Jean-Pierre Melville (1917-1973)


Jean-Pierre Melville is one of the most important French directors of the 20th century. Early in his career he collaborated with Jean Cocteau on ORPHEE (1949) and LES ENFANTS TERRIBLES (1950). His reputation rests (however, not solely) on his later films, such as LE SAMOURAI, LE CERCLE ROUGE and UN FLIC. His best film may be LE CERCLE ROUGE (1970), an excellent suspense thriller starring Bourvil and Alain Delon.


Filmography:

Vingt-Quatre Heures de la Vie d'un Clown (1945; dir, scr, prod; short)
Le Silence de la Mer (1947; dir, coscr, prod, edit)
Orphée (1949; act; directed by Jean Cocteau)
Les Enfants Terribles (1950; dir, scr, prod, prod des; based on the novel by Jean Cocteau)
Quand Tu Liras Cette Lettre (1953; dir, coprod)
Bob le Flambeur (1955; dir, coscr)
Deux Hommes dans Manhattan (1959; dir, scr, act)
A Bout de Souffle (1960; act; directed by Jean-Luc Godard)
Léon Morin, Prêtre (1961; dir, scr; based on the novel by Béatrice Beck)
Le Doulos (1961; dir, scr; based on the novel by Pierre Lesou)
Landru (1962; act; directed by Claude Chabrol)
L'Aîné des Ferchaux, L' (1963; dir, scr; based on the novel by Georges Simenon)
Le Deuxième Souffle (1966; dir, coscr; based on the novel by José Giovanni)
Le Samourai (1967; dir, coscr; based on the novel The Ronin by Joan McLeod)
L'Armée des Ombres (1969; dir, scr; based on the novel by Joseph Kessel)
Le Cercle Rouge (1970; dir, scr, coedit)
Un Flic (1971; dir, scr)


© Ron Altman