In 16th century Italy, mercenary Marco is hired by cruel duke Astolfo whose unjust reign is threatened by the notorious outlaw the Red Mask.

Maria, a prostitute, meets Cesare in a police station, a drunkard reporter. Cesare falls in love with her and wants to save her from her bleak life but the girl refuses any help.

A young countess is wrongly accused of adultery and shunned by her husband. She leaves and becomes a successful opera singer and when war comes returns to face her accusers, see her son and clear her name.

A doctor saves a girl from suicide and marries her out of pity. Soon the evil man who had pushed her to the limit taking advantage of her re-enters her life. The ensuing crisis will help the newlyweds overcome their differences and start a fresh, better new life.

In this sequel to Nobody's Children, Guido still longs for former lover Luisa, who has become a nun. Then he meets Lina, a chorus dancer who is a dead ringer for Luisa.

A movie adaptation of Homer's second epic, that talks about Ulysses' efforts to return to his home after the end of ten years of war.

Teodora, a Roman courtesan and former slave girl, marries the Roman emperor Justinian and assumes the throne as Empress of Rome. But the divide between nobility and slave is too great. Teodora seeks justice for her people, and revolution and armed conflict erupt in both Byzantium and Rome.

When young Dalia is mistakenly admitted to a mental institution, she is declared sane - but by a truly mad person pretending to be a doctor. The real doctor thinks she is insane - how can she escape this madness?

Carlo Savelli, gone missing after the war, returns to Italia after many years. His wife Anna, believing him dead, has established a romance with Andrea, and in order to keep him happy, she follows him to Venice.

Six episodes (adapted from as many short stories: Gozzano, D'Annunzio, Guido Rocca, Marino Moretti, Alba de Céspedes and Oreste Biancoli), six love stories set in different moments in italian recent history.

Little Luigi, the son of Guido and Elena, has a strange illness. To save him, they must inject his blood into a healthy person with his same blood type in order to create antibodies the fight off the infection.

Produced in Italy in breathtaking Technicolor, this biographical story of Puccini (played by L'avventura's Gabriele Ferzetti) spans his creative life from early student days to the height of success, including his early flop Madama Butterfly and his incomplete Turandot. Along the way he encounters three women who change his life, including a sexy, beautiful singer (Two for the Road's Nadia Gray) whom he drops for a small town girl (Sirocco's Marta Toren), and a servant girl who commits suicide over him. Well-selected excerpts from Manon, La Boheme, Madama Butterfly and Turandot are featured along with other Puccini music, including the voice of Beniamino Gigli. Sets, costumes and production values are first class, all sumptuously filmed by Claude Renoir.

By a twist of fate, the photogenic Milanese shop assistant, Clara Manni, gets the leading role in Italian movie producer Gianni Franchi's romantic drama, "Addio Signora", and becomes an overnight sensation in Rome.

Italy, 15th century: Marco and Cesco, two youths from rival families are friends but become enemies when they both fall in love with the same girl, Germana, who is kept prisoner by Cesco's family in a tower. Germana is however in love with Marco and Cesco, feeling betrayed, has Marco imprisoned. During a battle Marco proves however his loyalty to his friend, who falls unfortunately deadly wounded.

In 19th century southern Italy (near Melfi, Basilicata), a small force of soldiers fight in the hills against the bandits who are holding their country to ransom.

A number of different segments taken from 19th century Italian stories.

The love story between Don Camillo's protégé and Don Violante's niece adds fuel to the rivalry between the two priests.

Three friends, a mechanic, a clockmaker, and a night warden are engaged to three sisters but are broke and cannot get married and pay the rent. They convince their future father-in-law to buy three little flats for them but the man buys them from a swindler and the friends run the risk of going to prison.

A businessman is wrongly accused and convicted for the murder of his associate.

Two chorus girls leave Milan to get to the famous Totò's theatre company. Unfortunately the bus they are on breaks down and they ask for a lift, but the driver gets too fresh with them and they decide to continue the journey with any means of transport, including bicycles.

A woman takes her ill husband's place in a smuggling ring and steals the heart of his partner.

Christina of Sweden, in exile in Rome, takes a handsome Italian officer as her lover. But he is in love with the very young wife of an elderly count. After many adventures, duels, settling of old scores, the officer and the countess get married. Former Queen Christina finds herself another captain of the guard.

An engineer, devastated by the death of his fiance during a mountain expedition in north Italy, hopes he might forget about her by marrying a young nurse who adores him. But one day he returns to the mountain retreat where he’d had such happy days with his fiance, leaving his young bride distraught.

Grace Peterson works in department stores "Tutto per Tutti", along with many other young people. His employment contract entitling them to live in a boarding house built specifically for them by the company but on the other hand, forbid them not fall in love or marry under threat of dismissal. Still, Grace falls for Phil Golder, a violinist penniless. The director of the residence will notice and the best friend of the girl impersonate violinist girlfriend to try to save Grace dismissal.

Venice Film Festival 1940