The biggest box office hit of 1964 in France with 7.8 million viewers.
Richard Balducci who created the characters and partially wrote the script, told that he got the idea for such a subject because one day his camera was stolen in Saint Tropez and when he had to complain to the local police he met there very relaxed people.
The first 6 minutes are shown black & white. When the plot moves to St. Tropez the movie gets colored.