Four episodes: a traveler is enticed by train per bet; a professional wants to be alone with a woman he likes; a lawyer becomes the lover of an adversary; a man discovers his wife's infidelity after ten years.
Susy, a call girl from Milan, receives a castle as a gift from one of her old clients, Baron Colletta di Sant'Omero. When she arrives, she is mistaken for the widow of the deceased squire and is immediately surrounded by the mayor, members of the town council, and other people who all aspire to take over the dilapidated property for little money, whose future is guaranteed by the industrial expansion of the Calabrian village. Susy realizes the situation and astutely takes advantage of it. She manages to obtain the unanimous vote of the city council against the expropriation of her land, and, having duped all her suitors, she devotes herself to Corrado, a technician at some important factories in the area.
In the first Italian film to be shot in color, Totò portrays a musician named Antonio Scannagatti who strongly hopes to sell his composition, "Epopea italiana", to Tiscordi, who is one of the most important Italian impresarios.
The spirit of a vengeful female vampire is released from her grave and possesses a wealthy young woman of nobility, who preys on other women in her village.
The Russian women's basketball team faces to the American team for the championship of the world, in Rome. Upon arriving at the 'Eternal City', the Russian athletes find ways to evade the strict surveillance and meet some Italian guys. After many persecutions, the Russians are confined by their guardians under the promise that, if they win, they can stay and live in Italy. But as they conquer the championship, their guards forget the promises and put them on a plane to Moscow.
Young Italian writers and directors express themselves in four episodes about sex and love. "Love and Language," the first tale, centers on the difficulties of a Sicilian immigrant who is unable to master proper Italian. the second tale "Love and Life" centers on a jealous and unhappy wife who becomes so desperate to be free of her constantly philandering husband she takes on a lover of her own. "Love and Art" a nearly exhausted screenwriter hires a secretary to help manage his typing. She's a pretty lass and this makes his insecure wife crazy until he fires the female and hires a male secretary. "Love and Death," the final episode centers on the love affair between a middle-aged widower and the grieving young widow he meets at the cemetery. Unfortuantely for his bank statement, the young, impoverished beauty isn't as bereaved as she seems.
The lover of an Italian revolutionary offers herself to Napoleon in exchange for her sweetheart's life.
Penniless Baron Tulicò, nicknamed Leopard, abandons his mistress, with whom he's had two sons, and marries a rich woman. The mistress tries to have her rights established with the help of her sons.
Italian Western comedy in black-and-white. The movie intended to be a parody of the American western as even the title shows, being a hybrid between the original title of the movie The Oklahoma Kid and its rendering for the Italian audience, "Il terrore dell'Ovest".
The Professor and his men are captured by U.S. agents during an attempted train robbery. To avoid jail, they must kidnap a Latin dictator.
After bungling a job in London, Albert, an international thief, masterminds a plan to rob a Geneva bank of 7 tons of gold. Assisted by the seductive Giorgia, who works from within the bank, and six other accomplices, Albert sets himself up in an expensive hotel with a battery of electronic devices to supervise the operation.
A group of young musicians organize a show that will turn out to be a hodgepodge, yet still manage to entertain the audience with their cheerful lighthearted songs.
Lorenzo is an industrialist married in Argentina to a cruel woman who manages to have all her husband's assets seized, to throw him out of the house and to be awarded the two children born of the unhappy marriage. The desperate industrialist repairs in Italy, where he takes with him the children he has kidnapped and the affectionate secretary. But even in Italy the law is against him.
Music, ballet, folk dances and mime eliciting the spirit of Naples across the ages are loosely tied together by the comedic wanderings and exploits of the Esposito family.
In Naples, a voice from the skies announces one morning that the final judgment will be at 6 p.m. on that day. What follows is a series of vignettes depicting various people's reactions (or lack thereof) to the announcement.
In Italy, Checco Dal Monte manages a troupe of traveling performers with plenty of heart but minimal talent. At a small town engagement, he encounters the starry-eyed, gorgeous Lily Antonelli, and hires her as a dancer on the show. Vivacious Lily quickly sells out crowds and earns the resentment of Checco's mistress, Melina Amour, but the fledgling performer has far bigger ambitions and soon sets her sights on a higher-profile role.
Count Raimondo and his girlfriend Veronique return to Italy from Switzerland carrying with them a load of contraband cigarettes but, using the pretense of a kidnapping to cheat their supplier, they hide out in the convent run by his uncle Friar Hugh. In the same convent without anyone's knowledge, the bandit Lucky Marciano is also hiding out with a significant quantity of gold ingots stolen from the Swiss Federal Bank.
