clanciai What a horrible story and extremely awkward predicament! He commits the absolutely most perfect murder imaginable, and then a telephone call makes him forget one detail, and when he tries to remedy his mistake he is caught in an elevator between two storeys and can't get out! And that's only the introductory plot to a web of plots or rather an inextricable mess of misfortunes...There are altogether four criminals and three murders committed, only one planned and three just slipping into it by circumstances. Jeanne Moreau is always perfect in wicked roles, there is a certain trait around her mouth which makes her hopelessly and incurably look cruel, her laugh is never convincing, and she has no sense of humour. That'¨s what's generally lacking in French films, which is why they are best at making sinister films, like this one, "Les yeux sans visage", "Les diaboliques" and other hopelessly dark thrillers, of which this is another one and definitely one of the very best in its grey tristesse and filmed almost exclusively in sterile surroundings - that's the dominant character of almost all French films of the Nouvelle Vague, which makes them slightly inhuman. This is more human, since it's a crime passionnel it's all about, and the youths are just humanly stupid and actually try to commit suicide for their offence.Maurice Ronet is always expressionless and here more than ever - a total poker face, having nothing else to do but to submit to his bleak destiny - not even the smartest murder in the world could save him here.Miles Davis' dark jazz underscores the défaitism of the thriller by being mostly silent but for some poignant reminders to add some acuteness to the dreary mood. It's a brilliant film, the first of many by Louis Malle, most of them equally hopeless, like the dreadful suicide study "Le feu follet"(also with Maurice Ronet), but this is only his second best film. His best film remains his very odd and different collaboration with Jacques-Yves Costeau in "The Silent World", which is also his most human film.

elvircorhodzic ELEVATOR TO THE GALLOWS is a crime drama, which is a sort of collision between the American film noir and the French New Wave. The film was based on a novel of the same name by Noël Calef. The main protagonist is a former paratrooper and veteran of war. He decides to kill the husband of his mistress, who is a rich industrialist and his boss. He has planned the perfect murder, while his crime has to look like a suicide. However, he remains stuck in an elevator after the murder, which initiates a series of unplanned events...Mr. Malle has brought protagonists in a very interesting position. The murderer was captured after his own mistakes. Two young delinquents have engaged in a very dangerous adventure. Woman in love has aimlessly wandered on the bleak streets. The three human stories that are associated with love and crime.The perfect crime has lost its purpose in a series of random events. Each of these events was accompanied by a large dose of irony. The story has certain drawbacks. Every crime was made for love. Plots, which are based on the murder and theft were quite tense.Each of the protagonist has faced with a life struggle. The gloomy and depressing atmosphere has fully corresponded to such relationships. The acting is pretty good, but there is a lack of emotion. Characterization is solid, but almost all the characters have remained incomplete at the end of the film.Jeanne Moreau as Florence Carala is a major figure in this film. She is a woman who has fought for her love to the end. This is a realistic view on a woman in love, while her love and happiness running away from her. Her face is the scene of clashes between the drama, love, desire, courage and disappointment. Maurice Ronet as Julien Tavernier is very interesting at the beginning of the film. However, his character becomes monotonous in the second part of the film. Georges Poujouly (Louis) and Yori Bertin (Véronique) are a young couple of delinquents, which are lost in their own struggle between existence and immaturity.This movie is a somewhat successful experiment. There are certain segments of the ambiguities in the story, but plots are quite interesting. Maybe a little slow for the crime genre.

Scarecrow-88 To think that this was Louis Malle's *first* fictional film! A real showcase for French cinema icon Jeanne Moreau (this was right before The 400 Blows, La Notte, and Jules et Jim) as the wife of a war profiteer (with a company that manufactures product for war) in love with his employee, Julien (Maurice Ronet). Julien and Moreau's Florence have plotted supposedly the perfect murder, a sure-fire suicide setup that appears fool-proof...but is it ever? Leaving the rope and hook that helped Julien get to the floor with the boss' office, he returns to retrieve it but is trapped in the elevator when a fellow employee cuts off the power before locking the gate to the building. Florence believes he has instead left her for another woman, a teenage flower shop girl, seen in the passenger seat of his car (stolen by her hoodlum boyfriend in a leather jacket) as it passes. The rest of the night, Florence spends walking the streets of Paris (luridly and excitingly photographed by Henri Decae (he'd go on to photograph the masterpiece, Le Samourai for Jean-Pierre Melville)) while searching for Julien, running into his drunk war friend instead. Moreau's vulnerable performance, all that angst and rejection, the turmoil and devotion, is masterfully presented warts and all. She's magnificent. And, despite the reports that Malle had her with no makeup much to the dismay of his crew, she's so beautiful and elegant, Moreau is never "ugly" or at all less than stunning. Yet she's emotionally exposed and there's even a scene or two where she's so caught up in her own headspace, her Florence walks into traffic, yet not a single car even glosses a breeze upon her. Meanwhile the flower shop girl and her crook boyfriend get all hot at a German couple in a Mercedes zooming past them while in Julien's stolen car, soon meeting them for champagne and conversation at a Parisian motel. When the stupid kid goes to steal the German's car, he knew ahead of time, calling him on it, with the result being a haphazard dual murder, with the teenagers fleeing the crime scene. The German couple dead, with the hood taking Julien's name, he's framed for their murders, yet the whole night he was trapped in the elevator! The elevator situation involved Julien trying to find a way out, nearly being killed while hanging outside it when a security guard momentarily turned on the power!A camera found in Julien's car, by the flower shop girl as she takes a few pictures of the Germans could be their undoing, with Florence doing all she can to save her true love. Just a year before Breathless, you could consider "Elevator to the Gallows" a precursor to the French New Wave movement that took Paris by storm in the 60s. The noirish look and mood, with that vocal jazz score, and the domino effect that results from the initial crime conducted by Julien makes Malle's cinematic debut a must see for fans of his later work and the French New Wave that came after. Malle's film here is a knockout. A model for how Paris is captured in all its busy and active naturality, Malle delivers a strong story with multiple ongoing subplots, soon converging. Moreau as the anchor is the right choice.

Lechuguilla The underlying premise is fairly unusual and rather interesting. The plot's unfortunate structure, however, forces the story to take forever to get to the point. As we approach the end, all the loose strands finally come together. And the premise then seems quite ingenious.But my goodness, what a circuitous route ... and then the film just stops, rather suddenly. The plot requires improbable coincidences and unlikely occurrences. Too many characters and too much talk detract from any intended suspense. And in a city the size of Paris, how is it that most of the main characters all seem to know each other?The B&W cinematography provides the main reason to watch. Natural lighting adds texture and mystery. Outdoor scenes at night are very high contrast. Which gives the film a noir look and feel. A slow, jazzy score with Miles Davis on trumpet conveys a mournful, sad tone, which blends nicely with the atmospheric lighting.Casting is okay. But acting seems indifferent and aloof. Jeanne Moreau is a wonderful actress. But her character, Florence, is so emotionless. Nor does Maurice Ronet, who plays Florence's partner in crime, convey much emotion, given his predicament. Maybe the Director, Louis Malle, wanted impersonal characters. The only tension is provided by a sequence wherein we peer down a dark elevator shaft."Elevator To The Gallows" could have been a really fine movie, with a better script and possibly a different director. Even so, that B&W lighting, particularly the night scenes, is marvelous, and together with the mournful score, does convey a wonderfully dark, moody film in some sequences.