Forced Films 2019 – #3 – Debra’s 1st Pick – Elevator to the Gallows (1958)

This is the 3rd of 10 films that I was “forced” to watch by my fellow bloggers who participated in my 4800th review Contest last December. This movie was the 1st of 2 films chosen by Debra of Moon in Gemini

Tnx for the suggestion. Let’s see what I thought of it….

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“Anything’s good for an alibi. Wives, girlfriends, bartenders, childhood friends, deceived husbands – but not an elevator. That’s ridiculous. It’s totally harebrained.” – Police Commissioner

Number of Times Seen – 1 (19 Feb 2019)

Brief Synopsis – A man commits the perfect crime in his office but a small error forces him to return to the scene of the crime and risk getting caught.

My Take on it – When Debra suggested this film, I was a bit concerned especially since I’m not a fan of foreign language films at all.

But…

Since the idea of these films are ones chosen by the winners of the contest and I an not allowed to try and wiggle way out of watching the movie no matter what.

As most of you already know, I’m not a fan of foreign language films and despite the fact that I’ve started to try and expand my horizons in the genre over the years, they still aren’t the easiest films for me to choose to watch.

This film was no exception to that.

Fortunately, within less than 5 minutes after the film started, I was hooked because it was so enthralling to watch unfold.

The story is expertly written and they do an amazing job showing the way things can happen following the successful execution of the “perfect” crime.

They story is paced really well and moves along very smoothly and there is never any feeling that things are not happening as they would in the real world.

It all comes across quite plausibly in order to make us believe that this could really be happening as presented.

The events of the film are shown in a very timeless fashion which also helps make things so thrilling to watch because this kind of story could happen no matter the place or time and still works extremely well.

This also helps keep things really enjoyable because we get to see events play out in a very clever way that one might never expect.

So glad that I got a chance to see this film!

Bottom Line – Excellent crime film that shows how things can move along following a “perfect” crime. The story flows really well and we never get the idea that the story feels contrived because all that happens occurs in a very plausible fashion. The events of the film are quite timeless which helps keep it so enjoyable throughout. It doesn’t matter where this story take place or even when and this helps keep things so thrilling as we watch the story unfold. So glad that I got the chance to see this film. Highly Recommended!

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – Louis Malle shot his lead actress Jeanne Moreau in close-up and natural light and often without make-up. Moreau, an icon of French film, had never been seen like this before, to the extent that lab technicians, reportedly appalled at how unflatteringly she was photographed, refused to process the film. Once they were persuaded to, however, it soon began clear that Malle had captured every nuance of Moreau’s performance. (From IMDB)

Rating – Oscar Worthy (9/10)