Ugo Lombardi

Six stories unfold in various regions, from Sicily to the northern Po Valley as American military personnel interact with a variety of Italian locals over eighteen months in the push north during the Italian Campaign of WWII as German forces retreat.

Paola, a Milan call girl, returns home to her village in the Abruzzi mountains in an attempt to go straight. Rejected by her father, blackmailed by a former lover, and lusted after by her brother-in-law, she turns to her beloved sister for support. Denied succor, like so many of Rossellini’s isolated figures, Paola awaits the arrival of her fiancé, who has offered her a new start, but instead decides that life is untenable.

In a workshop there are six workers, the six are brothers. Enter the mother who asks them to rescue the seventh brother, the youngest, Luis. The brothers hesitate because the youngster keeps getting into trouble, but they end up giving in to the request. Gangsters are fighting in a bar and the workers end up getting into the fray.

The Gerimum Trio arrives in Rio de Janeiro wanting to make it big in their artistic careers. They struggle with great difficulties and even sing in the street. The police pursue the three, who end up in the place they most want to be: a television studio. Mistaken for northeastern congressmen, they are taken to the TV director-general, Mr. Walter. Shortly after, Marly, the advertising star, and her secretary, Josias, enter. A heated argument ensues, but the situation is resolved when the real congressmen show up.

Maria is a young woman who becomes a well-known crook in the bohemian district of Lapa, in Rio de Janeiro. She earns her living with little scams and tricks. Nevertheless, she is good-hearted, and that's why her latest cheat doesn't work at all.

This story begins with Marcelo's funeral. His family, his fiancée Lúcia and three suspicious men are the only people accompanying the coffin. By night, at home, Rosa, Ricardo and Lúcia notice something strange: Marcelo's room has been completely ransacked. Suddenly, the phone rings. Rosa answers and hears the voice of her son who had just died. The shock is too strong for the poor lady, who dies of a syncope. To understand these sinister events, we have to go back three days...

In 19th century France, Jean Valjean, a man imprisoned for stealing bread, must flee a relentless policeman named Javert. The pursuit consumes both men's lives, and soon Valjean finds himself in the midst of the student revolutions in France.

Piccolo Hotel (aka Small Hotel) uses the titular establishment to weave together a vast tapestry of subplots, a la Grand Hotel. The guests include a domineering mother (Lola Braccini), her petulant daughter (Bianca Doria) and the daughter's gigolo boyfriend (Guido Notari). Also on hand is a worldly vamp (Laura Nucci) who also falls for the boyfriend, and the chronic-gambler son (Andrea Checchi) of the hotel's self-sacrificing landlady (Emma Grammatica). Though the film is set in Budapest, the characters are more Mediterranean than mittel-European. Piccolo Hotel was one of the entries in the Vienna Biennial Film Festival.

Enrico breaks up his marriage to Renata because he discovers that in the registry office she is already married to a certain Giulio, an inhabitant of a country town. The couple leaves in search of the mysterious Giulio who is about to marry Marcella, but her wedding also ends.

The story of Jean Valjean, still pursued by Javert, continues with a love developing between Cosette and radical student Marius, a blackmailing attempt by suspicious innkeeper Thenardier, and a climax on the barricades of Paris.

The town of Vila Velha is put under a reign of terror by a powerful colonel nicknamed "The Devil", who influences local politicians and hires gunslingers to shoot down those who stand up to him.

In Naples in the second half of the nineteenth century, a young noblewoman falls in love with a nobleman of ill repute.

Swindler in jail devises a scheme to blackmail the family of recently deceased people, threatening to tell supposedly incriminating facts about their dead relatives' lives.

Cousins Michele and Tommaso are told by a notary that a distant uncle has left a large sum of money for them.

The explorer Smith leaves with Laura, a beautiful but naive girl, in search of Professor Berti, who mysteriously disappeared in Africa in the midst of one of his researches.

Based on José de Alencar's novel, directed by Riccardo Freda.

Eduardo wants to become a police reporter. To do so, he unravels a mysterious crime, but fails to get the editor of his newspaper to promote it. He is engaged to Suzy, who works at a nightclub. In charge of interviewing a famous actress, June, gets involved in several embarrassing situations that are created by Suzy and two other reporters, Harry and Steve, who follow June since her arrival in Brazil.