Ascenseur pour l'échafaud (1958)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

Louis Malle

Writers:

Noël Calef (novel)
Louis Malle (writer)
(more)

Release Date:

23 June 1958 (Uruguay)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Plot:

A self-assured business man murders his employer, the husband of his adulterer, which unintentionally provokes an ill-fated chain of events.

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Rope | Famous Score | Fake Suicide | Carjacking

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Jeanne Moreau	...	Florence Carala
Maurice Ronet	...	Julien Tavernier
Georges Poujouly	...	Louis
Yori Bertin	...	Véronique
Jean Wall	...	Simon Carala
Elga Andersen	...	Frieda Bencker
Sylviane Aisenstein	...	Yvonne
Micheline Bona	...	Geneviève
Gisèle Grandpré	...	Jacqueline Mauclair
Jacqueline Staup	...	Anna
Marcel Cuvelier	...	Le réceptionniste du motel
Gérard Darrieu	...	Maurice
Charles Denner	...	L'adjoint du commissaire Cherrier
Hubert Deschamps	...	Le substitut du procureur
Jacques Hilling	...	Le garagiste
Marcel Journet	...	Le président du conseil d'administration
François Joux	...	Un commissaire
Iván Petrovich	...	Horst Bencker
Félix Marten	...	Christian Subervie
Lino Ventura	...	Le commissaire Cherrier
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Robert Balpo	...	Un consommateur (uncredited)
Nicolas Bataille	...	Un consommateur à la brasserie (uncredited)
Marcel Bernier	...	Un policier au commissariat (uncredited)
Jean-Claude Brialy	...	Le jeune homme du motel (uncredited)
Olivier Darrieux	...	Le chauffeur (uncredited)
Lucien Desagneaux	...	Un journaliste (uncredited)
Pierre Devilder	...	Petit rôle (uncredited)
Pierre Frag	...	Un consommateur à la brasserie (uncredited)
Guy Henry	...	Un inspecteur (uncredited)
Roger Jacquet	...	Gaston (uncredited)
Alice Reichen	...	La fleuriste (uncredited)

Directed by
Louis Malle

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Noël Calef		novel
Louis Malle		writer
Roger Nimier		writer

Produced by
Jean Thuillier	....	producer

Original Music by
Miles Davis

Cinematography by
Henri Decaë

Film Editing by
Léonide Azar

Art Direction by
Jean Mandaroux
Rino Mondellini

Makeup Department
Boris de Fast	....	chief makeup

Production Management
Irénée Leriche	....	production manager
Hubert Mérial	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Alain Cavalier	....	assistant director (as Alain Fraisse)
François Leterrier	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Pierre Guffroy	....	first assistant art director
Clément Hurel	....	poster artist
Jacques Martin	....	property master

Sound Department
Raymond Gauguier	....	sound engineer

Special Effects by
Pierre Lax	....	special effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Jean-Louis Castelli	....	still photographer
Jean Rabier	....	first assistant camera
Vincent Rossell	....	still photographer
André Villard	....	camera operator

Editorial Department
Madeleine Bibollet	....	assistant editor
Kenout Peltier	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Kenny Clarke	....	musician: drums
Miles Davis	....	musician: trumpet
Pierre Michelot	....	musician: bass
René Urtreger	....	musician: piano
Barney Wilen	....	musician: tenor sax

Other crew
Francine Corteggiani	....	script supervisor
Jean-Paul Sassy	....	technical advisor

Production Companies

• Nouvelles Éditions de Films (NEF)

Distributors

• Lux Compagnie Cinématographique de France (1958) (France) (theatrical)
• Arte Vidéo (2005) (France) (DVD)
• Times Film Corporation (1961) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Janus Films (1962) (USA) (theatrical)
• Filmart (1960) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Filmmuseum Distributie (2005) (Netherlands) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Globe (195?) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Rialto Pictures (2005) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release) (subtitled)
• S. Huguet S.A. (1966) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Canvas (2008) (Belgium) (TV)
• Criterion Collection, The (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• DomoVideo (????) (Italy) (video)
• Emerald (2006) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Fil à Film (199?) (France) (VHS)
• Lumière Home Entertainment (2009) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• New Yorker Films (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• Optimum Home Entertainment (2006) (UK) (DVD)
• Video Film Express (2005) (Netherlands) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Warmflash Productions Ltd.  trailer
• Warmflash Productions  trailer

