A snappy, satirical comedy that reveals about the Italian character both from the upper and lower echelons of society. Over the course of three lively, sexy, funny anecdotes, De Sica touches on issues like the absurd judicial system, bourgeois hypocrisy, Catholic guilt, and working class camaraderie in the face of bureaucratic indifference. The film also offers a subversive study of macho Italian manhood unmasked as ineffectual or in thrall to a spiritually and sexually indomitable woman. — Andrew Pragasam