Scheming lovers Julien and Florence engineer the “perfect murder” of her husband. But when Julien becomes trapped in the elevator mere floors away from his recent victim, the plot begins to unravel…

Filmed in 1957 , this classic french film noir is remarkable on many levels. 

It’s director, Louis Malle was only 24 when he made this movie. The lead actress, Jean Moreau was working mainly in theatre and this was the movie that established her as a lead actress. 

Film noir means “black film,” but we can only see darkness, so to speak, in the presence of light. In classic noir cinematography this meant the careful placement of low-angle light sources, flashing signs, swinging lamps, bars of shadow cast by bannisters or Venetian blinds, to create a jagged, high-contrast web of black and white. In Elevator to the Gallows, cinematographer Henri Decaë broke rules and new ground by shooting at night with only the available light from shop windows and neon signs, for the legendary scenes of Jeanne Moreau wandering the streets of Paris. The result was a very different but equally iconic vision of the allure and menace of the night city.

An article in Time read “ This movie proposed a new ideal of cinematic realism, a new way to look at a woman. All the drama in the story was in Moreau's face”

One of the most remarkable elements of the film is its jazz score by Miles Davis, which accentuates the haunting and seductive mood of a tale of two lovers whose murder plot goes off the rails.

The story takes course over the period of one night in Paris and the music was recorded impromptu on one single night on the 4th of December, 1957.  The movie was projected on screen in the studio of a Paris radio station and the musicians, led by Miles Davis, improvised on the actions and emotions they saw on the screen. 

The soundtrack can be heard here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wc4tT-55ZzI 

The trailer : https://youtu.be/euB6PWW6tcI