Bibi Fricotin was created in 1924 by Louis Forton,but the comics people who are over forty remember are those featuring his black buddy Razibus Zouzou ,which were Pierre Lacroix 's work;today ,children do not read Bibi anymore in France but the adults are still looking for the comics which are not so easy to find.
Bibi Fricotin was a teenager ,a forerunner of Tintin and Spirou,but he is largely overshadowed by them now .Like them ,his stories feature a professor (Radar) and he fights against the villains.
Maurice Baquet had already played the part of a comic character,Ribouldingue (one of the Pieds Nickelés),but at the age of 40 ,and in spite of his boyish looks,he was obviously too old to play an adolescent and it shows in the movie.
This is the kind of movie which has not worn well;transferring comics to the screen with actors has always been a very perilous task (see Tintin and Asterix) and Bibi Fricotin is no exception to the rule.This is a cock and bull plot about an inheritance with occasional funny moments such as the scene when Bibi is a waiter in a restaurant and the false ending (Bibi says it's not over when you think it is).Louis De Funes,who is the only reason that may draw today's viewers, appears as a fisherman and as a lifeguard .
