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 ...