Il marito

Alberto's marriage is a failure from end to end. His wife Elena is a hard woman under the influence of her mother and sister, who live in the same flat, and nothing Alberto says at home carries any weight. Money trouble piles on top. He pins his hopes on help from a wealthy widow, except that what she wants in return is something else. In the end he changes jobs, becomes a travelling sweets salesman, and starts telling every woman he meets that he is single. Alberto Sordi both starred in it and co-wrote the story, and the film comes out of the bitter strand of Italian comedy, where the man being laughed at is also the man being crushed. Nanni Loy and Gianni Puccini directed it together, their second and last collaboration, and Ettore Scola and Ruggero Maccari are on the screenplay too. Because it was an Italian and Spanish co-production, a story meant to take place in Rome was shot in Madrid.