In Imperial Russia, Anna, wife of the officer Karenin, goes to Moscow to visit her brother. On the way, she meets charming cavalry officer Vronsky, to whom she's immediately attracted. But in St. Petersburg’s high society, a relationship like this could destroy a woman’s reputation.

Hyacinth, a former matador who lives miserably with his nephew Pepote, receives a letter reminding him that, as agreed a few days before, he must participate in a bullfight to be held that same afternoon.

In this sequel to Nobody's Children, Guido still longs for Luisa, who has become a nun. Then he meets Lina, a chorus dancer who is a dead ringer for his former lover.

Ambrogio Carugati, a perpetually failing graduate student, turns to a former university classmate, the gynecologist Roberto Setti, to escape the arranged marriage with Gabriella, a girl he doesn't like.

Three jailbirds— a surgeon, a robber, and a wrongly convicted man— must adjust to their lives once released from prison.

Young "Paolo" is an orphan who falls in love with the charming singer "Marisa". She hope that he will fund her new magazine, but when she discovers he has already spent all his money on her, she rejects him. Desperate, he does something of which he will soon be ashamed.

A group of beatnik students rent a garage and turn it into a club. One of them leaves because of love rivalry but then goes back on his steps and the club becomes a huge success.