Elevator to the Gallows

[Milestones]

I just want to let people know this French film with the soundtrack by Miles Davis is showing on TCM on Friday at something like 3 in the morning.  This was Miles during an early peak: 1957.  I've known the music for a long time, but this is the first time I will see the film.

 

[jlhoots]

Thanks for letting us know.

Edited July 23, 2015 by jlhoots

[medjuck]

Worth seeing. Early Louis Malle and very representative of the time.  Lot's of music.

[Stonewall15]

Actually is on TCM Saturday at 3AM. Thanx for the heads-up.

[Milestones]

Actually, I found that the music was less prominent than I expected.

As for the film, not bad, though it is curious that the main lovers (Moreau and I can't recall the actor's name) have no scenes together, with the exception of the opening phone conversation.

[clifford_thornton]

Netflix has it for rent on DVD and often on streaming (though not presently).

[Brad]

Saw it about a year or so ago on TCM.  Think Moreau is great in it. For those who missed it, TCM online probably has it for streaming.

[clifford_thornton]

Seen the movie several times - I really like it. 

[johnblitweiler]

I saw this decades ago, remember 2 things about it: not enough Miles Davis, too much silent Jeanne Moreau walking alone in the rain. Should see it again, my response may be different.

OTOH Malle's also-early "Zazie dans le Metro" was a long, very unfunny comedy. Might have worked better as a cartoon, and the Queneau novel actually was funny. About 3 years ago I saw "Zazie" again and didn't laugh again.

[Shawn]

The film is nice looking but the pacing is like watching the grass grow.  

[GA Russell]

The Criterion 2-DVD set is $25.20.

http://www.amazon.com/Elevator-Gallows-Criterion-Collection-Jeanne/dp/B000E5LEVA/

[Big Beat Steve]

I saw this decades ago, remember 2 things about it: not enough Miles Davis, too much silent Jeanne Moreau walking alone in the rain. Should see it again, my response may be different.

OTOH Malle's also-early "Zazie dans le Metro" was a long, very unfunny comedy. Might have worked better as a cartoon, and the Queneau novel actually was funny. About 3 years ago I saw "Zazie" again and didn't laugh again.

Clearly a clash of cultures.

Firstly, "Ascenseur pour l'echafaud" was not about Miles Davis in the first place but Miles Davis was subordinate to the plot and contents, and I feel there is a lot of him in there to create the atmosphere that pervades the entire film in a very fitting way. It should be remembered in what era the movie was made and what extent of "specialist" soundtrack was current or feasible then at all. Louis Malle did go very far there. And that "silent" Jeanne Moreau just is part of the plot as it unravels so those longish silent periods certainly are not a fault. I like the film and its atmosphere very much, including in the somewhat subdued plot of the film that the spectator pieces together as the movie proceeds.

BTW, I'd also disagree with Tom Perchard's view on the film in his recent book "After Django". IMO it has less loose ends or doubtful intentions than is claimed there.

Secondly, considering what Hollywood had foisted on the movie-going world through the decades in the way of blatantly unfunny "comedies", "Zazie" IS funny (OK, some speeded-up segments in the latter part of the film are a bit over the top but that's a minor point overall). At least by (Continental?) European sensitivities, particularly to those who have a feeling for that particular French way of portraying their own temperament as it manifests itself in certain everyday situations (give or take some exaggeration for effect), plus that "period" feel, of course. So I do disagree here too. But then again I rather am one to immerse myself in the setting and mood of such films (both "Ascenseur" and "Zazie" and others) and am not one to dissect their elements out of context.

Edited July 30, 2015 by Big Beat Steve

[JSngry]

Yeah, but that Jacques Tati guy, talk about watching paint dry and laughing every time a spot stops being wet, I'm telling you, too much time on your hands if that makes you laugh, I think. Either that or you live in a movie theater and were gonna be there anyway. Something...there's a difference between slow-paced and just flat out comatose.

[Big Beat Steve]

Yeah, but that Jacques Tati guy, talk about watching paint dry and laughing every time a spot stops being wet, I'm telling you, too much time on your hands if that makes you laugh, I think. Either that or you live in a movie theater and were gonna be there anyway. Something...there's a difference between slow-paced and just flat out comatose.

 

Thanks for making my point so eloquently. Different strokes ... clash of cultures ... whatever.

I remember my first experience of watching "Mon Oncle" was slightly unsettling due to the seemingly unfocused, confused, blurred dialogues - but that was when I was aged about 15. A bit later on I caught up with what he was all about, and all the finer points of his wit. And I have LOVED Jacques Tati ever since. Though that's a different part of the spectrum away from Louis Malle (including Zazie) again.

And - yes, I find neither Al Bundy nor Seinfeld (what I've seen of them) all that funny, for example. Nor a host of others I am just too lazy to look up now.

 

 

 

Edited July 30, 2015 by Big Beat Steve

[JSngry]

Al Bundy's not funny either. Seinfeld's funny if you buy into the premise to begin with, but having seen Larry David in action for a while now, hey, just sayin'. The Source is alwyas the best.

Tati might be funny if you're on ludes, maybe then. But that's not my thing. If you're gonna slow down that much, the joke will be over before you can laugh, which means that you're never sure it was funny to begin with, and in Tati's case...yeah, every now and then there's "humor", but on the whole, I'm quite sure it was never funny to begin with.

You know who's funny? Everybody. Except Jacques Tati & Al Bundy. And that Dice Clay guy. Dice Clay is to comedy what Walter Palmer is to life in general, you know, is this really NECESSARY, no, not really.