A young woman gets closely watched by her jealous fiance while she is trying to deliver cakes to customers' houses.
A thief falls in love with a maid and goes on the run after stealing Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa."
Five episodes which show Italian peoples pathological unfaithfulness in marriage.
Two nuns come to Rome to protest to an airline about its jet planes which have been flying over their convent school, disrupting teaching of the little orphans who study there and damaging the ancient fresco of their patron saint through sound vibrations.
Two rich Sicilian cousins sell their farm because they want to help two fake Siamese twins separate and then marry them. After the operation the girls are thought to be dead but then they reappear to con more money out of the two gullible men. Will they manage to do so?
A thief steals a suitcase but it contains a corpse and the thief is sentenced, but is released by the robbed doctor, who then subjects him to a facial plastic that makes him equal to a criminal.
Walter Chiari as a Pugliese who lives in Milan. He has two cousins identical to him. The two arrive in the city to find work and twist their lives.
4 con men take the place of the real musketeers and manage to steal the Queen's necklace but then give it back to her, moved by her tears.
Philippe Perrin, a young engineer passionate about his work, leads the construction of a huge dam in the High Alps. Like all the men who work on the building site, he gives the best part of himself. Unfortunately, his health deteriorates but he refuses to follow the doctor's orders as well as the advice of Micheline, a young nurse who has fallen in love with him. However, driven by the evolution of his illness, Philippe finally makes up his mind to go down to the valley for a treatment. On the very day of his departure though, a young Arab worker gets killed in a rock crusher...
Cencio, a roman pilferer, periodically is in prison. He meets Cesira that soon become his partner in crime. With Cesira's help Cencio try the big hit to a jewelery. But the lucky break is over.
The innocent love of two young students is hindered by their families. The two meet in a squalid apartment where they will perhaps decide their future. At the exit, however, are arrested for a kiss exchanged on the road.
Three sailors are sent to an island by their commander to steal a boat, but they are sunk by an enemy ship. Saved from the shipwreck by a fishing boat, they have to get back to the island before their commander knows about their adventure.
Brigadier Le Gouce and Private Flicot lose their horses during a campaign in Italy. To avoid looking ridiculous, the two hussars cross the country in search of their mounts. But when they are mistaken for deserters, their regiment gives chase.
Villa Borghese, Rome's biggest urban park, is the place where everyday laughs and dramas are consumed. The movie is made of six vignettes set there.
Antonio De Papis is a lawyer and his specialization is separation by mutual consent. He is contrary to marriage because he sees so many of them going wrong. So when his nephew calls on him asking for his approval to his marriage, Antonio suggests to him to spend a day in his office to see what marriage really is.
Three couples, three journeys, one life-changing moment. From newlyweds Alejandro and Mercedes to seasoned partners Margarita and Enrique, and hopeful dreamers Inés and Luis, each pair faces the joy, chaos, and wonder of expecting their first child. As cravings kick in, names are debated, and families react, their stories unfold with humor and heart. Different paths, different personalities—but when labor begins, every heartbeat races the same.
A guy is about to become the millionth citizen to buy a car in Rome. Frightened, he decides to remain pedestrian, and recalls several stories, with new car owners as protagonists. Episodic comedy.
A day in a tribunal where the defendants are: the manager of a soccer team, charged with bribery, two Sicilians who have sold fake archaeological findings, two nuns who have offended a public servant and an industry manager.
A lady killer tracked by the police, takes refuge at a psychiatrist's home, and the doctor tells him three stories, to convince him that crime does not pay
Gerardo, an aspiring actor, trying unsuccessfully to cross over from comedy to tragedy, is involved, due to his ability to mimic dialects of Italy, in a scam concocted by Lallo against a rich cloth-merchant.
An Italian Air Force officer is pursued and captured by the Allied police and is charged with the bombing of a hospital ship. Through the efforts of his sweetheart, a witness is found who proves the bombing was not intentional but the result of being hit by enemy fire. A four-way romantic involvement is also part of the mix that includes an Allied officer and Viennse beauty Lida. The latter was once in love with the accused and has a child by him.
Teo, a young theatre stand in, is offered a faustian pact by the devil: if he pushes a button a Chinese mandarin will die and leave his money to him. Teo seems to be tempted by the offer...
Italy, 16th century. Petruchio, a choleric, lying and poor rural landowner from Verona, arrives in Padua in search of fortune and a wife, while Baptista, a wealthy merchant, announces that he will not allow Bianca, his youngest daughter, to marry until the temperamental and unruly Katherina, his eldest daughter, does.
Achilles, a Hulot-like factotum for an evening newspaper, travels around looking for a scoop in the Milan of the "economic miracle."