Jacques Becker

Former assistant to Jean Renoir who began directing his own features in the early 1940s. Becker directed only 13 films and has been largely neglected by critics, though he was celebrated by the auteurs of the New Wave for "Casque d'Or" (1952), a spirited, atmospheric tour of France's turn-of-the-century underworld, and "Touchez pas au Grisbi" (1954), an intriguing gangster melodrama starring Jean Gabin and Jeanne Moreau. Becker was married to actress Francoise Fabian and his son Jean Becker is also a director.