Classe tous risques (1960)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Claude Sautet

Writers:

José Giovanni (novel)
Claude Sautet (adaptation) ...
(more)

Release Date:

1 April 1960 (Italy)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Romance | Thriller

Plot:

Abel Davis is a criminal, hunted in Italy. The police are closing in, so he and his pal Raymond arrange to flee back to France with Abel's wife...

Plot Keywords:

Escape | Police | Criminal | Stranger | Children

Cast

Lino Ventura	...	Abel Davos
Sandra Milo	...	Liliane
Jean-Paul Belmondo	...	Eric Stark
Marcel Dalio	...	Arthur Gibelin
Michel Ardan	...	Riton Vintran
Simone France	...	Therese Davos
Michèle Méritz	...	Sophie Fargier
Stan Krol	...	Raymond
Evelyne Ker
Betty Schneider	...	La petite bonne
France Asselin	...	Madame Vintran
Jean-Pierre Zola		(as J.P. Zola)
Sylvain Levignac
Jeanne Pérez	...	Jacqueline Chapuis
René Génin	...	Chapuis
Charles Blavette	...	Bénazet
Philippe March		(as Aimé de March)
Corrado Guarducci	...	Ferucci
Robert Desnoux	...	Pierrot, l'enfant
Thierry Lavoye	...	Daniel, l'enfant
Claude Cerval	...	Raoul Fargier
Jacques Dacqmine	...	Blot
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Marcel Gassouk	...	Un homme à la poste de Nice
Max Amyl	...	Petit rôle (uncredited)
Lucien Desagneaux	...	Un joueur de billard (uncredited)
Bernard Dhéran	...	Blastone (uncredited)
Carlo Nell	...	Un joueur (uncredited)

Directed by
Claude Sautet

Writing credits
José Giovanni		(novel)
Claude Sautet		(adaptation) and
José Giovanni		(adaptation) and
Pascal Jardin		(adaptation)
José Giovanni		(dialogue)

Produced by
Robert Amon	....	executive producer
Jean Darvey	....	producer

Original Music by
Georges Delerue

Cinematography by
Ghislain Cloquet

Film Editing by
Albert Jurgenson

Production Design by
Rino Mondellini		(as Rino Mondelini)

Makeup Department
Billy Bonnard	....	makeup artist

Production Management
René Fargéas	....	unit manager
Jacques Plante	....	production manager (as Jacques Planté)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Bernard Bertrand	....	assistant director
Mary Greco	....	assistant director
Jean Lefèvre	....	assistant director
Lù Leone	....	assistant director

Art Department
Jacques Dugied	....	assistant art director (as Dugied)
Jacqueline Moreau	....	assistant art director (as Moreau)
Raymond Remarchand	....	props (as Raymond Lemarchand)

Sound Department
Jacques Lebreton	....	sound editor

Camera and Electrical Department
Paul Apoteker	....	still photographer
Jean Chiabaut	....	assistant camera (as Chiabaut)
Pierre Goupil	....	camera operator
François Lauliac	....	assistant camera (as Lauliac)

Editorial Department
Eric Pluet	....	assistant editor

Other crew
Simone Chotel	....	production administrator
Ginette Diamant-Berger	....	script girl

Production Companies

• Mondex Films
• Les Films Odéon
• Filmsonor (as Filmsonor)
• Zebra Films

Distributors

• Cinédis (1960) (France) (theatrical)
• United Artists (1963) (USA) (theatrical) (dubbed) (as "The Big Risk")
• Rialto Pictures (2005) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Criterion Collection, The (2008) (USA) (DVD)
• Korporatsiya Arena (Russia) (VHS)

Special Effects

• LAX Lab. (as LAX)

Other Companies

• Societe Optiphone  sound re-recording
• Éditions Gallimard  book publisher
• Éditions Impéria  music publishing

Also Known As:

Asfalto che scotta (Italy)
The Big Risk (USA)

Runtime:

France:110 min | USA:103 min | West Germany:105 min

Country:

France | Italy

Language:

Italian | French

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Canada:G | Finland:(Banned) (1961-1968) | Finland:K-16 | West Germany:18 (nf)

Filming Locations:

Milan, Lombardia, Italy

Company:

Mondex Films

Movie Connections:

Featured in Claude Sautet ou La magie invisible (2003)

as solid as they come, and if you can find it on the big screen, go!

The film Classe tous risques directed by Claude Sautet was not a film, to be honest, I had ever really heard of until the Film Forum in NYC said that they would have a 2-week screening of the film, with new English subtitles. When I also read that it was in the vein of the classic French crime films ala Jean Pierre Melville, I jumped at the chance to check it out (at best it would rank up with his great works, and at worst I would get some good popcorn in a great theater). It was well worth the admission, as Classe tous risques is one of those kinds of French films that is just waiting to be re-discovered (or discovered for the first time). With terrific, tense diligence, Sautet keeps the suspense at a tight pitch for the first forty minutes of the film, keeping a good (if not great) middle section, and then ending it up with what is always expected with these films, but with fascinating motivations by way of the characters. With a film in the vein of this sort, you know how it will end, but it's the cool, observant journey that counts.

The film features a performance with some real truth and honesty, amid the "old-school" criminal's code, by Lino Ventura as Aldo, who at the start of the film (one of the best beginnings to a film in this genre and country) steals a hefty amount of money with his partner in crime). When there is a sudden, ugly twist of fate on a beach late one night, Aldo is again on the run with two little kids. He gets the aid of Eric Stark (Jean-Paul Belmondo, a role in tune with Le Doulos only with a smidgen more humanity and charisma), who is also a thief and drives him into Paris. But there are some problems with some of Aldo's old business partner's, and one old score may be just the right ticket. A couple of times the plot may seem to be leisurely, but it isn't. Like Melville, Sautet doesn't allow any fat to his story, and it's a very tightly structured film, with some good doses of humor here and there (I was sometimes grinning at the audacity of the criminals in the beginning chase sequence, and also with a particular woman who had a finicky thing with her cat and a fish).

Along with a fine score by the great George Delerue, exceptional cinematography, and a mood that is seldom met let alone matched now adays, Classe tous risques is a reminder of that bridge between the real old-school film-noir, and the latter day crime films. Gangsters in these new sort of "thug-life" movies have a 1000th of the class and honor of the thieves in this film, and is a second banana to the works of Melville and Jules Dassin (a compliment I assure you). That it has a good realistic, moral edge helps as well.