his father on several of his later films), and Étienne Becker who was a cinematographer. In 1957 the actress Françoise Fabian became Becker's second wife. Reputation Perhaps because his career as a director was relatively short (13 features completed before his early death) and because the variety of his subjects and genres makes him difficult to categorise, Becker's reputation has tended to be overshadowed by those French film-makers who have fitted more easily into a critical narrative. He was however highly esteemed by many of his fellow film-makers. Jean Renoir, who knew him first as a friend and then as his assistant, described him as "my brother and my son ... someone who was both lovable and ardent", and he singled out Casque d'or as "one of the masterpieces of the screen". Jean-Pierre Melville was another friend, who regarded Becker's support for his early films as being crucial in giving him the confidence to continue his own career as a film-maker. He also described an example of Becker's perfectionism when he used Melville's studio to re-shoot scenes for Le Trou, repeating multiple takes before he felt satisfied that it was as good as it could be. Melville regarded Le Trou as one of the greatest films. For the critic-directors of the New Wave in the 1950s, Becker was one of a select group of French film-makers whom they excluded from a moribund "tradition of quality" and regarded as auteurs, genuine creators of their own films who often wrote their own screenplays as well as directing. Jacques Rivette worked as Becker's assistant in 1954 on Ali Baba et les quarante voleurs. Jean-Luc Godard referred to Becker as "Frère Jacques". François Truffaut wrote often about Becker, and in an admiring review of Touchez pas au grisbi he argued that Becker's films stood apart from all theories and styles and were very much his own. They were notable less for their subjects or plots than for their economical, pared-down treatment and their explorations of character; "his work is a perpetual challenge to vulgarity, and it is a gamble Becker invariably wins, for his films are alway elegant and dignified". Later assessments have taken up a number of these observations. Several critics have emphasised his attention to details, not only to create atmosphere but as a key to exploration of the characters who are linked to them. The prioritisation of character over plot is