French director Jean-Pierre Melville, born Jean-Pierre Grumbach, took his adopted surname from the American creator of that great blanc whale and went noir with it.

"Le Doulos" is as noir as it gets. From frame one, the Parisian underworld atmosphere in this perfectly restored re-release of Melville's 1963 crime thriller is as essential as the action.

Seedy sad-sack Maurice (Serge Reggiani) has just finished doing four years for burglary but is not exactly rehabilitated. First thing out the slammer, he shleps over to visit old pal Gilbert, a jewel fence, who's setting up a new heist for Maurice and Maurice's young pal Silien (Jean-Paul Belmondo). Suddenly -- shockingly -- Maurice shoots Gilbert and steals lotsa loot from a previous job.

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'Le Doulos' (1963)

3 stars = Good
Ratings explained

• Starring: Serge Reggiani, Jean-Paul Belmondo.
• Rating: PG-13 in nature for violence.
• Movie Trailer: filmforum.org/films/ledoulos.html

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His girlfriend, Therese (Monique Hennessy), doesn't trust Silien, but Maurice goes through with the new robbery anyway. Midway, the cops show up, shooting and wounding him. It seems painfully obvious that Silien is le doulos -- Parisian slang for the police informer who set Maurice up. Indeed, soon after, Silien leads the cops to arrest him.

What's in it for Silien? His ex-girlfriend (Fabienne Dali), for one thing. She's now the moll of a big gangster-club owner (Michel Piccoli, the quintessentially cool, balding villain of this and countless subsequent great French films). Silien repairs to her apartment for some quick sex and crucial help in framing someone other than Maurice for the complicated murders and robberies at hand.

"Do you love me?" asks Fabienne, naked in bed, as Belmondo casually buttons up his shirt. No answer. Finally, he says, "I'll be back tomorrow -- maybe."

Melville's love of 1930s American crime pics is everywhere apparent, from the tough guys and dames and crooked cops to the solitary streetlamps and baffling betrayals. His characters drive huge Detroit cars on narrow Parisian streets, and he was a fetishist of American men's clothing. No Gallic berets here. Doulos, aside from its colloquial "finger man" meaning, is the French name of the small-brimmed fedora worn by good and bad guys alike. They're all dressed in virtually identical trenchcoats. When shot in shadows or from behind -- which is frequently -- you're never quite sure whom you're watching, without a helpful close-up.

And they all Bogart -- as well as chain-smoke -- their Gauloises ...

Reggiani is excellent, and Belmondo, beyond as the impossibly handsome outlaw punk. His most riveting moment comes early on when he comes to the ill-fated (terminally blond-bouffanted) Therese for information about Maurice -- beating her, tying her up and gagging her. No Gallic gallantry for Jean-Paul. "Le Doulos" drew criticism at the time for its decidedly brutal treatment of women.

En fin, Belmondo reinterprets everything with helpful flashback visuals to clarify what we've seen (and been misled by) along the way. Kudos to anyone who can recount it without a scorecard. But c'est la vie -- and le milieu.

Melville's "Bob Le Flambeur" (1956) and "Le Samourai" (1967) are in the film pantheon. His 1969 French resistance film, "Army of Shadows," was a U.S. revival hit last year. He is considered not quite a member but "an ancestor" of the New Wave.

"Le Doulos," with its slatted light on slanted walls and odd, disorienting camera angles, immerses us in the stylish, criminally romantic ambience of Paris. Paul Misraki's moody-blue jazz adds a lot. Only the cheesy car rides (with fake moving backgrounds) seem dated. In this illicit marriage of American detective film with French existential cynicism, there are no heroes.

"All characters are two-faced, all characters are false," says Melville, and their race to the violent finish line leaves nobody left standing.

Opens Friday at Regent Square Theater.