Jacques Becker

Directing

Jacques Becker

Born — Died

1906-09-15 — 1960-02-21

Place of birth

Paris, France

Known for

Directing

Credits

41 titles

Jacques Becker (French: [bɛkɛʁ]; 15 September 1906 – 21 February 1960) was a French screenwriter and film director. Becker first worked in the 1930s as an assistant to director Jean Renoir during what is considered the latter's peak period, including such works as Partie de campagne (1936) and La Grande Illusion (1937). In the early part of World War II, Becker was held in a German prisoner-of-war camp for a year. During the Nazi occupation of France, he became a film director in his own right and he also joined the Comité de libération du cinéma français. He would go on to direct the period romance Casque d'or (1952), the influential gangster film Touchez pas au grisbi (1954), and the pris…

Known for

Cinépanorama poster
8.7

No synopsis available yet.

Cinépanorama

1956

Le Trou poster
8.2

Four prison inmates have been hatching a plan to literally dig out of jail when another prisoner, Claude Gaspard, is moved into their cell. They take a risk and share their plan with the newcomer. Over the course of three days, the prisoners and friends break through the concrete floor using a bed post and begin to make their way through the sewer system – yet their escape is anything but assured.

Le Trou

1960

Grand Illusion poster
7.9

A group of French soldiers, including the patrician Captain de Boeldieu and the working-class Lieutenant Maréchal, grapple with their own class differences after being captured and held in a World War I German prison camp. When the men are transferred to a high-security fortress, they must concoct a plan to escape beneath the watchful eye of aristocratic German officer von Rauffenstein, who has formed an unexpected bond with de Boeldieu.

Grand Illusion

1937

No artwork available
9.0

Produced for television by Claude-Jean Philippe, the « Encyclopédie audiovisuelle du cinéma », recounts the history of French cinema from its birth to the beginning of the 1960s. With commentary read by Jean Rochefort.

Encyclopédie audiovisuelle du cinéma

1978

The Lovers of Montparnasse poster
6.9

Biographic film chronicling the last year of the life of the Italian painter Amedeo Modigliani, 1919, who falls in love with a girl from a wealthy family. Her parents are against this relationship and stop financial help. Modigliani worked and died in abject poverty in the Montparnasse Quarter of Paris, France.

The Lovers of Montparnasse

1958

Touchez Pas au Grisbi poster
7.2

Gentleman gangster Max and his partner, Riton, pull off their last, most successful heist and find themselves comfortable enough to retire in the style they enjoy. However, Max confides the details of the theft to his younger mistress, Josey -- who has secretly taken up with ambitious young rival gangster Angelo. Angelo then has Riton kidnapped and demands the stash of gold as ransom, which threatens Max's dreams of the perfect retirement.

Touchez Pas au Grisbi

1954

Film credits

1930s · 5 titles

Grand Illusion poster
7.9

A group of French soldiers, including the patrician Captain de Boeldieu and the working-class Lieutenant Maréchal, grapple with their own class differences after being captured and held in a World War I German prison camp. When the men are transferred to a high-security fortress, they must concoct a plan to escape beneath the watchful eye of aristocratic German officer von Rauffenstein, who has formed an unexpected bond with de Boeldieu.

Grand Illusion

1937

Boudu Saved from Drowning poster
6.9

Michel Simon gives one of the most memorable performances in screen history as Boudu, a Parisian tramp who takes a suicidal plunge into the Seine and is rescued by a well-to-do bookseller, Edouard Lestingois. The Lestingois family decides to take in the irrepressible bum, and he shows his gratitude by shaking the household to its foundations. With Boudu Saved from Drowning, legendary director Jean Renoir takes advantage of a host of Parisian locations and the anarchic charms of his lead actor to create an effervescent satire of the bourgeoisie.

Boudu Saved from Drowning

1932

Life Is Ours poster
6.4

A propaganda film of the communist party of France, showing how the comrades help the proletariat against the capitalists.

Life Is Ours

1936

Pitiless Gendarme poster
7.0

The police superintendent may be good-natured but he has got a lot on his plate with all the witnesses that come to make a statement before him. They are all crazier than the others and although the superintendent is not too bad at keeping his self-control, he might well go nuts after all with this bunch of lunatics!

Pitiless Gendarme

1935

Chotard and Co. poster
6.2

François Chotard, wholesale grocer, gives his daughter in marriage to Julien Collinet, a writer who prefers dreaming to working, a situation conducive to quarrels between the son and the father- in-law. Until the day when Julien receives the Prix Goncourt, prestigious literary award. Chotard has a sudden change of heart.

