1958: Ascenseur pour l'échafaud (Elevator to the Gallows or Lift to the Scaffold)

Now, that's how to open a film: A close-up of a good-looking woman breathing "Je t'aime. Je t'aime" into a receiver. The French, eh?

Louis Malle's first film, set during a weekend in a late-50s Paris that the director deliberately made look modern is a crime gone wrong story. There's Julien Tavernier, the employee of a arms manufacturer who kills his boss, who is also his lover's husband; the lover, Florence Cavala, who is looking for Tavernier after he got stuck in an elevator on his way from the crime scene; and a young couple who steal his car and get into trouble of their own. As was remarked in the Washington Post (according to my DVD cover), the film's most important character may be Paris at night, the stylish photography accompanied by Miles Davies' trumpet. Despite minor weaknesses, this is a very good film (8).

Even better than the film: The trailer.