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IMDbPro

Elevator to the Gallows

Original title: Ascenseur pour l'échafaud
  • 19581958
  • Not RatedNot Rated
  • 1h 31m
IMDb RATING
7.9/10
26K
YOUR RATING
Elevator to the Gallows (1958)
The new restoration of Louis Malle's ELEVATOR TO THE GALLOWS, starring Jeanne Moreau, Maurice Ronet, and Lino Ventura, and featuring music by Miles Davis, opens Wednesday August 3 at New York's Film Forum.
Play trailer1:49
1 Video
78 Photos
CrimeDramaThriller
A self-assured businessman murders his employer, the husband of his mistress, which unintentionally provokes an ill-fated chain of events.A self-assured businessman murders his employer, the husband of his mistress, which unintentionally provokes an ill-fated chain of events.A self-assured businessman murders his employer, the husband of his mistress, which unintentionally provokes an ill-fated chain of events.
IMDb RATING
7.9/10
26K
YOUR RATING
    • Louis Malle
    • Roger Nimier(adaptation)
    • Louis Malle(adaptation)
    • Noël Calef(novel)
  • Stars
    • Jeanne Moreau
    • Maurice Ronet
    • Georges Poujouly
    • Louis Malle
    • Roger Nimier(adaptation)
    • Louis Malle(adaptation)
    • Noël Calef(novel)
  • Stars
    • Jeanne Moreau
    • Maurice Ronet
    • Georges Poujouly
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 128User reviews
    • 135Critic reviews
    • 94Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards

    Videos1

    Elevator to the Gallows Trailer - Digital Restoration
    Trailer 1:49
    Watch Elevator to the Gallows Trailer - Digital Restoration

    Photos78

    Maurice Ronet in Elevator to the Gallows (1958)
    Maurice Ronet in Elevator to the Gallows (1958)
    Maurice Ronet in Elevator to the Gallows (1958)
    Charles Denner, Jeanne Moreau, and Lino Ventura in Elevator to the Gallows (1958)
    Yori Bertin and Jeanne Moreau in Elevator to the Gallows (1958)
    Maurice Ronet in Elevator to the Gallows (1958)
    Maurice Ronet and Lino Ventura in Elevator to the Gallows (1958)
    Charles Denner and Jeanne Moreau in Elevator to the Gallows (1958)
    Maurice Ronet and Jean Wall in Elevator to the Gallows (1958)
    Miles Davis and Jeanne Moreau in Elevator to the Gallows (1958)
    Louis Malle and Jeanne Moreau in Elevator to the Gallows (1958)
    Jeanne Moreau in Elevator to the Gallows (1958)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Jeanne Moreau
    Jeanne Moreau
    • Florence Carala
    Maurice Ronet
    Maurice Ronet
    • Julien Tavernier
    Georges Poujouly
    Georges Poujouly
    • Louis
    Yori Bertin
    Yori Bertin
    • Véronique
    Jean Wall
    Jean Wall
    • Simon Carala
    Elga Andersen
    Elga Andersen
    • Frieda Bencker
    Sylviane Aisenstein
    • Yvonne, La fille du bar
    Micheline Bona
    • Geneviève
    Gisèle Grandpré
    • Jacqueline Mauclair
    Jacqueline Staup
    • Anna
    Marcel Cuvelier
    • Le réceptionniste du motel
    Gérard Darrieu
    Gérard Darrieu
    • Maurice
    Charles Denner
    Charles Denner
    • L'adjoint du commissaire Cherrier
    Hubert Deschamps
    Hubert Deschamps
    • Le substitut du procureur
    Jacques Hilling
    Jacques Hilling
    • Le garagiste
    Marcel Journet
    • Le président du conseil d'administration
    François Joux
    • Commissaire de police
    Iván Petrovich
    Iván Petrovich
    • Horst Bencker
      • Louis Malle
      • Roger Nimier(adaptation) (dialogue)
      • Louis Malle(adaptation)
      • Noël Calef(novel) (pre-adaptation)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Miles Davis composed and recorded the music in a single recording session while he watched a screening. He took notes while watching a rough cut and then invited a quartet of French and US musicians in a for few hours (from 11pm to 5am one night), improvising each number and allegedly sipping champagne with Jeanne Moreau and Louis Malle.
    • Goofs
      When Florence arrives at the motel, the photos are just being developed - with the lights on! Exposing the prints to light before fixation would make them turn black. By the way, it's not recommended to put your hands into developer.
    • Quotes

      Commissaire de police: Anything's good for an alibi. Wives, girlfriends, bartenders, childhood friends, deceived husbands - but not an elevator. That's ridiculous. It's totally harebrained.

    • Connections
      Featured in Arcana, connaissance de la musique: Musique et cinéma: 1 La musique de films (1969)
    • Soundtracks
      Ascenseur Pour L'Échafaud (Générique)
      Composed by Miles Davis

      Performed by Miles Davis (Trumpet), Barney Wilen (Tenor Saxophone), Emilhenco (as René Urtreger) (Piano), Pierre Michelot (Bass) and Kenny Clarke (Drums)

    User reviews128

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    9/10
    The black cat has it...
    Ascenseur pour l'échafaud (AKA: Elevator to the Gallows/Lift to the Scaffold) is directed by Louis Malle and co-written by Malle, Roger Nimier and Noël Calef (novel). It stars Jeanne Moreau, Maurice Ronet, Georges Poujouly, Yori Bertin and Jean Wall. Music is by Miles Davis and cinematography by Henri Decaë.

    A little ole devil this one, a sly slow pacer that itches away at your skin. Rightly seen as a bridging movie between the classic film noir cycle and the nouvelle vague, Malle's movie is in truth straightforward on narrative terms. Julien Tavernier (Ronet) is going to kill husband of his lover, Florence Carala (Moreau), who also happens to be his boss, but upon executing the perfect murder, he, through his own absent mindedness, winds up stuck in a lift close to the crime scene. Outside Florence is frantically awaiting his arrival so as to begin their life together in earnest, but when a couple of young lovers steal Julien's car, Florence gets the wrong end of the stick and a sequence of events lead to Julien and Florence hitching that ride to the gallows.

    Simplicity of narrative be damned, Malle's movie is a classic case of that mattering not one jot. There is style to burn here, with bleak atmospherics dripping from every frame, and Miles Davis' sultry jazz music hovers over proceedings like a sleazy grim reaper. The ironic twists in the writing come straight off the bus to noirville, putting stings in the tale, the smart reverse of the norm finding Moreau (sensual) wandering the streets looking for her male lover, while elsewhere he's in isolation and a doppleganger murder scenario is cunningly being played out. Decaë's photography has a moody desperation about it that so fits the story, the use of natural light making fellow French film makers sit up and take notice. While the dialogue, and the caustic aside to arms dealings, ensures we know that Malle can be a sly old fox. He really should have done more noir like pictures.

    A film that convinces us that Julien and Florence are deeply in love and passionate about each other, and yet they never are once together in the whole movie! It's just one of the many wonderful things about Louis Malle's excellent picture.

    Remember folks, the camera never lies... 9/10
    helpful•49
    7
    • hitchcockthelegend
    • Mar 1, 2014

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • January 29, 1958 (France)
      • France
      • Rialto Pictures
      • French
      • German
    • Also known as
    • Filming locations
      • 26 Rue de Courcelles, Paris 8, Paris, France
    • Production company
      • Nouvelles Éditions de Films (NEF)
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

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    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • 1 hour 31 minutes
      • Black and White

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