Alberto Nardi (Fabio De Luigi) is a building contractor. In the original movie Il vedovo (1959) he owned an elevator business.
In the original movie Il vedovo (1959) the name of Mrs. Almiraghi was Elvira instead of Susanna and she came from Milan instead of Turin. This is also due to the different origins of the actressess playing the role: indeed, Luciana Littizzetto comes from Turin and Franca Valeri is from Milan.
The character of the Monsignore (Bebo Storti) is much different than its counterpart of the original movie Il vedovo (1959), Father Agostino (Eugenio Maggi). While the Monsignore is a ranking prelate being much closer to Susanna (Luciana Littizzetto) than to Alberto (Fabio De Luigi) and doesn't seem to be much orthodox (he even advises her to file for divorce), Father Agostino is a very kind monk being close to both Alberto (Alberto Sordi) and Elvira (Franca Valeri). He also personally took care of Alberto's nervous breakdown, while in the modern movie he had to spend some time in a clinic.
Alberto's plan for getting rid of his wife is very different in the original movie Il vedovo (1959): instead of setting up a road accident, Alberto Nardi (Alberto Sordi) tries to manipulate his home's lift to make her fall down. This is due to the fact that in the original movie Alberto owns an elevator business. A reference to this in this movie appears when Alberto (Fabio De Luigi) dreams of Susanna (Luciana Littizzetto) falling in an empty lift shaft.
Alberto's staff is made of accountant Stucchi (Alessandro Besentini) and his cousin Giancarlo (Francesco Brandi), working mainly as chauffeur. In the original movie Il vedovo (1959) there are the same roles but with some differences: accountant Stucchi (Livio Lorenzon) is a marquis and former army officer, while the chauffeur is Alberto's uncle (Nando Bruno).