"Pas de grisbi pour Ricardo" (=no dough for Ricardo ) has an alternate title "folies parisiennes", the music hall where the said Ricardo ,a crooner,is to perform .
A singing contest opens the film: a female contender is booed off the stage , but Ricardo , who performs after her,is by no means better :and one has to stand at least three or four of his bel canto vocals afterwards ; a would be agent signs him for "les folies parisiennes " but he has to pay the "start-up costs",which amount to 5,000 francs all the same .As his best pal has spent every last penny for these expenses , both guys have to hitch -hike to get to the promised land ,Paris, where Riccardo is supposed to hit the big time. On their way,they are kidnapped by gangsters who ask for a ransom to the manager of "les folies parisiennes" who ,naturally,has never heard of this would be up-and-coming star.
The French cinema plumbs the depth of rubbish ,in this cock and bull story .Acting is abysmal ,particularly the singer and his chum,who,in the last sequence ,ham it up in a way they would deserve to be booed off the stage too;even Jean Tissier is not able to save something from the wreckage.
