Ascenseur pour l'échafaud

Lift to the Scaffold

(France, 1957, 92 minutes)

After murdering his boss, with whose wife he has been having an affair, an oil executive is trapped in the office lift over the weekend, and a series of circumstances lead police to wrongly believe he has murdered two German tourists in a highway motel. Tight little thriller which plays like a more cerebral, almost satirical take on Hitchcock's gallows humor coupled with film noir's existentialism.

A Pyramide Distribution release. Lux Compagnie Cinématographique de France presents a Nouvelles Éditions de Films production. Starring Jeanne Moreau, Maurice Ronet; with Georges Poujouly, Yori Bertin, Jean Wall; with Ivan Petrovich; and Félix Marten; and Lino Ventura. Directed by Louis Malle; screenplay by Roger Nimier and Louis Malle, based on the novel by Noël Calef Ascenseur pour l'échafaud and on Calef's pre-adaptation; music by Miles Davis; director of photography (b&w), Henri Decae; production designers, Rino Mondellini and Jean Mandaroux; film editor, Léonide Azar.