A grandmother reminisces on happy and sad memories of her youth in a convent school in pre-unitarian Italy. She tells her grandchildren the tragic love story of her then rival, Mariella, whose secret lover, a Garibaldi soldier, was wounded in battle and hidden from the nuns in the convent.

Playing fast and loose with historical accuracy, Vittorio De Sica’s early-career gem showcases a knack for comedy, which was overshadowed by his neorealist classics. The austerity of Catholic teaching is upstaged by girlish shenanigans, culminating in an endearing portrait of convent-school life.