In the barracks of the "Settecamini" fire brigade in Rome, the shabby Squadra 17 tackles missions with resounding failures, waiting in vain for a chance for redemption.
Inspector Rizzo in Napoli gets a message from a policeman from South Africa who wants to meet him. Immediately before this meeting the south African policeman is killed. Dying he shows Rizzo a picture of his little son Bodo. Rizzo travels to Johannesburg to find out what the policeman was working on and to find Bodo.
A large international cast takes part in this comedy in which the stories of numerous individuals whose cars are stalled in a massive Roman traffic jam are told.
1944. Primo Arcovazzi is a fanatical and dim-witted Fascist Party militiaman who accepts to escort an opponent of the regime to Rome in the hope of be promoted — still oblivious as ever to the forthcoming fall of the regime.
Poet Palmambrogio Guanziroli loses his wallet mere moments after arriving in Milan. He locates the culprit, a photographer nicknamed 'Click' and takes up residence with him until he either gets his money back or his poetry published.
