Doomtomylo a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

Bessie Smyth Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

Anoushka Slater While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Nicole I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

lasttimeisaw Malle's career debut feature length at the age of 26, a stylized dramatization of a well-planned murder goes berserk. Florence (Moreau) and Julien (Ronet) are two lovers out of wedlock, the only barrier is Florence's senescent but wealthy husband Simon (Wall), for whom Julien works as a corporate clerk, they diligently hatch a plot to get rid of Simon and make the pretense as a suicide scene. The scheme is executed according to the schedule until a last-moment hiccup (Julien forgets the damn rope on the roof), a black cat is always ominous, just when he returns to the company building to fetch it, Julien is accidentally left alone in the elevator. Meanwhile, a pair of youngster Louis and Véronique (Poujouly and Bertin) lift Julien's posh car for a wild ride, en route, a harebrained Louis shot a German couple in a motel using the identity of Julien. The same night, Florence is aimlessly roaming around the streets of Paris, looking for her absent lover! Things will get messier the next morning when Julien gets out of the elevator, he is wanted by the police and Florence starts to get a grip on the entire misidentified situation, after a concise confrontation with Louis and Véronique, a few developed photographs reveal the real culprits of both homicides, the star-crossed lovers meet their comeuppance as well as the hotheaded Louis.Logically speaking, its 88 minutes running time seems a bit sketchy for clarifying the police's investigation procedure and there are a flew negligible plot holes dangling (e.g. how the rope without a trace appears at the entrance of the building is never explained), obviously they are not Malle's first choice. The picture is mostly preeminent for the bounteous close-ups to examine his then lover Moreau's emotive visage (under a plain make-up free naturalism) with her inner voice-over, equally impressively is the Black & White shots of the night view on the expressway and in the interrogation part under a pitch-black background, it is a conflation of Film-Noir with a budding La Nouvelle Vague. My personal recommendation is a heart-in-the- mouth set piece for the acrophobic when Julien tries to scale down from the elevator when it abruptly descends, Ronet is solely in his prime and later his mojo would be evoked unconditionally in Malle's THE FIRE WITHIN (1963, 9/10). Two thumbs up to Malle for his immense dexterity in such an incipient stage of his career. One can also find some scattered fun in the film, such as the chic vehicle or the gizmos of a spy camera or the telephone-cum-pencil-sharpener, certainly for me they are eye-openers. Let's not forget Miles Davis' saxophone-heavy score, downright impromptu, but tallies with the film impeccably! A more on-topic note is the alert message "never leave photos around", if only everyone could have watched this film before we reached this epoch of selfie fever, the world would be a bit less tumultuous indeed.

tieman64 Boasting a jazz score by the legendary Miles Davis, Louis Malle's "Elevator to the Gallows" is a moody film noir starring Maurice Ronet as Julien Tavernier, an office worker who murders a wealthy industrialist. Why? To be with the victim's wife of course.This is a plot typical of film noirs. What complicates the film is this: the victim is a war criminal who profited off France's many colonialist occupations (specifically in Algeria and Indochina). Julien, meanwhile, is a war hero and former parachutist who sees his kill as a form of poetic justice. This is a noir, however, and so Julien's best laid plans swiftly go awry. Pretty soon he finds himself trapped in an elevator and so caged at the very site of his crime. His predicament is inter-cut with the adventures of two kids in love, Louis and Veronica, who steal Julien's car and assume his identity. With this stollen identity comes another crime: the duo shoot to death two German tourists. To exonerate himself of the duo's crime, Julien must thus implicate himself in his own crime. Where are the police in all of this? Confused as hell.Malle then engages in another, largely symbolic sub-plot. Here Julien represents the men of the inter-war years, idealised, mythologised and touted as noble heroes. Louis, meanwhile, becomes indicative of post-war youths, living in the shadow of the War and envious of the nationally recognised achievements of those who came before. To assuage such feelings, Louis assumes Julien's identity and unconsciously becomes a WW2 soldier, and even goes so far as to kill two Germans on French soil with Julien's pistol. It's not only that Louis eventually realises what the sanctified image of Julien really represents, like Julien's own realisations with regard to his boss, but that both Julien and Louis find themselves unable to stop killing. The war makes a murderer out of one, and forces the other to kill out of fear of exclusion."Elevator to the Gallows" co-stars Jeanne Moreau, who famously acted in Truffaut's "Jules and Jim". Its moody, noirish cinematography was by Henri Decae, who turns elevators into prisons and city streets into hypnotic shadow-worlds (Decae also shot Melville's "Bob the Gambler" and "The Samurai").7.9/10 - One of Malle's best. See too Renoir's "La Bête Humaine" ("The Human Beast"), arguably the first French noir.

