"Claude Sautet rarely receives his due as one of the more interesting French filmmakers of his generation, especially outside his native France, and the Criterion Collection have stepped forward to make a case for his talents with this solid DVD release of his first feature film. Classe Tous Risques has been given a widescreen transfer to disc in its original aspect ratio of 1.66:1, letterboxed on conventional televisions and enhanced for anamorphic playback on 16x9 monitors. The source materials look fine, and the transfer is clean, crisp and captures the details of Ghislain Cloquet's photography. The audio has been mastered in Dolby Digital Mono, and it sounds as good as can be expected for a film of its vintage. The dialogue is in French, with optional English subtitles. As is their custom, Criterion have added a number of relevant bonus features for this release, including excerpts from Claude Sautet ou la Magie Invisible, a documentary on the director's career; an interview with Jose Giovanni, the former convict who wrote Classe Tout Risques' screenplay and the novel upon which it was based; clips from several interviews with star Lino Ventura in which he talks about his career and his craft; and trailers for both the French and American releases for the film. And the accompanying booklet features essays from filmmakers Jean-Pierre Melville and Bertrand Tavernier and biographer N.T. Bihn, as well as Sautet himself. Fans of French cinema looking for a crash course on this elusive talent will be well served with Criterion's release of Classe Tous Risques, and it's a typically well-executed effort from America's best video label."