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'Elevator to the Gallows': A cutting-edge classic
by Steve Murray

It's the first thing we see: Her face swims out of the darkness, voluptuous as a lily, as she whispers into the phone, "I'm the one who can't take it any more — I love you, I love you." The actress is a young Jeanne Moreau. But before we learn her character's name, or who's on the other end of the line, Miles Davis' famous jazz score kicks in. "Elevator to the Gallows" then unfolds like a rain-drenched shotgun marriage between American film noir and the French new wave — a movement that wouldn't be firmly established for two more years, with the arrival of the cool, amoral chic of 1960's "Breathless." Read the full review

TO SUM UP
A woman (Jeanne Moreau) and her lover plan to murder her husband. But after he commits the crime, the lover becomes stuck in the building's elevator when the power is turned off. Legendary jazz musician Miles Davis lends a haunting score to director Louis Malle's first film.

FILM FACTS ...

Rialto Pictures

'Elevator to the Gallows'

Director: Louis Malle
Starring: Jeanne Moreau, Maurice Ronet, Georges Poujouly, Yori Bertin, Jean Wall, Elga Andersen
Run time: 88 minutes
Release date: June 24, 2005 (restored print of the 1957 original)
Rating: Not rated. In French with English subtitles.
Theater: Landmark's Midtown Art.

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READ THE REVIEW

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: B+
"The plot doesn't bear too much scrutiny. The movie's chief pleasures are visual (the on-location, black-and-white shots of Paris at night) and aural (Miles Davis playing lead trumpet on the soundtrack). "