Born Jean-Pierre Grumbach in Paris on October 20, 1917, director Jean-Pierre Melville was a fan of all things American: He adopted the name Melville as a tribute to his favorite author; he drank Coca-Cola and wore a Stetson; and he made films that blended the American ethos of directors such as John Ford with a postwar sensibility formed by his experiences with the French Resistance.

Melville began making 16mm films as a teenager and formed his own production company shortly after World War II. His first feature film, Le Silence de la Mer (1949), created a stir through its claustrophobic look, location-shot scenes and use of untrained actors.

In the years that followed, Melville would become a major influence on the French new wave through minimalist crime dramas such as Bob le Flambeur and Le Samourai that featured charismatic male leads, including Alain Delon and Jean-Paul Belmondo.