Elevator to the Gallows

"Frantic for life and love, frantic for excitement."

1958 1h 32m FR

🙌

7.6

BANGER

🔥

93%

CERTIFIED FRESH

💯

METACRITIC

⭐

7.9

IMDB

★7.6TMDB · 733🍅93%Rotten Tomatoes●94Metacritic★7.9IMDB · 31,016

CrimeDramaThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A self-assured businessman murders his employer, husband of his mistress, which unintentionally provokes an ill-fated chain of events.

“Frantic for life and love, frantic for excitement.”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Jeanne Moreau
Florence Carala
Maurice Ronet
Julien Tavernier
Georges Poujouly
Louis
Yori Bertin
Véronique
Jean Wall
Simon Carala
Elga Andersen
Frieda Bencker
Sylviane Aisenstein
Yvonne, la Fille du Bar
Micheline Bona
Geneviève

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Louis Malle
Writers: Roger Nimier, Louis Malle
Languages: German, French
Countries: France

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

68 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: German, French.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Louis Malle, shot by Henri Decaë. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Miles Davis. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Léonide Azar shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Jeanne Moreau and Maurice Ronet and Georges Poujouly carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Frantic for life and love, frantic for excitement.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0051378 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Louis Malle directs. Henri Decaë behind the camera. Miles Davis scores. Léonide Azar cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in France. Dialogue in German, French.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

168 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
2Dialogue crosses 2 languages: German, French.
3Directed by Louis Malle, shot by Henri Decaë. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Miles Davis. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Léonide Azar shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Jeanne Moreau and Maurice Ronet and Georges Poujouly carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "Frantic for life and love, frantic for excitement.".
8IMDB entry: tt0051378 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 20 themes, including "secret love", "paris, france", "car race", "suicide attempt".
10Released under 21 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Henri Decaë
Original score: Miles Davis
Editing: Léonide Azar
Makeup / hair: Boris de Fast
Runtime: 92 min · 1h 32m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.78:1 (16:9)
Status: Released
Box office: $263,404
Original language: FR
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: Elevator to the Gallows (1958)
Rotten Tomatoes: 93% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 94/100
IMDB rating: 7.9/10 · 31,016 votes
MPAA: Not Rated

Awards

1 win total

Louis Delluc Prize

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Louis Malle

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2014-03-01
★ 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... 8/10

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