Movie review of “Elevator to the Gallows”: A fresh new digital restoration of one of Louis Malle’s early films, about adulterous lovers who plan the murder of her bossy husband. Rating: 3.5 stars out of 4.
Although the French New Wave is remembered for introducing François Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard, their fellow New Waver Louis Malle was already an Oscar winner for his 1956 documentary, “The Silent World,” by the time the Wave was under way.
Malle’s first fiction film, “Elevator to the Gallows,” was shot in 1957, starring two of his favorite actors: Jeanne Moreau and Maurice Ronet, cast as homicidal adulterers who plan the murder of her bossy husband. Moreau would go on to star in Malle’s much-banned “The Lovers” (1958) and Ronet would play the suicidal protagonist of Malle’s “The Fire Within’’ (1963).
They’re at their early-career best in “Elevator to the Gallows,” which is perhaps better known as “Frantic” or “Lift to the Scaffold.” A classic European film noir with an irresistible score by Miles Davis, it builds tension from a series of seemingly minor mistakes that echo the political/military context of the postwar era.
Movie Review ★★★½
‘Elevator to the Gallows,’ with Jeanne Moreau, Maurice Ronet. Directed by Louis Malle, from a screenplay by Malle and Roger Nimier, based on a novel by Noel Calef. 91 minutes. Not rated; for mature audiences (contains sometimes shocking crime scenes). In French, with English subtitles. Sundance Cinemas (21+).
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The more memorable characters include joy-riding kids and comic-relief German tourists who have not been forgiven for the Occupation.
This fresh new digital restoration emphasizes Henri Decae’s superb on-location shooting and Malle’s expert use of Moreau’s close-ups. This is the movie that made her a star.