L'arcidiavolo

Loosely based on the tale Belfagor arcidiavolo by Niccolò Machiavelli, This pathetic Italian comedy stars Vittorio Gassman as Belfagor, a member of the Devil's hierarchy, and Mickey Rooney as his toad-like assistant. Both are returned to Earth to disrupt the newly established peace between Florence and Rome in the year 1478. Belfagor is sent to attack the virtue of Maddalena, the daughter of Lorenzo the Magnificent, Duke of Florence. Belfagor gets help from the little devil Adramelech (Rooney), does a lot of devilry, but falls in love with Maddalena. For her he will lose his horns and his immortality. Machiavelli's novella is used as a pretext for a moderately Boccaccian but totally unfunny farce.