Anna Carena

Once upon a time an old woman discovers a baby in her cabbage patch. She brings up the child and, when she dies, the boy, Toto, enters an orphanage. Toto leaves the orphanage a happy young man, and looks for work in post-war Milan. He ends up with the homeless and organizes them to build a shanty town in a vacant lot. The squatters discover oil in the land and Toto sees a vision of the old woman who gives him a magic dove that will grant him anything he wishes. (imdb)

An Italian woman conducts a desperate search for her husband, a soldier considered missing in action in Russia - like fifty thousand others during WWII. (imdb)

Based on Nikolai Gogol's story with the location changed from Russia to Italy and the time changed to the present (1952), the story is about a poor city-hall clerk (Renato Rascel) whose only desire is for a new overcoat. (imdb)

Ercole Pappalardo (Totò), married, five sons, lives with only dream to be upgraded from his current position in the post department. Everithing goes wrong, he accidentally spits on the minister's face, he insults him trough a parrot (!), and finally they discover he has no titles to fit his current position. After all this tragicomic events he takes a definitive decision: he will die to communicate from the afterlife the lotto numbers to his wife! Written by 1felco (imdb)

Lattuada's first masterpiece is considered by many to be Il Mulino del Po, which, though considered neo-realist, was atypically based on a novel and set in the past. Co-scripted with Fellini and others, it dramatized the agrarian struggles in northern Italy in the 19th century and the rise of socialism there. Its release in 1949 coincided with a national strike of agricultural workers. Lattuada would later recall with satisfaction that this epic film, which used Soviet style montage effects. (Surreal Moviez)

Primary school teacher Mr. Mombelli, nevertheless satisfied with his life, is driven by his wife to resign and starting a new activity. He invest all his goodwill setting up a footwear little factory. But after some time, unexpectedly, a financial review by fiscal authorities drive the firm to ruin. Ada, his wife, starts to be unfaithful and this is another strong hit to his life. But it isn't still enough, a tragedy is waiting Mombelli behind the corner. (imdb)

In the absence of the biological mother, too busy pursuing her theatrical career, we see the glorification of the maternal surrogate, a woman who is a paragon of sacrifice and self-abnegation. La Fuggitiva is also a film in which a child actress takes a prominent role. In this sentimental drama, the little girl suffers for and rebels against the loneliness and neglect stemming from the lack of a mother and a loving family setting. (imdb)