In 16th century Italy, mercenary Marco is hired by cruel duke Astolfo whose unjust reign is threatened by the notorious outlaw the Red Mask.
Story
An actor fails to find success in the film world but falls in love with a theatre manager's daughter.
Un collega di Cesare (uncredited)
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.
The Mayor (uncredited)
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.
Un avvocato
Guido Carani, an engineer of noble descent, has just lost his son born to him by a chorus dancer, who, desperate, has become a nun. After a while he also loses his wife and daughter in a boating accident. Poor Guido is in despair, but soon he meets Lina, a woman who is a dead ringer for Luisa.
Calops
Одиссей, царь Итаки, возвращается домой с Троянской войны, и его корабль терпит крушение на острове Феаки. В начале он не может вспомнить, кто он, но постепенно к нему возвращается память, и Одиссей начинает рассказ о своем долгом путешествии домой: о встрече с циклопом Полифемом, с волшебницей Цирцеей, поющими сиренами и путешествии в царство мертвых.
Il difensore di Scarpios
Византийская императрица Теодора вышла из самых низов свободных граждан Византии. Но бывшая куртизанка смогла обратить на себя внимание могущественного императора Юстиниана и стала ему верной супругой. Тем временем в империи зреет заговор, во главе которого стоит первый советник Иоанн Каппадокийский. Юстиниан отказывается замечать признаки надвигающейся катастрофы, и только присутствие верного трону полководца Велизария с войсками в столице сдерживает заговорщиков. Но армия вот-вот должна покинуть Константинополь, и тогда Юстиниана уже ничто не сможет спасти. Однако о заговоре становится известно Теодоре. Вместе с Велизарием она составляет рискованный план, который должен спасти Юстиниана и империю…
The mad letter writer
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?
Justice clerk
Commander of Garibaldi's Army (segm. "Garibaldina") (uncredited)
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.
Commissario
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.
Giuseppe Giacosa
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.
Boschi
К молодой актрисе Кларе Манни, прежде работавшей продавщицей в магазине, приходит неожиданный и громкий успех. Режиссер Джанни Франки, снимающий ее в новом фильме, начинает за ней ухаживать и вскоре уговаривает ее выйти за него замуж. Движимый ревностью, он не может позволить своей супруге сниматься в легкомысленных мелодрамах, прославивших ее имя. Поэтому он начинает амбициозный проект с целью создать Кларе имидж серьезной актрисы…
Frate Anselmo
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.
Generale
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.
Vescovo
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.
Avvocato della difesa
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.
Portiere
Bertolino
A woman takes her ill husband's place in a smuggling ring and steals the heart of his partner.
Inquisitore
Bertoni
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.
Gary, il balbuziente
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.
Capo della polizia
Venice Film Festival 1940
Falso brigante
Ispettore Clifford