Also Known As:

Elevator to the Gallows
Elevator to the Scaffold
Frantic (USA)
Lift to the Scaffold (UK)

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

France

Language:

French | German

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:PG | West Germany:12 | Norway:16 | Netherlands:12 (re-release) (2005) | Finland:K-16 | Argentina:16

Filming Locations:

26 Rue de Courcelles, Paris 8, Paris, France

Company:

Nouvelles Éditions de Films (NEF)

Trivia:

Louis Malle shot his lead actress Jeanne Moreau in close-up and natural light and often without make-up. Moreau, an icon of French film, had never been seen like this before, to the extent that lab technicians, reportedly appalled at how unflatteringly she was photographed, refused to process the film. Once they were persuaded to, however, it soon began clear that Malle had captured every nuance of Moreau's performance.

Goofs:

Continuity: After becoming soaked while walking around the city in a rain storm in search of Julien, Florence arrives at the bar with her hair dry and still perfectly coiffed, as well as dry clothing and perfect make-up.

Quotes:

Julien Tavernier: How many billions did the Indochina War bring you? And now Algeria, how much?

Movie Connections:

Featured in Geburtstagskinder der Nouvelle Vague (2007) (TV)

Malle's Atmospheric Debut Made Resonant by Moreau's Haunting Presence and Davis's Jazz Score

Louis Malle was all of 25 when he made his directorial debut with this 1958 noirish thriller that also serves as a morality play. Using the elevator of the title as a vehicle for his leitmotif, he does an admirable job of capturing the smoky gray atmosphere of Paris in the 1950's and using it to great cinematic effect on a chain-link story of deception and murder. In fact, the whole movie plays like a Francophile version of a James M. Cain novel times two with plot twists coming in quick and sometimes contrived succession. To its credit, the brief 92-minute running time trots by quickly given the multiple story lines.

The labyrinth story focuses first on illicit lovers Florence Carala, the restless wife of a corrupt arms dealer, and Julien Tavernier, a former war hero working for Florence's husband. There is not a wasted moment as they plot her husband's murder, but of course, things go awry with a forgotten piece of evidence and a running car ready to be taken. An amoral young couple, sullen and resentful Louis and free-spirited Veronique, enter the scene tangentially and get caught up in their own deceptions with a boisterous German couple whom they meet through a fender bender. The plot strands meander somewhat and eventually come together in a climax that has all the characters confronting the harsh reality of their past actions. There is a particular poignancy in the photos Florence sees at the end since we have no indication of the depth of emotion between the lovers otherwise.

Malle, along with co-screenwriter Roger Nimier, presents an interesting puzzle full of irony and chance events, but there is a periodic slackness to the suspense, for instance, Florence's endlessly despondent walk though nocturnal Paris. Jazz great Miles Davis contributes a fitting hipster score, though the music is not as big an element as I expected in setting the mood. With her sorrowful eyes and pouting intelligence, Jeanne Moreau makes a vivid impression as Florence and gives her obsessed character the necessary gravitas to make her journey worthy of our interest. Maurice Ronet effectively plays Julien like a coiled spring throughout, and it's intriguing to note how most of his performance takes place in an immobilized elevator. As Louis and Veronique, Georges Poujuloy and the especially pixyish Yori Bertin are the forerunners for the runaway pair in Jean-Luc Godard's "Breathless" replete with youthful angst and mercenary cool.

The print transfer on the 2006 Criterion Collection DVD package is wonderfully pristine. The first disc also contains the original and 2005 re-release trailers, though there is surprisingly no scholarly audio commentary track (the usual bonus for a Criterion release). The second disc, however, makes up for it with a bevy of extras starting with an extensive 1975 early career retrospective interview with Malle, a 2005 interview with an aged but still haunting Moreau, and a joint interview with the two icons and one-time lovers at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival.

Three shorts on the second disc focus on Davis's contribution - the six-minute "The Record Session" shot the night Davis and his musicians recorded the score; a remembrance piece with pianist Rene Utreger, the only surviving member of Davis's ensemble; and the celebratory "Miles Goes Modal: The Breakthrough Score to Elevator to the Gallows" where jazz trumpeter Jon Faddis and music critic Gary Giddins discuss Davis's influence over the generation of musicians to come. There is also a short by Malle set to Charlie Parker's "Crazeology" and an informative 25-page photo essay booklet.