Scaffold Lift (film)

The main characters, a pair of lovers, are planning the perfect murder of the woman’s husband, Simon Caral, an arms and oil magnate. The killer, Julien Tavernier, a former paratrooper of the Foreign Legion , a veteran of the wars in Indochina and Algeria , climbs over the rope into the victim’s office (his boss), pretending to be locked in his office (with the help of an ignorant secretary). The killing goes smoothly. However, about to leave for the car, he sees that he has forgotten the rope hanging from the window and decides to return behind it, leaving the car open and wound up. Along the road, Julien got stuck in the elevator, as the building was closed for the weekend and the guard turned off the electricity before leaving. At the same time, a young couple - car thief Louis and flower girl Veronique - steal Julien's car. Louis discovers a pistol and a mini-camera in the glove compartment and begins to imagine himself a secret agent and a war hero. He drives with his girlfriend in a car through the night city and highway.

At night, Louis and Veronique stay at the motel with a German couple who accidentally met them. Veronique takes pictures of both pairs on a Tavernier camera. In the morning, Louis tries to hijack the luxurious Mercedes of the Germans, but the Germans discover him, and he kills them with Julien's pistol. Louis and Veronique manage to escape from the scene of the crime. Later, realizing the inevitability of retribution for the crime, Veronik tries to commit suicide and convinces Louis to do the same, but is mistaken with the dose of the medicine.

The police are on a false trail, investigating the version that the killer is Julien. The evidence is irrefutable: after all, Louis and Veronique stayed at the motel under the name of the Tavernier couple. They followed him to the office of Caral. Electricity is turned on, and Julien manages to leave the building unnoticed. At the same time, police discover the boss’s corpse. After some time, Julien was arrested in a cafe on suspicion of the murder of a German couple.

Florence (Simon's wife) saw Julien's car with Veronique in the passenger seat, but persuaded herself that she was mistaken. Therefore, at night, despite the downpour and thunderstorm, she searches for Julien and in one of the bars she meets his friend. At 5 o’clock in the morning they are both arrested, but later released after learning that she is Caral’s wife. The headlines of the morning newspapers say that Julien is a tourist killer, but Florence does not believe this and begins her own investigation and quickly finds real criminals. She goes for Louis, who wants to pick up the photos from the motel, where he is arrested by the police ( Lino Ventura ). Florence and Julien are accused of the murder of Simon Caral, since there are joint photographs on the mini-camera film, which indicates their connection and motives for the murder of Simon.

• Jeanne Moreau - Florence Carala
• Maurice Rone - Julien Tavernier
• Georges Pujulie - Louis
• Jory Bertin - Veronik
• Lino Ventura - Commissioner Cherrier
• Charles Denner - Inspector Interrogating Tavernier
• Marcel Journe - Chairman of the Board of Administration
• Jean-Claude Brialie - guest at the motel (uncredited)

• Weekend

• “Scaffold Lift” on the Internet Movie Database  
• Scaffold elevator (English) on allmovie