Melville's subject matter and approach to film making was influenced by his service in the French Resistance during World War II, during which he adopted the nom de guerre (pseudonym) 'Melville' as a tribute to his favorite American author Herman Melville.

[5] In 1942, both Jean-Pierre and Jacques crossed the Pyrenees and headed for neutral Spain where they would then try to reach Britain and the Free French Army.

Jacques was carrying money intended for de Gaulle; he was shot dead and robbed by his guide.

Influenced by American cinema, especially gangster films of the 1930s and 1940s, he used accessories such as weapons, clothes (trench coats), and fedora hats, to shape a characteristic look in his movies.

Although a friend of left-wing icons such as Jean-Luc Godard and Yves Montand, Melville referred to his politics as "right-wing anarchist" and "extreme individualist".

[10] Melville died on 2 August 1973 while dining with writer Philippe Labro at the Hôtel PLM Saint-Jacques restaurant in Paris; the cause of death has been variously given as a heart attack or a ruptured aneurysm.

[6][11][12] He was 55 years old and was writing his next film, Contre-enquête, a spy thriller for producer Jacques-Éric Strauss with Yves Montand in the lead.

After Melville's death, Labro took over the project, hoping to finish writing and direct it but he eventually dropped it to film Le hasard et la violence (1974), also starring Montand and for producer Strauss.

When Godard was having difficulty editing the film, Melville suggested that he just cut directly to the best parts of a shot.

[14] Melville's approach to the crime film genre emphasized "habit and rules and codes and the consequences of breaking them".

[2][19] Other directors influenced by Melville include Martin Scorsese,[20][21] Quentin Tarantino,[22] Walter Hill,[23] Johnnie To,[24][25] Takeshi Kitano,[26] John Frankenheimer,[27] John Milius,[28] Nicolas Winding Refn,[29][30][31] Kim Jee-woon, Hossein Amini,[32] Jim Jarmusch,[29][33] and Aki Kaurismäki.