- I'm beginning to appreciate that even the average French gangster films are still pretty good. In the case of Claude Sautet's Classe Tous Risques, which translates roughly to "Consider All Risks," much of that greatness comes from the brilliant pairing of Lino Ventura and Jean-Paul Belmondo. In this case, Ventura plays a veteran thief named Davos whose status as an internationally wanted criminal causes him no end of concern for the safety of his wife (Simone France) and kids. After pulling one final exciting heist in Italy, Davos and his partner Raymond (Stan Krol) attempt to smuggle Davos' family back into France by boat, but they're discovered. In a tragic eruption of violence, a few in the party are killed, as are the border patrol agents. Now Davos has to turn to his old Paris cohort for help.
- Trouble is, his old friends aren't as reliable as they used to be. Although we gather that Riton (Michel Ardan), Jeannot (Philippe March), Fargier (Claude Cerval), and Davos once made quite a team, the Parisians all find one excuse or another for not helping Davos out. They even send a young kid named Stark (Belmondo) to pick Davos up in an ambulance rather than going themselves. Stark, meanwhile, turns out to be a truly helpful individual. Not only does he secret Davos through police checkpoints, but he even pauses to help a woman named Liliane (Sandra Milo) who's getting beaten up alongside the road. When the Parisians refuse to take Davos in, Stark offers the fugitive an empty room in his apartment. Now if only Davos could get his hands on some money...
- The most remarkable aspect of Classe Tous Risques is how terrifically it portrays its two main characters. Davos is a crook, to be sure, but he steals from other, more dishonest crooks (Marcel Dalio) and then only to help his children. In terms of personality, Stark's youthful, carefree attitude contrasts sharply with Davos' brooding, but the two find common ground in their concern for other people. Ultimately, Stark probably would have given his life to save Davos, but fortunately for him it doesn't quite come to that. It's too bad the film didn't spend just ten more minutes fleshing out Davos' fate rather than appealing to a narrator, but maybe that's what separates the great gangster films from the merely good ones. As it stands, the film's acting is strong enough and the direction, especially in the driving sequences that tour through Milan and Paris, memorable enough that I can't be too disappointed.
- Based on novel by Jose Giovanni and likely indirectly based on the life of actual French gangster Abel Danos.
- I have to quote this gem from A. O. Scott's review: "Claude Sautet's "Classe Tous Risques" is the kind of French movie that makes you want to throw on your trench coat, light up a cigarette and shoot somebody."
