To me, Matt Damon is … there.  He’s a working actor whose films I don’t avoid nor rush to see.  Jason Bourne – predictable action fun. “The Talented Mr. Ripley” – one of my favorite roles of his. “Behind the Candelabra” – OMG – laughably campy and funny, especially the scene with the poppers.  Generally, I just think of him as a good guy, keeping his head down and doing his work, providing for his family. 

The autograph you see here is most likely a forgery due to missing consistencies in Matt’s authentic signature.  He usually does a straight line across his double T’s (not a backward loop and cross from the bottom of the latter T), he almost always ends his signature with a dot and his D is hardly ever legible as such; let alone inclusive of the a inside.  It’s a cute signature, but probably not his. 

Back to “The Talented Mr. Ripley” …  After watching Andrew Scott as “Ripley” on Netflix, I had to rewatch the 1993 version and it really had me appreciating Matt Damon’s performance much more than I had recalled. Such a naturally convincing performance, and probably at the height of his chiseled physical masculine handsomeness, which director Anthony Minghella chose to feature throughout the film. 

The 1993 film (being in color) with both Jude Law (as Dickie Greenleaf) and Matt Damon (Tom Ripley) being so handsome - plus the clearly gay Peter character who became Matt Damon's lover - really highlighted the homo subtext.  

The gay subtext was much less prevalent in the stark and darker “Ripley” on Netflix that featured a shrewder and calculating Andrew Scott as Tom Ripley.  Andrew Scott’s autograph is hard to come by because of his James Bond association – and it’s also a little chicken-scratchy, so I haven’t tried to get it. 

But the original!!  “Purple Noon” was the first filmed version of the Ripley story.  It’s a 1960 French film starring the stunning and captivating Alain Delon and launched him to stardom. This version is flooded with the movie star face of Alain Delon.  There is a much more interactive triangle between Ripley, Greenleaf and Marge, and a vastly different ending than the latter two.  I highly recommend watching this beautifully made foreign film by Rene Clement.  Alain Delon is truly breathtaking. 

Autographs from the 1960 original:  Maurice Ronet, who played Greenleaf, was an easy and affordable autograph to find.  Except he had the occasional habit of signing ACROSS or through part of his face in photos.  I’ve seen that happen a few times with celebs who don’t like a particular picture, but when I was searching for Maurice, it seemed like there were quite a few photos he didn’t like that much.  He must have like the photo shown here since the signature avoids obfuscation. 

As for Delon, Delon, Delon.  It is mind-numbing that so many sellers are offering up “genuine” “hand-signed” “authentic” “with COA” autographs of Alain Delon that are 90+% secretarial or forged signatures.  Fan sites had his address readily accessible with hundreds of examples and a highly successful response rate … with the caveat … “There are discussions that this celebrity may use pre-prints or a secretary for TTM requests.”  And they are SO EASY to spot.  If you see a beautifully signed, horizontally straight Alain Delon signature with the I dotted by a checkmark that looks like a ¾ sideways V (or a Tippi Hedren-esque mini-bird) … it is probably NOT his signature.  All autographs obtained in person by Alain Delon show that the man did NOT write in a straight horizontal line and did not even bother to dot his I’s most of the time.   

The autograph that you see here, bought by a French seller who supposedly got this in person, seems like the real deal to me.  When you see a hundred of those pretty-boy pictures of Alain Delon signed perfectly and beautifully on eBay, you might want to think twice before buying.  At least Delon’s secretary was reliable, always signing in the sweet spot with a perfectly contrasting color pen.  I mean, you know the saying about “if it seems too good to be true”? 

At least I told you straight up that Damon’s is probably fake.