A humble Milanese window-cleaner with dreams of magazine and TV fame accuses himself of the murder of a soprano from La Scala.

Sister Germana, a beautiful woman who took the vows following the death of her fiancé Guido, is forced to return from Libya, and becomes the mother superior in a hospital in Lombardy. A young Communist, pretending to be sick, has established himself in the hospital where he has been for some time now, though he tries to make himself useful in whatever way he can. Realizing that the nun does not tolerate his presence, the young man leaves the hospital, and in order to make a living, busies himself as a ‘nurse’ in the town. During the course of a strike, he is wounded. He is brought to the hospital where he is reconciled with the mother superior...

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.