A top-notch Film Noir achievement, and the debut effort for French director Louis Malle, this film is a treat for all the senses. Framed by the terrific Jazz score by Miles Davis, this is the story of two lovers, played by Jeanne Moreau and Maurice Ronet, who construct what should come off as the perfect crime- the murder of her arms sales dealer-husband. In what could later be termed 'a colossal failure of technology', the flawless execution of the crime quite literally suffers a power failure, putting unforeseen events into action.At every turn the characters get tripped up not by the authorities, but by their own hubris, or just plain stupidity. An often-used element of good Noir is the concept of a character escaping blame for a crime they are guilty of, only to finding themselves trapped by charges of another crime they are innocent of. What makes this film a stand-out is the manner in which the most inane objects are used to weave an intricate twisting plot, yet not so much that it becomes convoluted. Yes there are some plot holes and glaring implausibilities. But it's all worth it by the final scene, when the unfaithful Moreau- in an attempt to exonerate her lover- discovers that the camera indeed never lies.

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.

OK I know I am getting a bit off the wall here but after re-watching Breathless recently I have been on a bit of French New Wave kick. That leads to me scanning through the criterion collection on Hulu and finding movies like Malle's Elevator to the Gallows (1958). Fans of Hitchcock on and movies like Diabolique (1955) will find a lot to enjoy with this one.Maurice Ronet plays Julien Tavernier a retired military man who is in love with his bosses wife. The two of them come up with a fool proof plan to kill the boss and make it look like a suicide. On a Saturday near closing time, when the building is empty, Julien slips out his window uses a small grappling hook to climb up the side of the building and sneaks into his bosses office. Julien shoots his boss and then plants the gun in his hand. Then he escapes back down the rope and back into his own office. Confident he has pulled off the perfect crime, Julien follows his fellow employees out of the building ready to go spend the rest of the weekend with bosses wife (Jeanne Moreau). Right before he drives off, Julien looks up and notices that he has left the rope dangling from the side of the building. Cursing he foolishness, Julien re-enters the building to go and retrieve the rope. As he is riding the elevator back up, the porter turns off the power in the building and traps Julien in the elevator. What follows is a series of mistaken identities and bad decisions that will lead to dire consequences for everyone involved.To check out our full review head on over to 3guys1movie.com

Ever since hearing a number of critics widely praise films from the French New Wave I have always gotten a feeling of intimidation and inaccessibility from the wide group of films due to how most of the mainstream critics seem to constantly try and put the New Wave films in a special box just for themselves.After having become completely fascinated by tremendous "genre" films from Italy and Sweden,I started to look over at the New Wave films from France and began to feel that I should completely tear down the wall of intimidation around them by jumping straight into one of the first ever French New Wave films made that also starred one of the most famous (and most loved) actresses from the period The plot:Finishing his latest phone call by arranging a meeting with his secret lover Florence Carala,Julien Tavernier goes back to his office and tells all his staff that he is not to be disturbed for any reason.Gathering up a rope,gloves and a fully loaded gun,Julien quietly grapples his way to a building on the opposite side where Tavernier plans to stage an I'm prov meeting with his boss,who is also Florence's husband.Succeeding in getting the short meeting to take place,Tavernier shoots his soon to be ex-boss in a style which will make it look like a suicide.Feeling that he should get back to his office before anyone gets suspicious,Julien picks up everything and quickly glides back to his office.Getting set to finally spend the rest of his life with the now-widowed Carala,Tavernier walks past two rebellious looking teenagers and jumps straight into his gleaming car.Just as Julien is about to set off ,he has a look back at the building Tavernier gets a feeling of terror running down his spine when he notices that during the rush to get back to safety he had accidentally left the grappling rope hanging outside the room where the murder had taken place!.Leaving the car still running,Julian makes a dash for the lift in the building so that he can correct his dangerous mistake.As the lift starts nearing the all important floor,Tavernier is suddenly left trapped and with no where to run when the buildings lift is shout down as the staff close the office block down to get set for all having the weekend off work.Meanwhile outside,the two teenagers start to take a real interest in Julien's abandoned car and soon decide that they will steal it so the they can use it for some wild weekend travailing.Driving down one of the cities main roads,the teens inadvertently drive past lady in waiting Florence Carala,who due to mistaking one of the teens for Julien begins a long furious search for him all over the city which will lead to her and Tavernier discovering that their troubles are far from being confined in a shut down lift. View on the film:For his tremendous directing of what is possibly the first ever French New Wave film, Louis Malle (who also wrote the stunning screenplay adaptation of Noel Calef's novel with Roger Nimer)starts the new era off with a "bang", as the film opens on a proto-Segio Leone extreme close up of a beautiful Jeanne Moreau.Checking for any info about the making of the film,one of the very best decisions that I feel Malle made was to show Moreau's face with no make up on at all,which along with allowing Malle to show Florence as a real femme fatale who is more than ready to walk through the shadows of the city to catch the smallest glimpse of her murdering lover,also allows Jeanne to give an elegant performance as she shows Florence to go from being self assured of her and Julian's murder plot,to shivering with fear as Florence realises that the situation has gotten completely out of her control.Whilst Moreau unforgettable face does open this fantastic film,the rest of the cast easily deserve equal praise,with the sadly under rated Maurice Ronet giving a terrific performance as Julian Tavernier who along with showing a chilling precision of executing the murder is also able to show an increase feeling of dread as the walls of the lift start to close in on him as his fear of getting found really starts to take its toll on him,and also gives the audience of great sense of isolation.After opening his New Wave Film Noir on a stunning shot and a rolling score from Miles Davis,Malle brilliantly creates a world of darkness as he goes from a truly edge of the seat,gripping murder sequence to making the city filled with wonderful characters who go from an edgy proto-James Dean teenage rebel who steals a car from under everyone's nose,to a cop,who like the audience finds the activates of Florence and Julian something that he will never forget.Final view on the film:A stunning,unforgettable and extremely moody New Wave Film Noir,with an astonishing cast,a fantastic tension building screenplay and artful directing from an amazing Malle.