It looks wonderful - this DVD was well worth any wait. The mono soundtrack is not quite as stellar, though. I had a hard time understanding some of the German dialogue. Given the film's age, and knowing the attention to detail Criterion is legendary for, this is probably the best this film is ever going to sound. Renoir used a unique mix of different languages in his films.
Characters speak French, German, English and Russian.
The language potpourri never feels distracting, but rather comes across as realistic and charming. Criterion created a new English subtitle track in white letters, which is easily readable and beautifully translated, preserving the puns and wit of the dialogue. The disc also shines when it comes to the supplemental material. The folks at Criterion also added an archival radio segment of Renoir and von Stroheim accepting the Best Foreign Film honors at the 1938 New York Film Critics Awards. There are some excerpts from the original press book, but this is only the start of a supply of good reading material.