Melville, Jean-Pierre 1917-1973

A bout de souffle ( Visual )
8 editions published between 1992 and 2007 in French and held by 1,231 libraries worldwide
A small-time criminal kills a police officer, setting in motion a tragic series of events for both himself and his American girlfriend.

L'armée des ombres Army of shadows ( Visual )
9 editions published between 2006 and 2011 in French and English and held by 780 libraries worldwide
L'Armee des Ombres is a stark and unvarnished story about Resistance fighters in Vichy France in 1942-43 when the French leadership allowed the Nazis to occupy the country. The members of this army are cold, hungry, desperate men and women, with false names and no addresses, who can be betrayed in an instant by a traitor or an accident. They know they will probably die. A meditation on the nature of resistance and the price of courage, these heroes can save their own country only by cutting themselves apart from it. Entangled in the political turmoil engulfing France in the wake of May '68--as a result received poorly there--the film was not distributed in the US until 2006.

Le samouraï The samurai ( Visual )
12 editions published between 1967 and 2009 in French and held by 583 libraries worldwide
Jef Costello is a fedora and trench-coat wearing contract killer with samurai instincts. When Jef assassinates a nightclub owner, he finds himself confronted by a series of witnesses, who drop his perfect world into the hands of a persistent police investigator and Jef's shadowy employer, both of whom are determined to put an end to the career criminal.

Bob le flambeur Bob the gambler ( Visual )
15 editions published between 1955 and 2006 in French and English and held by 576 libraries worldwide
Bob the gambler and his friends learn that the Deauville Casino expects to pull in 800 million francs. On the night of the heist Bob plays the casino tables until the appointed time. Before the dawn breaks, some of the men and women will win, some will lose, and some will die.

Le cercle rouge Red circle ( Visual )
10 editions published between 1981 and 2009 in French and English and held by 501 libraries worldwide
A master thief is fresh out of prison. But instead of toeing the line, he finds his steps leading back to the shadowy world of crime. He, a notorious escapee, and an alcoholic ex-cop plan a jewel heist, while being pursued by a police superintendent.

Les enfants terribles ( Visual )
2 editions published in 2007 in French and held by 363 libraries worldwide
Elisabeth is very protective of her teenage brother Paul, who has been injured in a snowball fight at school and has to rest in bed most of the time. The siblings are inseparable, living in the same room, fighting, playing secret games, and rarely leaving the house. Paul's friend, Gerard, often drops by to stay with them. One day Elisabeth brings home Agathe to live with them. She bears a strong resemblance to Dargelos, a schoolboy whom Paul had a crush on and the same boy who injured him. Paul and Agathe become attracted to each other, causing Elizabeth to be very jealous.

Le Doulos ( Visual )
1 edition published in 2008 in French and held by 320 libraries worldwide
As the title screens explain, in gangster slang, 'doulos' means 'hat.' In the slang shared by criminal and police, 'doulos' also designates the person who wears it: the informer. Through shadowy back streets on the edge of Paris, an ingenious cat and mouse game is played as two underworld characters, seemingly working against each other, find themselves in a deadly entanglement of their own making but infinitely larger than both of them. Faugel, a thief recently released from prison, and Silien, Faugel's best friend and all-around suspicious character, are up against shady nightclub owner Nuttheccio, and the police's Capt. Clain, ruthless as any criminal. The hapless gangsters know two things: their sense of honor is the only thing they can take with them to the grave, and that date with the grave is coming all too soon. By Jean-Pierre Melville, French poet of crime cinema, full of shadows, night, trench coats, guns, tough guys, cigarettes, slinky dames, cocktail bars, crooked cops, betrayal, and loot.

Le deuxième souffle ( Visual )
1 edition published in 2008 in French and held by 270 libraries worldwide
A French criminal, recently escaped from prison and trying to pull off a robbery, finds himself being chased by an inspector.

Melville on Melville by Jean-Pierre Melville ( Book )
6 editions published between 1971 and 1972 in English and held by 268 libraries worldwide

A bout de souffle Breathless ( Visual )
2 editions published between 1985 and 2005 in French and held by 261 libraries worldwide
A small-time hood kills a policeman and tries to leave France, but his American girlfriend betrays him to the police and he gets killed trying to escape.