Based on comics created by Louis Forton at the beginning of the twentieth century , Les Pieds Nickelés (Croquignol,Filochard and Ribouldingue )are a lazy threesome , who would not think of getting an honest job-it's easier to steal- and who are always battling the police ,generally represented by Commissaire Croquenot (here replaced by a two -bit private eye ,Sherlock Coco.)
To tranfer European comics to the screen is no easy task (generally comics American heroes lend themselves with more success than them to movies ) , and Marcel Aboulker's work is estimable. Rellys, Maurice Baquet and Robert Dhéry are a very good team. Their tricks are numerous , as they dress them up as scarecrows, gendarmes or....coffeepots; two of them go as far as to disguise themselves as mother and son in a beauty parlor!
To help the prison director's daughter whose father wants to marry with the abominable Sherlock Coco (and who loves an honest young man,Pierre ) , the Pieds Nickelés pretend to recover an Invaluable diamond stolen by gangster Jo Papillon and to give it back to her owner ,a princess.thus,they would be given a big reward .Coincidence Jo is Pierre's lookalike, which makes things easier ,but which is the source of many gags ,based on mistaken identities ; the balloon over Paris is also a good idea,but it drags on a little.
The film was a success and spawned a sequel "le trésor des pieds nickelés " in 1950.
