Background
Yves Allégret was born on 13 October 1907 in Paris. The younger brother of Marc Allégret, Yves worked his way into directing quite slowly. He assisted his brother on Mamzelle Nitouche (31) (which he remade in 1953 with Fernandel in the Raimu part) and Le Lac-aux-Daines (34).
Career
Yves worked with Renoir on La Chienne (32) but spent most of the 1930s directing shorts or working as an art director. It was during the war that he began directing features, quickly establishing a Carné-like blend of naturalism and black poetry.
The films were mannered, good looking, and well acted, especially those starring his wife, Simone Signoret—La Boîte aux Rêves, Décide d'Anvers, and Manèges—but nothing prepares one for the achievement of Une Si Jolie Petite Plage, an indelible image, set in a wretched seaside town in winter, marvelously photographed by Henri Alekan and arguably Gérard Philipe’s finest study of romantic despair. The last scenes of that film are more chilling than any of Carnés effects and immeasurably graver than the rest of Allégret.