood against him. The film showed the growing generation gap that existed in the mid 50’s, and gave the new “teenage” audience one of their most important cultural markers. What Elvis was to music, James Dean was to film.

Han Solo (Star Wars Trilogy)

If this list were longer then we could easily include Yoda, Lando and Boba Fett. It really pains me to leave out Fett in particular, but Han is cooler, if only because he didn’t have to appear in the prequels. The fact that Harrison Ford managed to make Han Solo cool is something of a minor miracle. Some of Han Solo’s lines are bordering on the ridiculous, but stay just the right side of cool. Imagine saying the line “you’re all clear kid now let’s blow this thing and go home” with a straight face? Solo was at his best in The Empire Strikes Back. When Leia tells him that she loves him, he remarks “I know” as if it was a foregone conclusion.

James Bond (Goldfinger)

If ever there was a character to define the difference between cool and likable it is Bond. Connery’s Bond was smooth, and not a little sexist. Roger Moore made Bond distinguished, Pierce Brosnan made him dapper, and Daniel Craig has made him dangerous. But only Connery made him cool, and never more than in Goldfinger. When every Bond after Connery delivered a line like “positively shocking” after electrocuting a bad guy, or “We must have a few fast falls together some time” to a girl, it was a James Bond line. When Connery did it it was an extension of himself character. The best way of showing the difference is by thinking of it like this. Imagine the cheesiest chat up line ever. If Lazenby, Brosnan, Moore, Craig or Dalton used that line in real life it would seem cheesy, or at best ironic. Connery could make it sound like Shakespeare.

Frank Bullitt (Bullitt)

Steve McQueen was definitely one of the coolest stars in cinema history, and Bullitt was probably his finest role. The film sums up everything that is great in 1960’s American cinema. As well as a fantastic soundtrack by Lalo Schifrin, and that car, it paved the way for the Rebel Cop Genre in cinema. Without Bullitt there would be no Starsky and Hutch, Dirty Harry or even The French Connection. Frank Bullitt ticks all the boxes of cool. Lives by his own rules? Check. Drives an amazing, fast car? Check. Awesome.

Luke (Cool Hand Luke)

Not much needs said here. The man sums it up best himself- Sometimes nothing can be a real cool hand.

Miho (Sin City)

Although she isn’t the most recognisable character in Sin City, Miho was probably the coolest. Marv was the all action brute with a heart, Nancy was the sex appeal, Hartigan was the hard boiled cop and Dwight was… Clive Owen. All Miho does is kill things, quietly, with swords, crossbows or ninja stars. The fact that she never says anything, and is the protector in residence of Basin City’s Old Town, makes her so dangerous even Marv wouldn’t mess with her.

Roger O. Thornhill (North By Northwest)

What does the O stand for? Nothing of course. Cary Grant provided the level of cool that only he could when he took the part of Thornhill in one of Hitchcock’s many masterpieces. This has to be one of the dirtiest films ever made, where neither character ever gets naked. Thornhill is constantly making lewd remarks to Eve Kendall (”Now, what can a man do with his clothes off for twenty minutes?”), and Hitchcock’s less than subtle sexual allusions somehow managed to elude the censors. The exchanges between Grant and his co-star Eve Marie-Saint are fantastic as well-

Her: You’ve got taste in clothes, taste in food…

Him: And taste in women. I like your flavor.

Peter Venkman (Ghostbusters)

Arguably a little controvertial choice here, but Bill Murray’s Venkman made the whole film. Can you imagine how it would have been without him? The scene where Venkman is performing “psychic tests” at the start of the film is a prime example. Which other Ghostbuster could say a line like “Let’s show this prehistoric bitch how we do things downtown” and make it cool? It is a testament to Murray that he almost always seems cool - whether in Groundhog Day, Rushmore or Stripes - even though he never plays traditionally “cool” roles. Who else can make comic parts cool?

Jules Winfield (Pulp Fiction)

Few directors know how to make a cool character like Quentin Tarantino, and we could easily have had Jackie Brown, The Bride or Mr Blonde on this list as well. None of them are quite as cool as Jules Winfield, the man who’s wallet tells you all you need to know about him. Winfield is obviously an emalgamation of hundreds of blaxploitation characters, from hundreds of B-movies. While each one of them may be cool, it is Samuel L. Jackson that makes the role more than the sum of its parts. Sub question- which is the coolest Jules scene in the film? Ezekiel 25:17? The “say ‘What’ again” scene? The “Royale with cheese”? Personality goes a long way? The standoff between Yolanda, Jules, Vincent and Ringo? The foot massage discussion…

Philip Marlowe (The Big Sleep)

Bogart was arguably the first “cool” actor in cinema. The master of putting people in their place, his Marlowe is the marker by which all hard boiled detectives are measured against. Marlowe liked his drink, he liked a smoke and he didn’t suffer fools gladly. You get the feeling that Bogart was probably the same.

Ash (The Evil Dead Trilogy)

Like an even more over the top Indiana Jones, Ash is an all action hero with charisma and charm. Unlike Indiana Jones, Ash has a chainsaw for a hand and fights zombies with his “boomstick” shotgun. Bruce Campbell (by his own admission) might only be a B-movie actor, but nobody else could play Ash with the mixture of comic book exhuberance and (eventual) action hero machismo. Ash gets so many brilliant one liners in the Evil Dead Trilogy that is is hard to pick a favourite- “groovy”, “get some” and “hail to the king, baby” are just three lines that only work if you are A. Bruce Campbell and B.holding a shotgun and C. aiming it at zombies. The best has to be, “Good? Bad? I’m the guy with the gun”.

It is 20:40 on Sunday 6th July and I’m in Glasgow Prestwick.

A crowd of 500+ people are usually tired, slightly waspish and muttering angrily about the rudeness/lateness of low cost airlines. Everyone wants to get home. Usually.

Tonight it is different. The whole passenger group is transfixed by the goings-on in SW19. Two champions, two great sportsmen, are doing battle in a match of amazing quality and no-one wants to go home.

I’ve heard 3 or 4 people mutter “I hope our flight is delayed”. How often do you hear that?

Now, if you’ve ever met me you’ll know I’m a sports nut. I love, in descending order: rugby union (Grand Slam this year!), golf, football, touch rugby, cricket, rugby league, F1, snooker and darts.

Tennis isn’t on that list. On the whole I find tennis (particularly on grass) pretty dull. However, what can be more thrilling than watch 2 absolute champions at the top of their game, both gunning for something they want so dearly.

Negative sporting teams - particularly football teams - should take note. These guys have gone for their shots and played positively. Similar to Spain in the Euros.  The only real shame is that there will be a loser. It’ll make next years rematch all the more thrilling.

The reason I’m writing this, though, is the general captivating aura of such a battle. I’m a sports fan so you’d expect me to be interested. The hard-drinkign Glasweigans and the mothers-of-three seem equally enthralled. Fantastic stuff.

20:56 - The Fed misses a simple volley to take his service game to deuce (having dug out of a hole at 0-30). The whole airport let’s out an “oooh”! The standard of the play is unbelievable.

21:04 - repeated oohs and aahs from the travellers-cum-tennis-fans after nadal holds serve to go 7-7 in the final set. We are all worried our flight is going to be on time and we’ll miss the end of this… We take off in 20 mins…

21:07 - thank god I haven’t got priority boarding! They have to board now when Nadal has break points!!

21:09 - Rafa breaks! Now if they can just hold the plane while I watch him serve out…

21:12 - time to board. Man, I hope my V+ box has saved this for me… The bbc will come through with the iPlayer … Won’t they? If not, I’m campaigning against the licence fee! Let me know what happens, won’t you?