Chotard and Co.

1933

Series credits

Behind the camera

Le Trou poster
8.2

Four prison inmates have been hatching a plan to literally dig out of jail when another prisoner, Claude Gaspard, is moved into their cell. They take a risk and share their plan with the newcomer. Over the course of three days, the prisoners and friends break through the concrete floor using a bed post and begin to make their way through the sewer system – yet their escape is anything but assured.

Le Trou

1960

Le Trou poster
8.2

Four prison inmates have been hatching a plan to literally dig out of jail when another prisoner, Claude Gaspard, is moved into their cell. They take a risk and share their plan with the newcomer. Over the course of three days, the prisoners and friends break through the concrete floor using a bed post and begin to make their way through the sewer system – yet their escape is anything but assured.

Le Trou

1960

The Lovers of Montparnasse poster
6.9

Biographic film chronicling the last year of the life of the Italian painter Amedeo Modigliani, 1919, who falls in love with a girl from a wealthy family. Her parents are against this relationship and stop financial help. Modigliani worked and died in abject poverty in the Montparnasse Quarter of Paris, France.

The Lovers of Montparnasse

1958

The Lovers of Montparnasse poster
6.9

Biographic film chronicling the last year of the life of the Italian painter Amedeo Modigliani, 1919, who falls in love with a girl from a wealthy family. Her parents are against this relationship and stop financial help. Modigliani worked and died in abject poverty in the Montparnasse Quarter of Paris, France.

The Lovers of Montparnasse

1958

Touchez Pas au Grisbi poster
7.2

Gentleman gangster Max and his partner, Riton, pull off their last, most successful heist and find themselves comfortable enough to retire in the style they enjoy. However, Max confides the details of the theft to his younger mistress, Josey -- who has secretly taken up with ambitious young rival gangster Angelo. Angelo then has Riton kidnapped and demands the stash of gold as ransom, which threatens Max's dreams of the perfect retirement.

Touchez Pas au Grisbi

1954

Touchez Pas au Grisbi poster
7.2

Gentleman gangster Max and his partner, Riton, pull off their last, most successful heist and find themselves comfortable enough to retire in the style they enjoy. However, Max confides the details of the theft to his younger mistress, Josey -- who has secretly taken up with ambitious young rival gangster Angelo. Angelo then has Riton kidnapped and demands the stash of gold as ransom, which threatens Max's dreams of the perfect retirement.

Touchez Pas au Grisbi

1954

Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves poster
6.2

A lord’s servant, Ali Baba, is sent to retrieve a slave for his master, but ends up on an adventure filled with gold, mischief, love, and forty famous thieves instead.

Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves

1954

Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves poster
6.2

A lord’s servant, Ali Baba, is sent to retrieve a slave for his master, but ends up on an adventure filled with gold, mischief, love, and forty famous thieves instead.

Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves

1954

Antoine & Antoinette poster
6.2

1947, in France, Antoine and Antoinette, a young couple living in Paris, lead a monotonous existence: he works in a print shop while she is a shop assistant. But one evening, they regain hope: Antoine finds a winning lottery ticket in his girlfriend's handbag. He decides to cash it in, but loses his wallet. What follows is a series of twists and turns that redefine the couple's priorities while forcing them to remain optimistic.

Antoine & Antoinette

1947

Antoine & Antoinette poster
6.2

1947, in France, Antoine and Antoinette, a young couple living in Paris, lead a monotonous existence: he works in a print shop while she is a shop assistant. But one evening, they regain hope: Antoine finds a winning lottery ticket in his girlfriend's handbag. He decides to cash it in, but loses his wallet. What follows is a series of twists and turns that redefine the couple's priorities while forcing them to remain optimistic.

Antoine & Antoinette

1947

The Adventures of Arsène Lupin poster
6.6

Arsène Lupin is extremely popular among the population, because he allows the needy to share in his acquired wealth. Before entering the service of the German Emperor Wilhelm II, he removes his vault in Alsace, steals two paintings of old masters, steals valuable gems and calls out to the police prefect to avoid his arrest. But this time he risks being seriously recognized. Lupin must once again use his fine intellect to deftly escape the situation.

The Adventures of Arsène Lupin

1957

The Adventures of Arsène Lupin poster
6.6

Arsène Lupin is extremely popular among the population, because he allows the needy to share in his acquired wealth. Before entering the service of the German Emperor Wilhelm II, he removes his vault in Alsace, steals two paintings of old masters, steals valuable gems and calls out to the police prefect to avoid his arrest. But this time he risks being seriously recognized. Lupin must once again use his fine intellect to deftly escape the situation.

