Actor: Valeria Moriconi

Poverty and Nobility

Eugene, a young nobleman, asks two penniless idlers to impersonate his noble relatives to help him marry Gemma, the daughter of an enriched cook.

Neapolitan Turk

Naples/Sorrento, mid 20s. A couple of small thieves conceive a scam whereby one of them dresses up as a eunuch Turk to care for the women of the family of a wealthy man. They end up messing everything up, with lots of gags and funny events in the meantime.

The Boarder

A prostitute goes on vacation to a beach resort with her young daughter (who's being schooled by nuns). Everything is cheerful and pleasant at the seashore; the customers at the hotel think she's a poor widow - she always wears black - and treat her like a lady. But when one of her former clients arrives, her carefree days on the beach are numbered.

The Camp Followers

In WWII, Lieut. Martino and his men are assigned to lead a group of prostitutes through the mountainous ways to serve in brothels for Italian soldiers in Albania.

Totò Double or Nothing?

The penniless Duke decides to participate in "Lascia o raddoppia", a TV quiz show, in order to win five million lira. Then two gangsters bet between themselves on his success and, alas, the Duke is kidnapped.

Love in the City

Six separate episodes exploring themes of love, sex and romance in the Italian capital. "Paid Love" offers a glimpse into prostitution; "Attempted Suicide" features would-be suicides discussing their despair; "Paradise for Three Hours" depicts an evening at a provincial dance hall; "Marriage Agency" follows an investigative reporter posing as a husband-to-be; "Story of Caterina" tells the story of a young unwed mother forced to abandon her child; and "Italians Stare" catalogues the girl-watching techniques of Italian men.

Lui, lei e il nonno

Plot unavailable

The Maids

Gabriella, a maid, wears a jewel at a dancing party which belongs to her mistress, and when it is stolen she is accused of the theft and sent to jail. Some other maids organize a search party for the real thief who seems to be a moustached youth who continually sings a popular song.

Wild Love

Despite of (or perhaps because of ) its sparse production values and unpretentiousness, the Italian Gli Innamorati was feted at the 1956 Cannes Film Festival. The bulk of the story takes place in a single Roman neighborhood. In the manner of the 1925 German classic A Joyless Street, director Mauro Bolognini studies the hopes, dreams, successes and failures of the neighborhood's various and sundry denizens. No one subplot dominates the proceedings, though a bit of extra time is afforded the story of a fickle seamstress and her seemingly meek-and-mild boyfriend. The cast is dotted with such reassuringly familiar faces as Nino Manfredi and Gino Cervi. Released in the US as Wild Love, Gli Innamorati was instrumental in bringing international fame to director Bolognini, whose career soon shifted into high drive.

The Profiteer

In the city of Ostuni in Puglia, the mute seminarian Ercole is designated to be the driver and nurse of Parsifal, the paraplegic son in a rich and sanctimonious family of landowners. Ercole soon becomes the lover of his master's wife, the beautiful Baroness Clotilde. In a familial and social context where only money, sex and power count, everyone tries to take advantage of everyone, but the real saprophyte turns out to be Ercole.

Strange Occasion

Three sexy and comic episodes.

On the Tiger's Back

Giacinto Rossi, a poor driver up to his neck in debt, is imprisoned for simulated crime. He finds himself in a cell with Tagliabue, an unscrupulous murderer; Sorcio, an elderly thief; and Papaleo, an honor-obsessed intellectual who murdered his fiancée's lover. Giacinto is forced by the three men to make a daring escape from prison.