In Naples, Adelina sells cigarettes on the black market whilst avoiding prison thanks to a long string of pregnancies. Meanwhile, the wealthy Anna in Milan escapes boredom through escapades with a struggling journalist. Elsewhere, in Rome, sex worker Mara tackles a young priest’s infatuation.

Vittorio De Sica is most famous for his neo-realist dramas, but he was just as skilled at comedy, and his collaborations with the great Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni were a match made in heaven. Winner of the Best Foreign Film Oscar, this three-pronged serio-comic burlesque is a delight.