Boston, 1920. Italian immigrants Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti are charged and unfairly tried for murder on the basis of their anarchist political beliefs.

A day at an Italian trial court, where a magistrate judges a full array of peculiar petty crimes and characters.

A film made up of four episodes: a jar repairer gets trapped in a vat because of his hunch; a young unmarried mother is forced to beg to buy herself a fan; Rosario Chiarchiaro appears before a law court for casting spells; the discomfort of an overtight jacket gives a wedding witness the strength to persuade the bridegroom's reluctant parents to bless his union.

In this comedy Alberto Sordi plays Rosario Scimoni, known as Sasà, an opportunistic and unscrupulous guy, nephew of the mayor of Catania, and he's always ready to take sides with anyone who can help him. He switches from socialism to fascism; he changes his political faith the same way he changes women. He even tries to found his own party.

A Sicilian professor who moves to Rome gets lost in the maze of Roman ministries and gives in to corruption.

Holiday time in Corniolo, a resort 40 kilometres from Rome. In a recently opened hotel various characters sojourn and love stories begin and end.

Peppino Bardellotti, a widower, lives in Milan with his four daughters and ex sister-in-law Matilde, who urges girls to settle down by marrying a wealthy man.