Elevator to the Gallows/ Lift to the Scaffold
Elevator to the Gallows, also known as Frantic in the U.S. and Lift to the Scaffold in the U.K., is a 1958 French crime thriller film directed by Louis Malle, starring Jeanne Moreau and Maurice Ronet as illicit lovers whose murder plot starts to unravel after one of them becomes trapped in an elevator. The scenario was adapted from the 1956 novel of the same name by Noël Calef.
Plot
Lovers Florence Carala and Julien Tavernier make a plan to kill Florence's husband Simon, a wealthy French industrialist who is also Julien's boss. Staying late at the office one Saturday, Julien, an ex-Foreign Legion parachutist and veteran of the Indochinese and Algerian wars, uses a rope to climb up the outside of the building to Simon's office and shoots Simon with Simon's own gun, afterward arranging the room to make it look like a suicide. He then makes his way back to his office and leaves the building with a secretary and security guard, who are to be his alibis. When he gets into his convertible, he glances up and sees he left the rope hanging from the building. Leaving the engine running, he rushes back into the building and boards the elevator. As it ascends, the security guard switches off the power and locks up for the weekend, trapping Julien between floors.
Awards
Cast
- Albert Dinan
- Alice Reichen
- Bernard Lajarrige
- Charles Denner
- Christian Brocard
- Elga Andersen
- Félix Marten
- François Joux
- Georges Poujouly
- Gérard Darrieu
- Gisèle Grandpré
- Guy Henri
- Hubert Deschamps
- Iván Petrovich
- Jacqueline Noëlle
- Jacqueline Staup
- Jacques Hilling
- Jean-Claude Brialy
- Jean Wall
- Jeanne Moreau
- Jimmy Perrys
- Lino Ventura
- Lucien Desagneaux
- Marcel Bernier
- Marcel Cuvelier
- Marcel Journet
- Micheline Bona
- Nicolas Bataille
- Olivier Darrieux
- Pierre Frag
- Pierre Jourdan
- Robert Balpo
- Roger Jacquet
- Yori Bertin
More details
| author | Louis Malle Roger Nimier |
|---|---|
| award | Louis Delluc Prize |
| contentLocation | Paris |
| director | Louis Malle |
| editor | Léonide Azar |
| genre | crime thriller |
| keywords | algerian algerian war arrest build chevrolet styleline cigar tube convertible first indochina war flower shop foreign legion french foreign legion hang indochinese kill mercedes-benz 300 sl morning petty crimes phenobarbital photo lab prime suspect revolver run search secret lover security guard sporty mercedes wait want |
| musicBy | Miles Davis |
| producer | Jean Thuillier |
| publisher | Lux Compagnie Cinématographique de France |
| theme | film noir psychological thriller |