This is a film which I had not even heard of before a kind fellow IMDb user sent me a copy. It fits under the neo-noir bracket; more specifically it's an example of French noir, of which there seemed to be quite a few released in the 1960's. Its story follows an ex-convict who has just been released from prison; he has a chance encounter with a married Italian woman who invites him back to her flat. Later they go back out drinking but when they return they discover the body of the woman's husband in the apartment, murdered. In typical noir fashion, there are a few surprises yet around the corner.This moody Gallic thriller takes place over the course of one winter night in Paris. Christmas festivities form a backdrop to events but there is little holiday cheer to be found in the story, although a key clue to the mysterious goings on ties in with a seemingly irrelevant Christmas item. That, along with the significant role played by the elevator that services the warehouse like apartment building where most of the key action takes place, forms the bones of the clever narrative. There is a nice gloomy atmosphere to this one which helps create an effective mood, while the twist in the story really is quite unusual and smart. It ensures that this one dovetails into a very satisfying ending and makes you want to watch the movie again to see it unfold with the benefit of foreknowledge.

"Le Monte-Charge" is a hell of hidden treasure in french film noir. And it's the best opus in the Frederic Dard-Robert Hossein cooperation. How can such a nugget be forgotten for so long time? At last, it's available on DVD and blue-ray. Maybe french films noirs need a complete encyclopedia so we can discover such gems."Le Monte-Charge" offers us a real noir crime drama with a diabolical machination. Without telling the story (already told by the other reviewers), the result is an amazing and insane atmosphere, sharply photographed by not so unknown André Bac ("Le Jour Se Lève") with dazzling views by night. A lot of very strong surprises all through the movie. I was stuck in front of this mirage of despair.The main city where the movie is shot is Asnières (next to the station street with the cinema Alcazar).If you love old fine french noir movies with old settings (french restaurants, cars, stores... ), jump on it and enjoy, you will place your disc next to "Les Diaboliques" by Clouzot.

Lea Massari makes a memorable femme-fatale in this Hitchcockian venture into nocturnal suspense. "Le Monte-Charge" (Literally, Service Elevator) is a dark, little-known gem of late-period Film Noir. Irony plays a major role right from the start, as Robert (excellent Robert Hossein) returns from prison on Christmas Eve. All he finds is a lonely Paris neighborhood, with people rushing around the streets, shopping and chattering. His mother had died while he was in prison, and her dark apartment is a depressing place to be. Solitary Robert dines alone, but by chance he meets an attractive woman, Marthe (Massari) and her little girl. Eventually, Robert ends up in the woman's apartment, but things don't go quite as he expected. This elevator makes some mysterious and extremely intriguing stops along the way, and it would be unacceptable to spoil any of them. Director Bluwal shows influence of Hitchcock and of some masters of French crime drama, with atmospheric camera work and in particular the use of sound effects. The actors are fully inside their roles. Besides the fine leads, there is Maurice Biraud, very good as Mr. Ferry. Georges Delerue provided a score that is a classic of his particular kind: sparingly used and melancholy. Much of the story is set in a large factory building that contains a private apartment, but Bluwal makes great use of Paris exteriors as well (not the typical, romantic ones, but the quartiers inhabited by ordinary working people). Not just another disposable thriller, this is a meticulously crafted film of startling surprises, revelations and numerous cinematic pleasures.

On a Christmas night, all doesn't seem to be calm and bright.An ex-convict ,Robert Herbin,(Robert Hossein) meets a beautiful Italian married woman Marthe Drévet ,who has got a lot of things to hide and it's the beginning of a film noir,with a lot of suspense and unexpected twists ,unfairly ignored nowadays.The screenwriter was adapted from a Frederic Dard 's novel,famous in France for his "San Antonio " series -not for every taste-,but who also wrote murder mysteries as compelling as these of Boileau-Narcejac (les diaboliques,Vertigo)Robert Hossein had already adapted his "toi le venin" for the screen,and it seems that he is ,much more than Marcel Bluwal,essentially a TV director,the main auteur of the film.The action takes place in an old house ,the first floor of which is a big workshop.A dark , threatening house,where a service elevator(monte-charge)leads to the flat.Marthe takes Robert to her home for a drink;he puts a small bird he bought on the Xmas tree,and they go for a stroll in the streets;when they come back,there's a dead body in the room(the hubby) and most extraordinary thing,the bird has disappeared.And that's only the beginning!The scenes outside the house show Clouzot's and Duvivier's influence,but also Dard's misanthropy:all through the streets,on that Xmas night,there's nothing really divine:except from the very beginning,when a gendarme buys a plane for his child,all we see is people arguing or fighting.And it's during the midnight mass,when a singer breaks into "minuit chrétiens" (o holy night),that the two heroes meet a despicable bourgeois(Maurice Biraud) puffed up with smugness and vulgarity.A lot of surprises are in store for the audience and I wonder why they've never thought of a remake:the screenplay is strong enough to stand the test of time.The performances (Hossein,Biraud and Léa Massari) are first-rate.