Welcome to the official Film/Art Gallery collection of original Jean-Pierre Melville vintage movie posters from his critically acclaimed catalog of timeless cinematic creations.

Jean-Pierre Melville was born Jean-Pierre Grumbach on October 1917 in Paris, France. He was a French filmmaker and actor. He adopted the Melville after Herman Melville, an American author. Grumbach joined the French Resistance to oppose the German Nazis after the fall of France in 1940. When he came back from the war, he was refused when he applied for a license to become an assistant director, so he decided to direct his movies by his own means. He became an independent film-maker and owned a studio in Rue Jenner, Paris.

Jean-Pierre Melville was well known for his minimalist film noir, such as Le Doulos in 1962, a French crime film that starred Jean-Paul Belmondo and Serge Reggiani; Le Samourai in 1967, a neo-noir crime film, starred Alain Delon, Nathalie Delon, Francois Perier and Cathy Rosier. The film was about a professional hitman who is seen by witnesses, and his efforts in making alibi drive him further into a corner; Le Cercie Rouge in 1970, a Franco-Italian crime film set mostly in Paris, starred Alain Delon, Bourvil, Yves Montand, and Gian Maria Volonte. Melville's style of film-making was a major influence on the French New Wave film movement. Jean-Luc Godard used him as a minor character in his movie Breathless in 1960. Melville's film style was influenced by American cinema particularly gangster films in the 1930s and 1940s.

Jean-Pierre Melville was asked to be one of the juries at the 13th Berlin International Film Festival in 1963.

Film/Art Gallery’s collection of original Jean-Pierre Melville movie posters includes a Raymond Gid artwork for the film The Forgiven Sinner. Also included is a rare Italian Jean-Pierre Melville poster for the classic, The Godson.

Film/Art Gallery movie posters are original prints and film poster collectibles. These are original movie posters. We do not carry any movie poster reproductions or reprints of any kind.