Salvo and Valentino are two Sicilian friends who have moved to Turin, and now run a small business together. They drive foreign tourists around in a double-decker bus, and Salvo always tries to approach the pretty girls.

Franco Elica is a film director casting a remake of a pious melodrama in Rome. He's melancholy, heading south for a break. On a beach, he meets a man who films weddings and is roped into helping film the wedding of the daughter of a severe and imperious prince. The wedding is one of convenience - the prince needs money, the groom is a mama's boy. Elica is attracted to the bride, Boda, and tries to convince her not to marry. No matter how outrageous his behavior, the prince keeps Elica on as the wedding director. As the wedding approaches, what's real blurs with Elica's imagination. Is he mad?

A young man prefers to play chess rather than taking a swim. Only by moonlight does he go for a swim alone. Or so he thinks.