The more serious international critics were impressed by his next film, Le Feu Follet/The Fire Within (1963), the alternately repellent and fascinating account of the last days in the life of an alcoholic (played by Maurice Ronet). As with Ascenseur Pour L'Echafaud, Le Feu was enhanced by a strong music score, composed in this case by Erik Satie. More controversy came the director's way with his 1969 documentary L'Inde Fantome/Phantom India, which caused the Indian government to lodge a complaint against Malle's unblinking look at the country's appalling poverty. Le Souffle au Coeur/Murmur of the Heart (1971), an Italian-German co-production, was a gentle comedy about the subject of incest and family values, while Lacombe Lucien (1974) was a dissection of France under Nazi occupation; both films, however, tended to solidify Malle's reputation as a "sex" director in the eyes of those who couldn't see beyond this element.

Sex was a theme once again in Pretty Baby (1978), Malle's first American film, in which Brooke Shields (in her first important role) played a 12-year-old New Orleans prostitute. The film stirred up the would-be censors of the world, but the fuss was truly unnecessary; the film was more atmospheric than erotic, eschewing graphic depiction for thought-provoking insights on the nature of desire. Malle's next effort, Atlantic City (1980) was widely hailed as his best American film, featuring topnotch performances from Burt Lancaster and Susan Sarandon. What might have become a seamy look at American subculture in lesser hands became a life-affirming romance, making an unlikely hero out of an erstwhile drug courier.

The film won numerous international honors, including a British Academy Award for Best Direction for Malle. Similarly acclaimed was My Dinner with André (1982), a filmed dialogue between experimental theater director André Gregory and actor/playwright Wallace Shawn; a testament to Malle's skill as a director, the film managed to be absorbing enough to hold audiences for what was essentially a 90-minute conversation. Malle subsequently received some of the greatest acclaim of his career with Au Revoir Les Enfants (1987). Based upon his own experience as a young boy in Nazi-occupied France, the film was a cathartic portrait of courage, betrayal, and the horrible effects of anti-Semitism.

It won numerous international awards, including three French Césars -- for Best Film, Director, and Screenplay -- and was praised for its unsentimental depiction of unlikely friendship and lost innocence. Commuting between Europe and the U.S. during the last few years of his life (often in the company of his third wife, actress Candice Bergen), Malle continued to offer works of great visual beauty and muted social observation, with May Fools (1989) and the controversial Damage (1992) keeping him in the international spotlight.

He directed his last film in 1994; a triumphant, unorthodox adaptation of Chekov's play as directed by previous collaborator André Gregory, Vanya on 42nd Street was a radiant end to Malle's long and distinguished career. He died of cancer on November 23, 1995, survived by wife Bergen and their daughter Chloe.