Totó, l'arte di far ridere

In 19th-century France, middle-aged orphans Gasparre and Battista, watchmen at an orphanage, find out from a soothsayer that one of them is the offspring of the Hangman of Paris and the other is the son of a count. But it is only a dream of theirs.

In Napoli, truthful pharmacist clerk Nicolino Capece becomes erroneously recognized as a dangerous Spanish criminal and decides to escape to Spain. In Siviglia, he is blackmailed by the bandit Cast who wants him to marry rich Patricia Cotten and then kill her. So Nicolino play the bullfighter and heads to the arena..

Totò Casamandrei sells his soul to a demon to win the Tour of Italy.

In the village of Viggiù, the firemen organize various skits and performances in their theater, inviting all the celebrities known at that time.

Carlo Rutelli falls in love with the beautiful variety singer Yvonne la Nuit, but his father opposes the wedding. World War I breaks out and Carlo is killed while Yvonne has a son, but on orders from Carlo's father, she is told he is dead. Her career descends and only Nino, an art partner, remains close to her and helps her earn her living by singing in taverns. Upon Carlo's father's death, Lawyer Rubinordo informs Yvonne that her son is alive, but she prefers that he continues to believe her dead; she doesn't want him to see her in her reduced state.

Beniamino and his family have lived in a school since the end of World War II, but five years have passed and they are compelled to move, but finding an apartment in Rome is difficult. First he gets a job as keeper of a graveyard but during the night they mistake Checchino for a ghost and flee. Then they try lo live in the Coliseum. Lastly they find a fine, large apartment, only to find out that the same apartment has been rented to other people.

Mobster Pepé Le Mokò dies during a shootout with the police. His gang decide that his successor will be a relative of his from Naples: Antonio Lumaconi (Totò Le Mokò), a street musician.

Beautiful gold-digger Sonia mistakes Antonio, a waiter in a Neapolitan hotel, for Arab Prince Bey of Agapur and makes an appointment with him for the following day in Capri, and Antonio goes there behind the backs of his wife and mother-in-law. A lucky series of circumstances actually does transform him into the prince of the island.

Aunt Agatha writes to Toto, informing him that she won't send him another penny until he is married.

A combination of a satire on war and a comedy with war as the background. It tells of the ordinary people living on a Naples sidestreet from 1940 to 1950 under the dominance of the Fascists, the Nazis, then the Allies occupation forces. Primary among the citizens are Gennaro Iovine (Eduard De Filippo), who has a penchant for innocently getting into trouble, and his friend Pasquale (Toto). The latter is a rail-sweeper who becomes a professional stand-in: a corpse used to conceal contraband; serving jail time for those who don't care to spend the time to do the time; a substitute at a political rally when violence threatens the scheduled speaker.