The Adventures of Arsène Lupin

1957

Casque d'Or poster
7.3

At the end of the 19th century, during a ball in Joinville, on the outskirts of Paris, Georges, a former delinquent working as a carpenter, meets Marie, a young woman connected to a criminal gang.

Casque d'Or

1952

Casque d'Or poster
7.3

At the end of the 19th century, during a ball in Joinville, on the outskirts of Paris, Georges, a former delinquent working as a carpenter, meets Marie, a young woman connected to a criminal gang.

Casque d'Or

1952

Paris Frills poster
6.4

Philippe Clarence, a famous Parisian dressmaker, seduces his friend's fiancee. But, for the first time in his life, this is for real. The film is also a sharp picture of the fashion world.

Paris Frills

1945

Paris Frills poster
6.4

Philippe Clarence, a famous Parisian dressmaker, seduces his friend's fiancee. But, for the first time in his life, this is for real. The film is also a sharp picture of the fashion world.

Paris Frills

1945

Rue de l'estrapade poster
5.6

While Henri Laurent speeds along on the racing circuits, his pretty wife Françoise goes from luxury boutique to luxury boutique with her best friend Denise. One day, Denise lets her know that Henri has a lover. Outraged, Françoise moves out of marital home and rents a maids' room in Rue de l'Estrapade. Henri tries to get his wife back but Françoise does not listen. She even looks for a job in a prêt-à-porter shop and lets herself be courted by Robert, her neighbor across the landing...

Rue de l'estrapade

1953

It Happened at the Inn poster
6.7

An old woman living in an inn is killed and her family members seem like the likely culprits.

It Happened at the Inn

1943

Life Is Ours poster
6.4

A propaganda film of the communist party of France, showing how the comrades help the proletariat against the capitalists.

Life Is Ours

1936

Life Is Ours poster
6.4

A propaganda film of the communist party of France, showing how the comrades help the proletariat against the capitalists.

Life Is Ours

1936

Rendezvous in July poster
6.1

Hopes and love and ambitions and friendship in a group of young jazz-loving Parisians.

Rendezvous in July

1949

Rendezvous in July poster
6.1

Hopes and love and ambitions and friendship in a group of young jazz-loving Parisians.

Rendezvous in July

1949

Edward and Caroline poster
6.5

Newlyweds Edward & Caroline are preparing for an important evening when a quarrel over Caroline's dress sets off a series of domestic brouhahas.

Edward and Caroline

1951

Edward and Caroline poster
6.5

Newlyweds Edward & Caroline are preparing for an important evening when a quarrel over Caroline's dress sets off a series of domestic brouhahas.

Edward and Caroline

1951

Cristobal's Gold poster
9.0

Dupuy, the first officer of the Cristobal, a French merchant ship, is informed by cabaret dancer La Rubia that the Cristobal carries a priceless secret cargo of gold. Based on the novel by Albert t'Serstevens.

Cristobal's Gold

1940

The Trump Card poster
4.7

A man is shot In the hotel of an imaginary South American country. Clarence and Montès, two inspector students, must solve this murder, but they don't know that dead guy is the USA public enemy No.1.

The Trump Card

1942

Pitiless Gendarme poster
7.0

The police superintendent may be good-natured but he has got a lot on his plate with all the witnesses that come to make a statement before him. They are all crazier than the others and although the superintendent is not too bad at keeping his self-control, he might well go nuts after all with this bunch of lunatics!

Pitiless Gendarme

1935

Pitiless Gendarme poster
7.0

The police superintendent may be good-natured but he has got a lot on his plate with all the witnesses that come to make a statement before him. They are all crazier than the others and although the superintendent is not too bad at keeping his self-control, he might well go nuts after all with this bunch of lunatics!

Pitiless Gendarme

1935

The Great Hope poster
NR

Scenes and images from the French Communist Party's (PCF) 1937 Congress in Arles. La Grande Espérance highlights some of the PCF's new concerns under the Popular Front: a warning against international fascism, a desire for organic unity, and the defense of national heritage and regional cultures. It also reveals the first signs of a cult of personality surrounding Maurice Thorez. La Grande Espérance was screened (and possibly re-edited) after the Liberation. A commentary was then added to the credits emphasizing the continuity of the Communist Party’s political line and the sacrifice of its activists during the war. Today, only this post-1945 version exists.

The Great Hope

1937