gizmomogwai Elevator to the Gallows, directed by Louis Malle, came out in France in 1958, the same year as Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo- and they bear noticeable similarities. Indeed, the Criterion Collection's booklet on Elevator cites Hitchcock as an influence on Malle. Both films are about attempts to carry out the perfect murder, with classic motives. Both are atmospheric and rich. Elevator to the Gallows may not be as famous, and I think it's somewhat underrated- Leonard Maltin gave it a lukewarm rating and claimed it "doesn't hold up," but failed to explain how and by what standards. He even got the name of the movie wrong, calling it by its bastardized title Frantic. I'd say Malle's film is one of the best I've seen from France and from the 1950s.In it, Julien Tavernier kills a man named Simon Carala because he's in love with Carala's wife Florence, played by the beautiful Jeanne Moreau. He tries to make it look like suicide, then forgets a key piece of evidence outside the scene of the crime. Going back to get it, he gets caught in the elevator, while his car is stolen by a young couple. The young man impersonates Tavernier, and then commits a murder of his own, for which the real Tavernier is blamed by the French press (which evidently doesn't have to obey libel laws).Elevator is a very good yarn, as two separate murders happen to be thrown together as a wicked twist of fate, with guns fired not by their owners. Some reviewers have questioned how Tavernier could have forgotten such an important piece of evidence, but come on- he had committed a crime, and probably wanted to be done with it as quickly as possible; forgetting things is understandable under the stressful circumstances. Like Orson Welles with Citizen Kane, Malle made a real cinematic achievement at a young age, and more people should see this movie.

dlee2012 "Lift to the Scaffold" is quite a stunning film and a neat summation of all the lessons that had been learned about the art of film making up until the point of its release.Ostensibly a noir thriller dotted with elements of French farce, it makes complex use of cinematographic devices to develop its key themes. Largely the film is about the role of fate and how an unfortunate series of events leads to justice being served. It is also about how a woman's vengeful fury serves to destroy not only her lover but herself.That woman's psychological state throughout the film is highlighted in myriad ways. A lone figure, she walks aimlessly through places of socialisation in the city, such as cafés, oblivious to the rain that reflects her darkening mood. The use of a whispered monologue conveys her thoughts and a bleak jazz soundtrack her mood. Mobile cameras, outdoor steps and superb lighting during the close-ups of Moreau's face heighten the sense of isolation in a very concrete, modern world.The perfect crime is undone by coincidences including a telephone call at precisely the wrong moment, an elevator's power being cut for the night, the highly unlikely event of a car theft and the killer being accused of the wrong murder.Throughout the film, commentary is made on the nature of war. The murder victim is a ruthless profiteer who trades on the misery of others yet meets a violent end because he cannot pleasure his wife adequately. The murderer is known to be a ruthless, former military man yet there are questions if he is brave enough to kill now he can no longer hide in the cowardly world of the armed forces. The events in Indo-China and Algeria are also referenced as places where France is inflicting suffering to make the business world richer.There are also references to the German occupation of France but, whereas the Germans had moved on, they also note that the French are still committing atrocities in the name of imperialism.Despite this bleak narrative, there are moments of farce. Besides the key event of the car theft, a black cat appearing, ridiculously, on the tenth story balcony of the office block foretells of the disaster awaiting the murderer. Likewise, when he finally escapes from the lift, the vehicle standing where he had left his car is a comical three-wheeler.The interrogation scene is wonderfully filmed, the three key actors in that setting standing out from a black backdrop. Their drama is amusing and ironic to the audience as they know the killer is being interrogated for the wrong murders but it is played with total conviction and integrity.The final scenes are beautiful with the convicting photographic image fading into view. Likewise, the latter photos that convict Moreau's character lie tranquilly in their chemical baths against a black background in the dark room. Her reflection is then scene in this bath gazing down at herself in horror and guilt as she realises she is condemned to a lengthy prison sentence. It is her lack of forgiveness and quickness to accuse her lover that has led to her downfall. All she can do is futilely stroke his image, rippling the chemical bath.For its wonderful cinematography, lighting, music and acting, this film is a revelation. Likewise, it is a brave film commenting on the then-current events of what France was doing to its overseas colonies. The farcical humour and deliberately-contrived plot may be hard for some non-French to digest and, indeed, maybe an outright distraction but there is still a wonderful film to enjoy if one looks beyond that. Indeed, Malle here proves himself a craftsman at the top of his profession.