Have to admit to not being in the best of moods when I saw it tonight, but damn Louis Malle's Elevator to the Gallows is entertaining. A familiar setup: guy hates his boss, has the hots for the boss's wife, so with her approval he kills the boss. But in this case absolutely everything goes wrong. Not just for him, either. While other idiots seem to be making out while he's trapped - I won't say where - his bad fortune turns out to be contagious.
There are certainly familiar elements here, but Malle has fun jumbling them up and throwing them against Bohemian Paris. Then there's Jeanne Moreau as the boss's wife and protagonist's lover, who takes her time revealing what she's capable of.
Also, there had been crime movies before this with jazz scores, certainly. But putting Miles Davis on the soundtrack was something else again. Bolder.
There are certainly familiar elements here, but Malle has fun jumbling them up and throwing them against Bohemian Paris. Then there's Jeanne Moreau as the boss's wife and protagonist's lover, who takes her time revealing what she's capable of.
Also, there had been crime movies before this with jazz scores, certainly. But putting Miles Davis on the soundtrack was something else again. Bolder.
2 comments:
This really does sound like a film I ought to be familiar with but, admittedly, it came as a surprise to learn it was Louis Malle's first as well as being the film that made Jeanne Moreau a star. You've probably surmised by this time I found your review so tantalizing that I read the plot and then watched a trailer. You're right it's very cool in that finger popping way that was popular in Beat coffee houses of Greenwich Village. There were still a couple of them left in Toronto in the early 60s.
It's a movie I only learned about recently, stumbling over a mention of it on the Internet. Years ago I remember seeing Zazie dans le Metro with you and Jerry, and I might have thought that was Malle's first movie. You can see why this one made Jeanne Moreau a star. It plays very well to her strengths.
I think I would have liked to see what a Toronto Beat coffee house was like in those days. Then again I guess a true Beat - and I'm pretty sure I have seen some of them - can turn any place into a Beat coffee shop by walking in.
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