Writing

Jean-Patrick Manchette

Born December 19, 1942 · Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône, France

Died June 3, 1995 · aged 52

Jean-Patrick Manchette (19 December 1942, Marseille – 3 June 1995, Paris) was a French crime novelist credited with reinventing and reinvigorating the genre. He wrote ten short novels in the seventies and early eighties, and is widely recognized as the foremost French crime fiction author of that period. His stories are violent explorations of the human condition and French society. Manchette was …

Known For

The Gunman

The Gunman · 2015

MovieActionDrama

Eight years after fleeing the Congo following his assassination of that country's minister of mining, former assassin Jim Terrier is back, suffering from PTSD and digging wells to atone for his violent past. After an attempt is made on his life, Terrier flies to London to find out who wants him dead -- and why. Terrier's search leads him to a reunion with Annie, a woman he once loved, who is now married to an oily businessman with dealings in Africa.

Time Masters

Time Masters · 1982

MovieAnimationScience Fiction

On planet Perdide, an attack of giant hornets leaves young Piel alone in a wrecked car with his dying father. A mayday message reaches their friend Jaffar, an adventurer travelling through space. Onboard Jaffar’s shuttle are the renegade Prince Matton, his fiancée, and Silbad, who knows Perdide well. Thus begins an incredible race across space to save Piel.

Three Men to Kill

Three Men to Kill · 1980

Three Men to Kill

MovieCrimeThriller

A man helps the victim of an auto accident, not realizing that the man has actually been shot. The men who shot him are now after the man who helped him, in order to eliminate him as a potential witness. Soon they are killing everyone he even comes in contact with in order to get him.

Act of Aggression

Act of Aggression · 1975

Act of Aggression

MovieDramaCrime

After his wife and daughter are raped and killed by a motorbike gang, a man sets out to take revenge.

For a Cop's Hide

For a Cop's Hide · 1981

For a Cop's Hide

MovieThrillerAction

Victim of manipulation, Cop Choucas is wanted for two murders and searched for by every cop in town.

Cover Up

Cover Up · 1983

MovieCrimeRomance

A well-known business lawyer is shot dead in the courthouse. A commissioner of the Criminal Brigade is in charge of the investigation and is helped by a journalist.

The Nada Gang

The Nada Gang · 1974

MovieThrillerDrama

Nada, named after a gang of Spanish anarchists, is a small, confused band of French terrorists. They kidnap the American ambassador after one of his regular visits to an exclusive brothel. The gang starts to quarrel amongst themselves as to the diplomat's fate, while the police purge suspects in their attempts to destroy the Nada faction. As the violence escalates on both sides, the States and the terrorists are forced to use one another's methods in an increasingly desperate and relentless conflict.

Let the Corpses Tan

Let the Corpses Tan · 2017

Let the Corpses Tan

MovieCrimeWestern

With a heavy haul of 250 kilograms of gold bullion, the grizzled criminal mastermind, Rhino, and his ruthless gang of cutthroats, head to a ramshackle retreat somewhere in the Mediterranean to lay low on a scorching day of July. However, the unexpected and rather unwelcome arrival of the bohemian writer, Bernier, his muse, Luce, along with a pair of no-joke gendarmes further complicates things, as the frail allegiances will soon be put to the test.

Filmography

Sort

The Gunman

The Gunman · 2015

MovieActionDrama

Eight years after fleeing the Congo following his assassination of that country's minister of mining, former assassin Jim Terrier is back, suffering from PTSD and digging wells to atone for his violent past. After an attempt is made on his life, Terrier flies to London to find out who wants him dead -- and why. Terrier's search leads him to a reunion with Annie, a woman he once loved, who is now married to an oily businessman with dealings in Africa.

Novel

Time Masters

Time Masters · 1982

MovieAnimationScience Fiction

On planet Perdide, an attack of giant hornets leaves young Piel alone in a wrecked car with his dying father. A mayday message reaches their friend Jaffar, an adventurer travelling through space. Onboard Jaffar’s shuttle are the renegade Prince Matton, his fiancée, and Silbad, who knows Perdide well. Thus begins an incredible race across space to save Piel.

Dialogue

Three Men to Kill

Three Men to Kill · 1980

Three Men to Kill

MovieCrimeThriller

A man helps the victim of an auto accident, not realizing that the man has actually been shot. The men who shot him are now after the man who helped him, in order to eliminate him as a potential witness. Soon they are killing everyone he even comes in contact with in order to get him.

Novel

Act of Aggression

Act of Aggression · 1975

Act of Aggression

MovieDramaCrime

After his wife and daughter are raped and killed by a motorbike gang, a man sets out to take revenge.

