In the building where Julien works many admire his manners. Julien is always nicely dressed, his hair combed, his suit is always ironed. He drives a beautiful automobile where at night his lips would kiss Florence Carala's face. Julien can hardly wait for the day when he and Florence will no longer have to hide their love.

And so Julien heads to Monsieur Carala's (Jean Wall) office prepared to discuss a delicate business deal. His boss, always fond of Julien's bright ideas, invites the young man to have a seat. Julien hands Monsieur Carala a tiny folder, looks at him, and then shoots the man who has been keeping him away from Florence in the heart.

In a nearby café Florence awaits her lover to arrive.

Visibly excited, his heart racing, his future already planned, Julien can hardly even walk. He is only minutes away from the soft lips of his beloved Florence. He could almost feel her heavy breath, her long curly hair, her hands reaching out for him. Julien gets in his car, turns the engine on, and takes one final look at the building where a dead man is now awaiting to be found.

But…Julien can hardly believe his eyes: there is a piece of rope hanging from Monsieur Carala's balcony. Stupid, o, how stupid, only an amateur could do such a childish mistake!! He throws his coat on the passenger's seat and runs back to the building. Julien must take the piece of rope and hide it away. And he must do so quickly, before the night guard turns off the electricity and locks the empty building. Julien reaches for the elevator's door.

Ascenseur pour l'échafaud a.k.a Elevator to the Gallows (1958) is a film that like so many other French crime thrillers from the early 1950's did not quite fit the noir bill which the early 1940s mastered to perfection. While the story and the characters were somewhat familiar they were all intertwined together in a mix that anything but reflected the well-established crime-formula from the period. Elevator to the Gallows was more of a transition picture that flagged the emergence of the French Nouvelle Vague while at the same time remained quite restrained in both style and presentation. Compared to the works of Goddard, Truffault, and Rivette the film was still a student willing to learn as quickly as possible.

Directed by Louis Malle who once worked as a camera man for the famous Jacques Cousteau Elevator to the Gallows signaled the beginning of an era where the hand-held camera would be more and more often used to unveil that unique "realistic" look a generation of French directors will immortalize with their films. Complimented with one of the most stylish soundtracks ever composed this film also managed to infuse the slick jazzy tunes of Miles Davis like no other film I have ever seen. For me the soundtrack alone was a good enough reason to regard Elevator to the Gallows as a classic amongst classics.

With the sea of admirers during the years Louis Malle's film also created plenty of critics who never understood the importance of Jeanne Moreau's character. Florence Carala was seen by many as too detached from the story bearing little, if any, relevance to Julien's struggles. I must admit that, like so many others, I also entertained quite a few ideas where Elevator to the Gallows remained true to the classic noir formula providing a stylish but predictable finale - I am not so sure I would have liked the film as much as I do these days. The twin-stories Louis Malle provided may not be the easiest ones to agree with but they surely unveiled an edgy look that separated Elevator to the Gallows from everything else French directors filmed at the time.