What Scoundrels Men Are!

Bruno is a chauffeur who cannot hold down a job for long. One morning he meets Mariuccia, who lives with her taxi-driver father and works behind the counter of a perfume shop. To impress her he pretends to be rich, takes his employer's car and drives her out to the lakes. The plan does not hold, of course. As the lie grows the situation closes in, and winning Mariuccia over turns out to be far harder than he thought. Mario Camerini's film gave Vittorio De Sica his first big leading role. It is one of the early cases of Italian cinema leaving the studio; it was shot on the streets of Milan, at the trade fair and in real locations. The song Parlami d'amore, Mariù, heard here for the first time, is still known today. Built on class difference, showing off and small lies, the story already carries the tone of the films De Sica would go on to direct.