On his way to a concert, Marco, a young jazz trumpet player, pays a visit to an old friend of his and tells his story in a flashback. When he was the young kid of a alcoholic and brutal father, his life was saved by the meeting with Luca, an old jazz musician who gave him the Music.
Countess Anna Guerrieri, a rich and provocative noblewoman, marries Romano, an important fascist who is very loyal to the party. Sadly his sexual performance is found very lacking by the Countess, and so frustrated, she decides to look elsewhere for satisfaction and ends up setting her sights on Stefano, a naive and inexperienced young nephew undergraduate who has recently arrived from the provinces.
The Godfather Don Vito Monreale knows, by chance, the Italian-American singer Nick Bouillon. Since the two are alike, Don Vito decided to exploit this similarity in his favour.
Nino Manfredi is a police captain, giving an onlooker's point-of-view towards the decadent society folk. Party itself features a down & out baron, who dances with the party's glamorous hostess Virna Lisi so that he can steal her valuable earrings. When they're missing, she's angry enough to call in the cops (Manfredi shows up) and have the baron taken away.