In a thriller at once ruthless and soulful, Sautet paid attention to men who shot to kill — men to whom loyalty and friendship mattered, along with guns and cash — but also tousled the heads of kids, treated women with respect, and savored the pleasures of sandwiches and beer. Abel Davos (onetime wrestler Lino Ventura) is a tough guy — and a warm husband and father to two sons — who, after a decade on the lam in Milan, wants to get his family home to Paris. Eric Stark (Belmondo) is the freelance thief who helps him after a daring heist goes wrong and former associates of Davos turn on him.

It's a toss-up as to which is more spectacular — the taut, unsentimental chase that opens the picture after Davos and a partner in crime mug guards who are transferring payroll cash, or the underplayed, equally unsentimental bond that develops between Davos and Stark. Sandra Milo, from Fellini's 8 1/2, makes a luscious entr'acte as Stark's love interest, but it's the elemental male relationships that inspire Sautet's greatest moments in a great specimen of recovered cinema treasure.