With Wenders adapting Patricia Highsmith’s Ripley’s Game, The American Friend follows Jonathan Zimmermann (Bruno Ganz, Downfall, Wings of Desire) who believes that he will soon die of leukemia. The unscrupulous American, Tom Ripley (Dennis Hopper, White Star, Easy Rider), learns of this and decides to exploit Zimmermann’s illness for his own purposes. He introduces Jonathan to the underworld figure Raoul Minot (Gérard Blain), who offers to hire him as a hit man. Motivated by the idea of earning enough money to leave for his wife and child after he’s gone, Jonathan accepts. A friendship develops between the two very different men, and ultimately leads Ripley to intervene when Zimmermann proves incapable of carrying out a murder. The cast also features several filmmakers in supporting roles as gangsters, including Hollywood legends Samuel Fuller (Pickup on South Street, White Dog) and Nicholas Ray (Johnny Guitar, Rebel Without a Cause).