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An English teacher seduces a young student in the company of his wife to help him in an ambitious plan with the kidnapping of a newborn baby of a wealthy businessman.

When a good-natured factory supervisor living in Milan with his Northern wife returns to his native Sicily, a decades' old oath forces him to fulfill a nightmarish obligation.

Giovanni used to be a humble, mild-mannered government clerk whose life was turned upside down when he met Giulio, a notorious forger who at once set about manipulating the over-confident man. Giovanni did what he should never have done: he associated himself with the crook. Giulio soon laid hands on Giovanni's money, ruined his career and manhandled him into marrying his own mistress, the beautiful Ginevra. It was of course an unhappy marriage but Giovanni found a little solace when his son Ciro was born. Seven years later though, Wanzer resurfaced...

Based on the Nikolai Gogol story but set in 1950s Italy, "The Overcoat" is the story of a poor city hall clerk whose only desire is to buy a new overcoat.

Alberto Menichetti lives with an aunt and an old housekeeper, Clotilde; he has a job in a firm and his boss is Mrs. De Ritis, a widow whose husband was killed during a wild boar hunt. She likes him but Alberto likes Marcella; she is under age and he is awaiting her birthday to declare his love. His greater traits are to be fearful of everything and to be selfish. This nature will get him into trouble..

A young officer in the army of Empress Catherine of Russia is on his way to his new duty station at a remote outpost. During a blinding snowstorm he comes upon a stranger who was caught in the storm and is near death from freezing. He rescues the man and eventually brings him back to health. When the man is well enough to travel, the two part company and the man vows to repay the officer for saving his life. Soon after he arrives at his new post, a revolt by the local Cossacks breaks out and the fort is besieged by the rebels. The young officer is astonished to find out that the leader of the rebellious Cossacks is none other than the stranger whose life he had saved during the storm.

Six vignettes explore love and desire in Rome, from prostitution and heartache to unwed motherhood and the male gaze.

Wealthy teenager Guendalina is a child of divorce. Oberdan, likewise a teenager, is a boy from a blue-collar family. Escaping from the tribulations of her home life, Guendalina creates a dream world of her own, casting Oberdan as her personal Prince Charming. Despite parental objections, girl and boy fall in love. Interestingly enough, the relationship between Guendalina and Oberdan remains pure and chaste throughout their film, which is more than can be said for their parents. their respective parents behave with marked laciviousness.

The nun tells the priest about her past and then a long flashback begins...

Among others, Ernesto returns to Turin after the war from a German POW camp; his household destroyed and family deceased, he tries making an honest living.

A mysterious woman takes her daughter on vacation after they've been separated for several months. There, she meets some of the richest and most eccentric people, who are hiding just as much as she is.

At age 50, tax inspector Emerenziano decides to settle down and aims to the three Tettamanzi sisters, who, though not young or pretty by any means, have recently inherited a large amount of money.

Dante Trilli, who has been teaching in his village school for about twenty years, wins a competition for Milan. Waiting for him is his childhood friend, where he is the janitor in the school where Trilli will teach.

After his proposal to sail west to the East Indies is rejected by Portugal, Columbus overcomes court intrigue in Spain to gain support for his expedition.

A strange love story between a devoted young nun and a young Marxist determined to help run the hospital wards where the nun is the head nurse.

In the Po Valley during the 19th century, a rich girl engaged to a well-to-do farmer ends up penniless and is forced to work for her fiancé’s relatives. Peasant unrest, carried to extremes by both workers and landowners, leads to violence and tragedy.