Преуспевающий художник Тангреди прилетает к себе на родину, в Италию. В самолёте он знакомится с прекрасной стюардессой Джуди. У них вспыхивает бурный роман, Тангреди расстаётся с женой ради Джуди. Они проводят чудесные дни на острове Капри. Но продлится ли их счастье вечно?
В основу сюжета фильма положен роман Васко Пратолини. Действие фильма происходит в густонаселенном районе Флоренции — Вико де Корно. Фильм воспроизводит политическую атмосферу Италии 20-х годов и рассказывает о молодой вдове Милене, чей муж погиб от рук фашистов, циничной проститутке Элизе и одинокой, но обеспеченной женщине-инвалиде Джезине. Они встречают на своем пути разных людей и ищут одного-единственного.
In the movie La valigia dei sogni (The Suitcase of Dreams, Italy, 1953) directed by Luigi Comencini, some sequences from Cenere are inserted. The protagonist is a former silent film actor who has saved old movies of his time from destruction, and uses them to set up recreational performances at schools. After an accidental fire and the risk of prison, he meets a rich producer who helps him to build a film museum.
After an astrologer has foretold him he will die at an early age if he does not avoid a romantic entanglement, Alessandro Stradella, a well-known composer decides to leave Rome for the North of Italy. Written by Guy Bellinger
A film based on the book Il marchese di Roccaverdina by Luigi Capuana about a marquis who is in love with his servant Agrippina but is unable to marry her because of her status. The marquis commands his trusted subject to marry her in his stead as long as he vows not to have sex with her.
Grazia de Plessans abandons her studies in a convent following a mystical crisis. In her paternal house, she studies music together with maestro Claudio Morillot with whom she ends up falling in love.
The painter Pierre Bernier becomes famous thanks to the portrait "The Naked Woman" which represents his model, the seductive Lolette. The very evening of his triumph at the Salon des Expositions, he decides to marry her. But, having become rich and famous, he soon falls in love with the Princess of Chaban and abandons the woman to whom he owes his success.