Elevator to the Gallows
| Ascenseur pour l'échafaud Elevator to the Gallows |
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Original theatrical poster
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| Directed by | Louis Malle |
| Produced by | Jean Thuillier |
| Written by | Noël Calef Louis Malle Roger Nimier |
| Starring |
Jeanne Moreau Maurice Ronet Georges Poujouly Yori Bertin Jean Wall Iván Petrovich Félix Marten Lino Ventura |
| Music by | Miles Davis |
| Cinematography | Henri Decaë |
| Edited by | Léonide Azar |
| Distributed by | Lux Compagnie Cinématographique de France |
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Release date
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Running time
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88 minutes |
| Country | France |
| Language | French |
Ascenseur pour l'échafaud is a 1958 French crime film directed by Louis Malle. It was released as Elevator to the Gallows in the United States, where it was also released as Frantic, and as Lift to the Scaffold in the United Kingdom. It stars Jeanne Moreau and Maurice Ronet as criminal lovers whose perfect crime begins to unravel when Ronet is trapped in an elevator. The scenario was adapted from a 1956 novel of the same name by Noël Calef.
Associated by some critics with the film noir style, and introducing new narrative and editing techniques, the film is considered an important work in establishing the Nouvelle Vague and the New Modern Cinema. Its score by Miles Davis, and the relationship the film establishes between music, image and emotion, were also considered ground-breaking.
Florence Carala and Julien Tavernier are lovers who plan to kill Florence's husband, Simon Carala, a wealthy industrialist who is also Julien's boss. Julien is an ex-Foreign Legion parachutist officer and a veteran of the Indochina and Algeria wars. After working late on a Saturday, with a rope he climbs up one storey on the outside of the office building, shoots Carala in his office without being seen, arranges the room to make it look like a suicide, and then makes his way out to the street. As he gets into his Chevrolet convertible outside, he glances up and sees his rope still hanging from the building. Leaving the engine running, he rushes back and jumps into the elevator. As it ascends, the caretaker switches off the power and locks up the building for the weekend. Julien is trapped between floors.
Moments later, Julien's car is stolen by a young couple, small-time crook Louis and flower shop assistant Véronique. Florence, who is waiting for Julien at a café nearby, sees the car go past with Véronique leaning out of the window. She assumes that Julien has run off with her and wanders the Paris streets despondently all night asking for him in the bars and clubs where he is known. While joy-riding, Louis puts on Julien's coat and gloves. Checking into a country motel, the two register under the name "Mr. and Mrs. Julien Tavernier" to avoid problems for Louis, who is wanted for petty crimes. At the motel, they make the acquaintance of Horst Bencker and his wife Frieda, a jovial German couple on holiday with whom they had raced en route to the motel. After Frieda takes pictures of Louis and her husband with Julien's camera, Véronique takes the film to a photo lab beside the motel for developing.
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Wikipedia