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After the young Louis Malle gained fame as a cameraman for Jacques Cousteau and co-directing The Silent World but he quickly found even more by winning the Prix Louis Delluc, the highest award bestowed in French cinema, at the age of 24.

The story begins on a Saturday afternoon in Paris, with a conversation between lovers. Julien Tavernier (Maurice Ronet), an ex-paratrooper, is on the telephone with his lover as she professes her love and begs him to meet her at the cafe when he is finished with his task. Being a Saturday, his office building is barely occupied so Julien stages a daring ascent up the exterior of the building only to arrive at the private floor of his boss Simon Carala. At first Mr. Carala is delighted to see his colleague, but becomes annoyed with his presence as Julien pulls out a pistol. Mr. Carala realizes that the pistol is his before Tavernier pulls the trigger and stages the scene to look like a suicide. Quickly and carelessly descending down the office building, Julien arrives to his office and informs his secretary and the security guard that it is time to go home. The secretary and security guard assume that Mr. Carala left the building undetected, and Tavenier has a perfect alibi in that his secretary assumed that he was in his office the entire time. It is not until Julien notices the grappling hook that he left on the exterior of the building, that he realizes his mistake. Leaving his car running, Julien attempts to sneak back into the building undetected and retrieve the hook. Before exiting and locking the building, the security guard makes sure to shut the power off and Julien finds himself trapped in the elevator. Julien’s lover, Mrs. Florence Carala (Jeanne Moreau), is eagerly waiting for the good news that her husband has been disposed of and that their love can be consummated.

When two teenagers, Louis and Veronique, see Julien’s expensive car running, and noone near it, they decide to take it joyriding. They drive past the cafe that Mrs. Carala was waiting at, and she recognizes the car but is confused by the young girl in the passenger seat. Mrs. Carala spends the entire night searching for Julien without realizing that he is quite near her, trapped in her husband’s office building. Louis and Veronique fiddle with Julien’s personal belongings and find a camera and a pistol in his glove compartment. While driving on the highway, Louis starts racing a much faster Mercedes and follows it off into the country. After both cars stop near a motel, a German tourist exits the Mercedes and congratulates the boy’s sporting nature. When checking into the motel, Veronique identifies them as Mr. and Mrs. Tavernier as to conceal their own identities. The Germans invite the young couple to drink with them in their motel room where champagne is popped and pictures are taken with Tavernier’s camera. In the middle of the night, young Louis attempts to steal the expensive Mercedes in order to cover their tracks. Louis is confronted in the garage by the German who already has a pistol drawn. Hesitant, Louis reaches into the pocket of the raincoat to grab Julien’s pistol.

Three dead bodies, two crime scenes and no alibi for Julien leaves him a fugitive still stuck in the elevator. When Mrs. Carala hears of her lover’s misfortune she attempts to clear his name without besmirching her own.

One of the craftiest noire films in the history of cinema, Elevator to the Gallows is one of the films that began the French New Wave. The young Louis Malle had barely completed this film before being honored with the Prix Louis Delluc. The effect of this film has echoed through time not only for its acting, directing and camera work but also for its legendary original score. Some call Malle’s debut the birth of the French New Wave, but I’d just call it cool. The film is the epitome of noire, and thrills the audience with fateful twists one after another. The film created superstars out of Malle and his lead actress Jeanne Moreau, but Malle seemed to never again find himself directing in this genre again. Terrence Rafferty wrote about Malle’s inconsistent genre choices when saying  that the film was almost “designed purely as a genre exercise…and it’s clear that he was testing himself, the way a young poet might flex his or her muscles with a conventional form like a sonnet.” Nonetheless, Malle’s “exercise” turned out to be one of the greatest noire thrillers that I have ever had the privilage to watch.

The ambiance of this film just oozes with cool, not only visually but in the sound department. The legendary score was composed by none other than Miles Davis. The sound of his trumpet dancing around Jeanne Moreau in the dark Parisian night provided the perfect ambiance to this confidently strutting masterpiece. Davis‘ mastery provides the ultimate hook for certain scenes and it almost seems as if the actors are moving to the music throughout their scenes. Davis‘ work with the film was so beautiful that the score actually became one of the most successful albums in his career. The camera work in this film was also beautiful and the use of shadows was absolutely exquisite.

With this being a Criterion Collection release, it is sure to be the definitive version of the film. This Criterion # 335 is complete with a plethora of supplements as well as a transfer that is as close to perfect as possible, given the film’s age. The film’s high definition-digital transfer jumps off the screen as if it it were made yesterday rather than almost fifty years ago. Even though the film has been mastered in Dolby Digital mono sound, Miles Davis compliments this release with a robust sound that fills your ears, as well as your mind, with the cool ambiance of the film. An interview with French icon Jeanne Moreau, an interview with Louis Malle, footage of a Miles Davis recording session, Malle’s student film Crazeologie and many other special features make this a DVD not only a must see but a must own.

The Upside:
A piece of cinema history and one of the most gripping noire films from it’s time.
The Downside:
Some viewers may not be able to get past the subtitles or black and white.
On the Side:
Louis Malle shot his lead actress Jeanne Moreau in close-up and natural light and often without make-up. Moreau had never been seen like this before, to the extent that lab technicians, reportedly appalled at how unflatteringly she was photographed, refused to process the film.

Breaking Down the DVD:
The Film: A
The Delivery: B
The Extras: A+
Final Grade: A

DVD Stats:
Release Date: April 25, 2006
Starring: Jeanne Moreau, Maurice Ronet
Directed by: Louis Malle
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
Sound Mix: French (Dolby Digital 1.0 Mono), English Subtitles
MPAA: Unrated
Run Time: 92 min.