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Yves Allégret was one of the prominent directors of post-WW II French cinema, noted especially for his film noirs. He is the younger brother of French filmmaker Marc Allégret. Yves began his career in the early 1930s by assisting Augusto Genina, Jean Renoir, and his brother Marc. He then went on to direct a series of short films; at this time, he also worked as an art director. During his earliest years, he appeared on the credits as Yves Champlain. One of his documentary shorts The Girls of France was shown at the 1939 New York World's Fair. Allégret made his feature-film debut in 1940, but he did not become an established director until after the war. His films are noted for their naturalism and dark realism, particularly his film Une si Jolie Petite Plage (1949). In the mid-1940s he launched the career of his wife Simone Signoret who starred in some of Allégret's most distinguished films. French actress Catherine Allégret is their daughter. Allégret and Signoret divorced in 1949. In 1987, Allégret died shortly before he was scheduled to receive a French Cesar award for his career achievement.