Italy 1952

An elderly man and his dog struggle to survive on his government pension in Rome.

During a day of their honeymoon, newlyweds are separated by the city's lust and the desires it produces.

A wealthy woman becomes obsessed with humanitarianism when her young son dies after committing suicide.

Three men of varying social standing - a viceroy, a bullfighter, and a soldier - vie for the affections of an actress in 18th-century Peru.

Swashbuckling adventures of young army recruit Fanfan la Tulipe during the reign of King Louis XV in 18th Century France.

A determined priest and a Communist mayor develop a grudging friendship in spite of their official rivalry.

Five women interviewed for a job in 1951 Rome. A staircase collapsed during chaos, injuring many. The film follows how this incident impacted their different lives, some finding change, others disappointment.

A French/Italian co-production with two episodes from Italy and five from France covering the seven deadly sins---actually eight as two of the sins are covered in one episode while a new "eighth unknown sin" has an episode of its own. Gerald Philipe is a wry, flip carnival barker who introduces each episode and then narrates the last episode dealing with the "eighth unknown sin" which is the sin of thinking evil where none exists. The first Italian contribution is "Avarice and Anger" concerning a well-to-do real estate agent and his frowzy wife, both uncompromisingly selfish in love and economics; the second Italian entry, "Envy", directed by Roberto Rossellini, from a story by Colette, is a glimpse into the newly-married life of an aging artist and his young wife, whom he treats as a chattel and she, consumed by the envy of his talent, friends and even his cat, tries to do away with the cat; "Pride" is about a couple of down-at-the-heels aristocrats trying to keep up pretenses in the face of utter poverty; "Lust" shows the devastating effects of careless adult behavior on an impressionable child; "Sloth" shows the powers above deciding that life on earth is moving at a too-fast pace and they send an emissary to slow things down, while "Gluttony" is a burlesque piece that the reviewers of the day called in bad taste.

A photographer in a small fishing village is visited by a man who claims to be Saint Andrea. The Saint gives him a special camera device to solve the village's ills - by taking a photograph of an existing picture, the photo subject dies.

A young composer has vivid dreams of the past that reflect, yet conflict with his waking life.

Based on the Nikolai Gogol story but set in 1950s Italy, THE OVERCOAT is the story of a poor city hall clerk (Renato Rascel) whose only desire is to buy a new overcoat.

The Queen of Sheba falls in love with the King of Israel. The King of Israel, however, is in love with someone else.

A police officer meets a girl who is near to falling into the net of shady individuals. To prevent this, he invites her into the police station and tells her a story.

Three beautiful seamstresses from one of the fashionable dress salons near the Piazza de Spagna in Rome gather on the steps of the square to eat lunch and talk of their love lives. Marisa, the oldest in a large family, is engaged to a truck driver; Elena lives with her widowed mother and is in love with an opportunist, Alberto, who is also romancing the boss's daughter; Lucia lives on the outskirts of Rome, where a small-in-stature jockey worships her but, she, however has eyes for only tall men, and keeps many of those on a string.

A nameless, homeless and rejected man who is looking for a new life and a young boy from an impoverished family, who is forced to steal when he loses the milk money. These two come together in the same hiding place.

The problem of the reasonableness of capital punishment.

Five kids, schoolmates, Gianni, Andrea, Mario, Ugo and Nino, playing with each other, break a papier-mâché horseback, inside which is a note written by a lifer, in his opinion unjustly imprisoned, which appeals to anyone who reads the message to make it escape from imprisonment, taken for granted in the castle of Monteforte, used as a prison for years.

A love story between a poor fellow and a daughter of respected workshop owner set in an Italian post-war village.

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. Will he succeed?

An old gentleman, a direct descendant of Zorro, has a single son named Raimundo in whom there is no trace of proud pride.

A number of different segments taken from 19th century Italian stories.

The story of Giuseppe Garibaldi's 1849 campaign to free Italy from Austrian domination. Although the defence of Rome has become impossible, Garibaldi declares his intent to continue the struggle for republican liberty and a unified Italy. With a following of four thousand men he begins a march across the Apennines with the aim of reaching Venice which is under siege but still resisting. However, the Bourbons and the Austrians pursue the volunteers who have in their ranks Frattini, a traitor secretly working to disunite the small but brave force. Many in fact desert and even the most loyal officer, Bueno, gives in to Frattini's proposals to impose summary justice. Anita Garibaldi, whom her husband had left behind in Rome because she was expecting a baby, rejoins him, and her influence, courage and vivacity succeed in restoring unity. San Marino gives refuge to the surviving force and the Austrians offer a cease-fire. But the terms of surrender proposed by the Austrians are so severe that Garibaldi prefers to disband his men, and during the night leaves for Venice with a few faithful. Many Garibaldi supporters are shot and Anita also dies. Garibaldi and Bueno manage to escape with the help of local peasants.

Turn-of-the-century Naples. Salvatore Ruotolo and his wife are murdered and their bodies are found in different locations. Since the evidence points to a crime by the Neapolitan crime organization, the Camorra, fear and corruption cause serious hindrances to the investigation by police authorities. In charge is a young and courageous judge who, using evidence discovered by chance, tries to reconstruct the story of the double murder. The plot that the judge must unravel is very complicated. Many people are questioned, even those apparently above suspicion. Deciding to get to the bottom of the matter, the judge keeps all the suspects under arrest, causing a backlash of public opinion. But in the face of passive resistance which he finds everywhere, even from his own colleagues and family, he begins to feel discouraged and is about to give up the investigation when a new piece of evidence comes to light. The information causes the death of an innocent man, but it revives in the judge the conscience of his own responsibility. He carries on with the case regardless, even if it means placing under house arrest the entire city.

While not completly stage-bound, this film of Donizetti's opera doesn't stray far from such an impression. The story of a tragic love affair involving commoners and royality in 1340 Spain finds Ferdinand (Gino Sininberghi) falling in love with a young lady (role played by Sophia Loren, billed as Sophia Lazzaro, while Palmira Vitali does the singing), who is a favorite of the King (Paolo Silveri.) Ferdinand returns from the wars as a hero and the King grants him anything he wishes and he chooses his mysterious lady. But when he learns of her true position, he forsakes her.

The shortened USA running time for "Sensualita", (which, by the way, was not financed nor produced by Paramount Pictures, although some source seems to think so) is because most of the sweating-in-the-stables and toil-in-the-soil love-making is largely missing from the film but retained in the ads and posters. Refugee Franca Gabre (Eleanora Rossi Drago) comes to the Po Valley with intent to use her obvious attributes and man-swaying talents to gain some security. A gals gotta do what a gal's gotta do. She targets farm-owning brothers Riccardo (Amedo Nazzari) and Carlo Sartori (Marcello Mastroianni)and uses the latter in an attempt to reach Riccardo, the older brother. He resists all of her seductive ways---including her walk copied from Marilyn Monroe---and she runs off with Carlo. Riccardo follows and finds out they are married. Now, he gets interested. Somebody has to die.