Fernand Reynaud was a famous stand-up comic whose best sketches ("Le 22 A Anières"..) have remained memorable .
Pierre Chevalier was his regular director and with "Fernand Vagabond" ,began a long series of movies with Reynaud ("Le Sicilien" "LA Marraine De Charley") ;by keeping the actor's first name,both men were trying to create a character (like Chaplin,or in France ,Leonce Perret)as they used to do in a silent era.He would keep "Fernand " for a handful of movies later on.
The beginning of the movie is pleasant : the tramp on the road,with his faithful dog "Brigadier " who helps him wash his dirty linen -the washerwomen ,at the river,is a delightful thing of the past-, then the jewels ("it's fake " says the cop).
Afterwards,things go downhill ;the screenplay is devoid of interest ,and why didn't they ask their actor to write his own lines? That would have meant a better movie.
The subject is hackneyed : "a tramp is not meant to live in an hypocrit society " and he'd better hit the road again" had been treated before and Chevalier's flick does not renew it.The approach is too gentle here anyway ,one is far from Renoir's "Boudu" .
Besides the "happy-go-lucky " Clochard (tramp) is a cliché ;nowadays ,the word tends to become obsolete and is replaced by Sans Abri "homeless" ,who are not exactly rolling in happiness .