Writer

For a Cop's Hide

For a Cop's Hide · 1981

For a Cop's Hide

MovieThrillerAction

Victim of manipulation, Cop Choucas is wanted for two murders and searched for by every cop in town.

Novel

Cover Up

Cover Up · 1983

MovieCrimeRomance

A well-known business lawyer is shot dead in the courthouse. A commissioner of the Criminal Brigade is in charge of the investigation and is helped by a journalist.

Writer

The Nada Gang

The Nada Gang · 1974

MovieThrillerDrama

Nada, named after a gang of Spanish anarchists, is a small, confused band of French terrorists. They kidnap the American ambassador after one of his regular visits to an exclusive brothel. The gang starts to quarrel amongst themselves as to the diplomat's fate, while the police purge suspects in their attempts to destroy the Nada faction. As the violence escalates on both sides, the States and the terrorists are forced to use one another's methods in an increasingly desperate and relentless conflict.

Screenplay

Let the Corpses Tan

Let the Corpses Tan · 2017

Let the Corpses Tan

MovieCrimeWestern

With a heavy haul of 250 kilograms of gold bullion, the grizzled criminal mastermind, Rhino, and his ruthless gang of cutthroats, head to a ramshackle retreat somewhere in the Mediterranean to lay low on a scorching day of July. However, the unexpected and rather unwelcome arrival of the bohemian writer, Bernier, his muse, Luce, along with a pair of no-joke gendarmes further complicates things, as the frail allegiances will soon be put to the test.

Novel

The Shock

The Shock · 1982

MovieCrimeAction

Martin Terrier wants to quit his job as a hired hitman, but his organized crime employers are unwilling to see him turned out to pasture, Terrier knows too much, and he is still useful to the organization. He escapes to the countryside where he meets Claire, and the two soon fall in love. Back in Paris to confront his employers, Terrier learns that they've stolen all his money from the bank. They give him an ultimatum—do one last job for them and he gets his money and his freedom...

Novel

Mad Enough to Kill

Mad Enough to Kill · 1975

Mad Enough to Kill

Julie Ballenger has spent five years in a psychiatric clinic. Leaving the clinic apparently cured, she is hired by a wealthy industrialist, Mostri, to work as a governess to his young nephew, Thomas. The boy is heir to a huge fortune after the recent death of his wealthy parents who died in mysterious circumstances. During a visit to a park, Julie and Thomas are kidnapped at gun-point and driven away to deserted quarry. The two hostages manage to escape, but are closely pursued by an armed killer...

Novel

Legitimate Violence

Legitimate Violence · 1982

Legitimate Violence

MovieActionCrime

In the course of a violent hold-up at Deauville station, several innocent bystanders are shot dead. The victims include a politician, Robert Andréani, and three members of the same family. Devastated by the death of his wife, daughter and mother, Martin Modot resolves that their killers will be brought to justice. When the police fail to make any progress in their investigation, he decides to take matters into his own hands, with the support of a neo-fascist vigilante organization.

Screenplay

The Probability Factor

The Probability Factor · 1976

The Probability Factor

MovieComedyCrime

Fred works for an insurance company as a computer engineer. He is bored with enduring the trials of his shrewish wife, so, after using actuarial tables to calculate the most common means of death, he cleverly prepares the family bathroom and brings about her demise. For a while he is content with his new freedom, but then he recognizes that a friend is in a similar situation.

Screenplay

The Slave

The Slave · 1967

While entertaining her lover one weekend, a woman's marriage is threatened by the sudden appearance of her evil step-brother. Beyond using her home to hide from the police after his recent heist, he also blackmails her in to a horrendous weekend filled with debauchery and violence. After her ordeal she is anything but bored.

Writer

Polar

MovieCrimeThriller

This film noir tends to stay within very conventional plot lines, as the narration by the main protagonist, private detective Eugene Tarpon Jean-François Balmer, recites a dreary litany of how he wanted to chuck his profession until an attractive woman shows up asking him to investigate the murder of her roommate, a porno star. Soon Tarpon is up to his neck in trouble: the police, gangsters, and the victim's lover are all out to get him.

Novel

Love + Fear = Torment

Love + Fear = Torment · 1967

Love + Fear = Torment

"Love + fear = Torment" exposes the secret world of the French model studios, and the men who try to corrupt them. Mobsters become involved when fifty-thousand dollars worth of uncut gems are stolen. A model studio becomes terrorized as one of the models innocently befriends one of the mobsters.

Adaptation