Elevator to the Gallows
Times Film Corporation | Release Date: June 10, 1961 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
94
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 16 Critic Reviews
Positive:
16
Mixed:
0
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
A consummate entertainment rich with the romantic atmosphere of Paris in the 1950s. Coming at a turning point in French cinematic history, it drew upon several major talents - director Louis Malle, star Jeanne Moreau, cinematographer Henri Decaë, musician Miles Davis - and achieved near-legendary results with all of them. Read full review
100
San Francisco ChronicleWalter Addiego
As French crime thrillers go, this is about as good as it gets. Read full review
100
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
A suspenseful, elegant entertainment. Read full review
100
The GuardianPeter Bradshaw
It is not free of plot-holes...but what a supremely stylish and watchable picture it is. Read full review
100
The TelegraphTim Robey
The construction has a mocking fatalism that might have felt oppressive, but Malle and his actors keep you constantly on the edge of your seat, wondering what curse will befall the desperate lovebirds next. Read full review
100
Total FilmSimon Kinnear
The ambition is bracing, but critical hindsight obscures how exciting Malle’s noir thriller is on its own terms. Read full review
100
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
A plan for a perfect murder goes wildly wrong in this 1958 melodrama by one of France's great filmmakers. Read full review
91
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
Malle, only 25 when the film was released, bounces confidently among several threads -- classic French policier, juvenile delinquent film, doomy tale of tragic love, clock-ticking thriller. Read full review
90
Washington PostStephen Hunter
Superb. Read full review
90
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
A tightly structured thriller with a brilliantly moody performance by Jeanne Moreau, and depending on your point of view, it's either one of the few genuine French noir films or an early entry in the New Wave. Read full review
90
The New YorkerDavid Denby
Moreau's nocturnal wanderings are made unbearably poignant by an exquisite Miles Davis jazz score that became famous in its own right. Read full review
90
Village VoiceMelissa Anderson
It's precisely Malle's omnivorous appetite that makes his first feature, adapted from a policier, so delectable, one stuffed with many sumptuous sights and sounds. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
These 1950s French noirs abandon the formality of traditional crime films, the almost ritualistic obedience to formula, and show crazy stuff happening to people who seem to be making up their lives as they go along. Read full review
88
The Seattle TimesJohn Hartl
A classic European film noir with an irresistible score by Miles Davis, it builds tension from a series of seemingly minor mistakes that echo the political/military context of the postwar era. Read full review
80
Time Out LondonDave Calhoun
It’s no masterpiece, but it’s slick and tense, and the camerawork has something of the in-the-moment, on-the-ground immediacy of the French New Wave films. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
The film's look makes a divine accessory for its music, which Miles Davis composed. There's not even 20 minutes of it in the film, yet it still defines the atmosphere, transforming a crime yarn into a bebop noir. Read full review
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