Louis Malle made his striking directorial debut in this French film, "Elevator to the Gallows" in 1958, with the script cowritten by him and Roger Nimier.
Jeanne Moreau plays an unhappily married woman who colludes with her lover Tavernier (Maurice Ronet) to kill her husband (Jean Wall), for whom he works. Tavernier takes a gun, goes up to his boss' office via a rope out his own office window, and kills him. As he's leaving the building, he sees that he did not collect the rope. He leaves his car running, leaving his coat and gun inside while he runs in to retrieve the rope. Unfortunately, while he's in the elevator, the building is closed, and that includes the power. He's stuck.
Meanwhile, two young people, an impulsive, cagey young man and his girlfriend from a flower shop (Georges Poujouly, Yori Bertin) steal Tavernier's fancy car and take off.
Fabulous noir set in rainy France with captivating scenery and Miles Davis music, perfectly catching the atmosphere - Moreau, not knowing where Tavernier is, walking in the rain, going from bar to bar trying to find him; the two young lovers on an adventure, the girl with a romantic, Juliet-like attitude, the boy headstrong; Tavernier, smoking in the elevator as he works on how to get out; people still talking of the Occupation and war in Algiers...Malle weaves a fascinating story of fate and random circumstance.
There isn't a lot of dialogue in this film, but the actions say it all. Paris in the rain and suspense - it doesn't get much better.
Jeanne Moreau plays an unhappily married woman who colludes with her lover Tavernier (Maurice Ronet) to kill her husband (Jean Wall), for whom he works. Tavernier takes a gun, goes up to his boss' office via a rope out his own office window, and kills him. As he's leaving the building, he sees that he did not collect the rope. He leaves his car running, leaving his coat and gun inside while he runs in to retrieve the rope. Unfortunately, while he's in the elevator, the building is closed, and that includes the power. He's stuck.
Meanwhile, two young people, an impulsive, cagey young man and his girlfriend from a flower shop (Georges Poujouly, Yori Bertin) steal Tavernier's fancy car and take off.
Fabulous noir set in rainy France with captivating scenery and Miles Davis music, perfectly catching the atmosphere - Moreau, not knowing where Tavernier is, walking in the rain, going from bar to bar trying to find him; the two young lovers on an adventure, the girl with a romantic, Juliet-like attitude, the boy headstrong; Tavernier, smoking in the elevator as he works on how to get out; people still talking of the Occupation and war in Algiers...Malle weaves a fascinating story of fate and random circumstance.
There isn't a lot of dialogue in this film, but the actions say it all. Paris in the rain and suspense - it doesn't get much better.