
Louis Malle
Biography
Louis Marie Malle (30 October 1932 – 23 November 1995) was a French film director, screenwriter, and producer. His film "The Silent World" won the Palme d'Or in 1956 and the Academy Award for Best Documentary in 1957, although he was not credited at the ceremony with the award instead being presented to the film's co-director Jacques Cousteau. Later in his career he was nominated multiple times for Academy Awards. Malle is also one of the few directors to have won the Golden Lion multiple times.
Malle worked in both French cinema and Hollywood, and he produced both French and English language films. His most famous films include the crime film "Elevator to the Gallows" (1958), the World War II drama "Lacombe, Lucien" (1974), the romantic crime film "Atlantic City" (1980), the comedy-drama "My Dinner with Andre" (1981), and the autobiographical film "Au Revoir les Enfants" (1987).
Malle was born into a wealthy industrialist family in Thumeries, Nord, France. He initially studied political science at Sciences Po before turning to film studies at IDHEC instead.
He assisted Robert Bresson on "A Man Escaped" (1956) before making his first feature, "Elevator to the Gallows" (1958), a taut thriller featuring an original score by Miles Davis, which made an international film star of Jeanne Moreau, at the time a leading stage actress of the Comédie-Française. Malle was 24 years old.
Malle's "The Lovers" (1958), which also starred Moreau, caused major controversy due to its sexual content, leading to a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case regarding the legal definition of obscenity. Malle is sometimes associated with the nouvelle vague movement, and while Malle's work does not directly fit in with or correspond to the auteurist theories that apply to the work of Godard, Truffaut, Chabrol, Rohmer and others, and he had nothing whatsoever to do with the Cahiers du cinéma, his films do exemplify many of the characteristics of the movement, such as using natural light and shooting on location, and his film "Zazie dans le Métro" (1960), an adaptation of the Raymond Queneau novel, inspired Truffaut to write an enthusiastic letter to Malle.
In 1968 Malle visited India and made a seven-part documentary series "Phantom India" (1969), which was released in cinemas. Concentrating on real India, its rituals and festivities, Malle fell afoul of the Indian government, which disliked his portrayal of the country, in its fascination with the pre-modern, and consequently banned the BBC from filming in India for several years. Malle later claimed his documentary on India was his favorite film.
Malle later moved to the United States and continued to direct there. Just as his earlier films such as "The Lovers" helped popularize French films in the United States, "My Dinner with Andre" was at the forefront of the rise of American independent cinema in the 1980s.
Acting (26 movies)

La Vie de Bohème
1992

A Very Private Affair
1962

Becoming Cousteau
2021

God's Country
1985

Un metteur en ordre: Robert Bresson
1966

Calcutta
1969

Place de la République
1974

… And the Pursuit of Happiness
1986

The Road to Bresson
1984

A Very Curious Girl
1969

Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool
2019

Jean Renoir: Part One - From La Belle Époque to World War II
1993

Who Is Henry Jaglom?
1997

Crazeologie
1954

La Vie en Gris: The Anglophone Louis Malle in Seven Pictures
2022

365 Day Project
2007

My Dinner with Louis
1984

Before the Nickelodeon: The Cinema of Edwin S. Porter
1982

L'affaire Matzneff
2020

Louis Malle, le rebelle
2015

Hollywood’s Children
1982

The Thief of Paris
1967

Jeanne Moreau: Free Spirit
2018

Jerry Lewis: The Man Behind the Clown
2016

Jacques Cousteau: The First 75 Years
1985

Louis Malle, le révolté
2025
Directing (32 movies)

Elevator to the Gallows
1958

Au Revoir les Enfants
1987

May Fools
1990

The Lovers
1958

Zazie dans le Métro
1960

The Fire Within
1963

Damage
1992

Atlantic City
1980

Viva Maria!
1965

Vanya on 42nd Street
1994

Pretty Baby
1978

My Dinner with Andre
1981

Black Moon
1975

Spirits of the Dead
1968

Murmur of the Heart
1971

Vive Le Tour
1962

A Very Private Affair
1962

The Thief of Paris
1967

Lacombe, Lucien
1974
La Fontaine-de-Vaucluse
1955

Best Regards from Bangkok
1964

Crackers
1984

God's Country
1985

A Human Condition
1974

Calcutta
1969

Place de la République
1974

… And the Pursuit of Happiness
1986

Alamo Bay
1985

Crazeologie
1954

The Silent World
1956

Station 307
1955
Close up: Dominique Sanda ou le rêve éveillé
1977
| Title | Year | Job |
|---|---|---|
| Station 307 | 1955 | Writer |
| Elevator to the Gallows | 1958 | Screenplay |
| Zazie dans le Métro | 1960 | Screenplay |
| Zazie dans le Métro | 1960 | Producer |
| A Very Private Affair | 1962 | Writer |
| Vive Le Tour | 1962 | Writer |
| The Fire Within | 1963 | Screenplay |
| The Thief of Tibadabo | 1965 | Producer |
| Viva Maria! | 1965 | Screenplay |
| Young Törless | 1966 | Producer |
| The Thief of Paris | 1967 | Screenplay |
| Spirits of the Dead | 1968 | Screenplay |
| Calcutta | 1969 | Writer |
| Murmur of the Heart | 1971 | Writer |
| Lacombe, Lucien | 1974 | Writer |
| Lacombe, Lucien | 1974 | Producer |
| Black Moon | 1975 | Writer |
| Pretty Baby | 1978 | Producer |
| Alamo Bay | 1985 | Producer |
| … And the Pursuit of Happiness | 1986 | Producer |
| Au Revoir les Enfants | 1987 | Screenplay |
| Au Revoir les Enfants | 1987 | Producer |
| May Fools | 1990 | Producer |
| May Fools | 1990 | Screenplay |
| Damage | 1992 | Producer |