Elevator to the Gallows (1958)
Louis Malle's first feature length fiction movie is a very solid film noir. The plot is quite great with many layers, some being quite ingenious and others a bit too simple looking back at them now. The story is basicly about two couples and the people around them. First couple is a classic noir duo of forbidden love and a plan to murder the woman's husband in between. The second couple is a younger generation with rebel state of mind, similar to what you've seen in Godard's movies. Things of course don't go as planned and there are many twists on the way with the younger couple mixing up the plans of the other couple. The movie is overly passionate as usual for French movies of the time, this did bring out a bit of unintentional campy feel at times. Reminded me of all the parodies people do of the French cinema nowadays. The look is classic film noir and definitely nothing to complain there. The soundtrack is quite suiting and especially jazz fans will love it as it uses Miles Davis' music. The cast is quite good, though of course there are those overly portrayed emotions, but that's fitting to the era. All in all a solid film noir that suffers a bit from a few campy moments but still manages to shine out on others.
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