Made in U.S.A. (1966 film)

Made in U.S.A.
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJean-Luc Godard
Screenplay byJean-Luc Godard
Based on
Produced byGeorges de Beauregard
Starring
CinematographyRaoul Coutard
Edited by
Music by
Production
companies
  • Rome Paris Films
  • Anouchka Films
  • S.E.P.I.C.
Distributed byLux Compagnie Cinématographique de France
Release dates
Running time
85 minutes
CountryFrance
LanguageFrench
Budget$50,000
Box office$95,209

Made in U.S.A is a 1966 French crime comedy film written and directed by Jean-Luc Godard, and starring Anna Karina, László Szabó, Jean-Pierre Léaud, Marianne Faithfull, Yves Afonso, and Jean-Claude Bouillon. It was a loose and unauthorized adaptation of the 1965 novel The Jugger by Richard Stark (an alias of Donald E. Westlake), and was also inspired by the 1946 Howard Hawks film The Big Sleep (which was, in turn, an adaptation of the 1939 novel of the same name by Raymond Chandler).

Because neither Godard nor the producer got permission or paid for the rights to adapt The Jugger, Westlake brought legal action, and the film was not released in the United States for over four decades. A newly restored print of the film was distributed by Rialto Pictures in 2009, starting with a screening at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco on April 1, which was three months after Westlake's death. The Criterion Collection released the film on DVD in July 2009.