"À mort l'arbitre" wasn't as successful as hoped for in French cinemas (box office figures of 359,972 - 103,804 of those in Paris) though it did receive largely favorable reviews, with Jacques Morice of Télérama describing Michel Serrault as impeccable and chilling in his role as a belligerent proletarian.Not until it was seen on French television by 17 million viewers in 1989, as part of a series called "Dossiers de l'écran" (literally "screen files"