Elevator to the Gallows

Director: Louis Malle

1958 / 91min / DCP

A turning point in the careers of both director Malle, making his feature debut, and star Jeanne Moreau, Elevator to the Gallows takes place over the course of one sleepless night in Paris, when Moreau and lover Maurice Ronet’s plot to do away with her husband (who’s also his boss) goes amiss, forcing them into a panicked race to keep ahead of cops Lino Ventura and Charles Denner—and the hangman’s noose. An intense and atmospheric proto-New Wave thriller, featuring glistening nocturnal photography by Henri Decaë, and a brilliant, brooding original score by Miles Davis.

Part of On the Run in Paris