It's Christmas Eve, 1910, in French Guiana.

Three Devil's Island "lifers" are at work, repairing the roof of kindly (but inept) storekeeper, Felix Duchotel. Felix manages the store for his nasty-minded, rich cousin, Gaston. Panic strikes when Gaston unexpectedly arrives from France, demanding to examine Felix's accounts, and threatening Felix, his wife and daughter with eviction, if the books don’t balance.

The three Devil's Island "angels" decide to rescue the family. So – with the aid of Joseph's "accounting" skills, and Albert's pet snake, Adolphe – they set about solving the family's problems.

This criminally funny play was brilliantly filmed in 1955, as We're No Angels, starring Humphrey Bogart, Peter Ustinov and Aldo Ray.