Italo Dragosei

In Italy, Checco Dal Monte manages a troupe of traveling performers with plenty of heart but minimal talent. At a small town engagement, he encounters the starry-eyed, gorgeous Lily Antonelli, and hires her as a dancer on the show. Vivacious Lily quickly sells out crowds and earns the resentment of Checco's mistress, Melina Amour, but the fledgling performer has far bigger ambitions and soon sets her sights on a higher-profile role.

The accountant Marco Vecchietti, a modest civil servant, leads a miserable life amidst the ferocious jokes of his colleagues, the reproaches of his mother-in-law, taxes, debts and citations.

A number of different segments taken from 19th century Italian stories.