Elevator to the Gallows ( Ascenseur pour l'échafaud ) Movie Information

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Movie Information

Overall Rank: 2066

Average Rating: 2.9/4

# of Ratings: 28

Theatrical Release Date: 06/10/1961

Language: French

Genre: Crime, Drama

MPAA Rating: NR

Director: Louis Malle

Actors: Jeanne Moreau, Maurice Ronet, Georges Poujouly, Yori Bertin, Jean Wall, Elga Andersen

Plot: Julien and his lover Florence - plan to murder her husband - Julien's boss and a powerful man, by staging it as a suicide. Yet one critical error sends Julien to retrieve a key piece of evidence leading to a chain of events that spells doom. -- Chris Kavan

Allison - wrote on 05/03/2008

I was disappointed by this movie, because I love Louis Malle and Jeanne Moreau. Something about it just didn't seem to click with me. Great score by Miles Davis.

goodfellamike - wrote on 05/03/2008

A graceful, polished noir with the right amount of suspense, plot twists and style, though there are perhaps a few too many coincidences. Jeanne Moreau is a sad and beautiful character here as she walks the lonely streets looking for her love. Final Grade: B+

Allison - wrote on 12/23/2007

Despite the good director, great score, and great actors, the movie never moves me.

SIngli6
Producer

Extremely Well-Written

SIngli6 - wrote on 06/06/2011

There exists a unique screenplay type characterised by a standard of tautness and logical construction that is so exhaustive that it paradoxically accords the material the appearance of the cinematic equivalent of Swiss cheese. I call to mind such excellent films as 'Angels and Demons', 'Clue', 'The Talented Mr. Ripley', and Alfred Hitchcock's 'Psycho'. At first glance their screenplays appear to be riddled with superfluous and clumsy details (such as a cat on a balcony railing), but, upon closer inspection, those details are realized as explanations for otherwise inexplicable plot elements (such as a grapple hook falling of it's own accord to the ground).

'Elevator to the Gallows' is the very manifestation of this script type, and though some would understandably be repelled by …

sidehacker
Movie Star

Expositional but somehow great

sidehacker - wrote on 09/18/2007

I've mentioned plenty of times how I tend to not like plot-driven films, whether they're film noir or film noir-esque. This is really the epitome of the latter but somehow I was quite into the whole story. Speaking of which, this is seriously some of the worst writing ever. The plot itself is completely ridiculous and you can tell the writer is trying sooo hard to create conflict. "Oh, looks like I forgot to clean up my murder. I'll just leave go fix that and keep my nice car running right in front of that James Dean like character." - But I think lazy stuff like this really contributed to my overall enjoyment of the film. A majority of the time I was laughing so much at the events taking place that I had to be caught up in them. Malle did genuinely impress me with this film because he …