Elevator for the scaffold this evening on France 5: Back to the legendary bo of Miles Davis

Louis Malle had flair for his first film.

1957. With his work on The world of silenceco-produced with Jacques-Yves Cousteau and crowned by the Palme d’Or and the Oscar for best documentary, Louis Malle is completing his first fictional feature, Elevator for the scaffolda film Noir of which Jeanne Moreau plays the main role. The young director, then aged 25, is a bit under pressure. He must present his film for the prestigious Louis-Delluc prize and has little time to finalize the soundtrack. Fortunately, he will be able to count on the genius of Miles Davis, which his assistant Jean-Paul Rappeneau advised him to hire.

Passing through Paris in November, for a concert, the famous jazz trumpeter views Elevator for the scaffold During a private projection and agrees. Appointment is made on December 4, at the Studio Le Poste Parisien, where Miles Davis accompanied by other musicians (Barney Wilen at the Tenor saxophone, René Urtreger on the piano, Pierre Michelot at La double bass, Kenny Clarke on drums) records, in improv, the scoring of the film, in the presence of Jeanne Moreau who is there to welcome them. Malle is tense, unlike Davis who finds the rather quiet exercise compared to a concert at the Olympia.

During the recording, Louis Malle explains to a dumbfounded journalist what’s going on: “He saw the film, and we discussed what we could do, and currently with his training, we project the images, and we record directly.“The result is simply sublime. The music of Miles Davis perfectly accompanies the film, without sticking too much to the images (according to the desire of Louis Malle), as in the scene where the character of Jeanne Moreau wanders in the streets in search of her lover.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1okqdp6iguk

Edited in the form of a vinyl album, Elevator for the scaffold (Elevator to the Gallows in English) will influence the following works of Miles Davis and will remain as one of the monuments of his discography. The film, considered one of the founders of the new wave, will also go to posterity and definitively launch the great career of its director, to whom we owe in particular the drama on the occupation Goodbye children.

Look Elevator for the scaffold This Tuesday, August 12 at 9 p.m. on France 5, and the next day in streaming on the French Televisions website