Louis Malle bridges classic noir and the French New Wave with peerless style. An adulterous couple’s slick plot to murder the woman’s husband collides with a pair of bungling teens acting out their nihilistic crime-movie fantasies. Jeanne Moreau is immortalized as she takes the greatest nocturnal stroll in cinema history as Miles Davis’ improvised score caresses her like a night breeze. French noir doesn’t come any cooler than this. *No intro from Foster Hirsch

“Elevator to the Gallows married a new kind of jazz to a new kind of cinema, and created something altogether sublime.” – Village Voice