Rome: Free City

Story

Synopsis

In a post-war Rome (1946) a cat burglar inadvertently saves the life of a would-be suicide man who returns from the war to find that he has been betrayed by his fiancée while fighting in the war. From that moment the thief takes the ex-soldier under his wing. They leave house together for a night full of misadventures. In a streets of Rome they meet the struggling typist who can’t pay her rent and opts to street life; a wandering amnesiac who lost his memory and keeps asking everyone “Do you recognize me?”. Thieves, gamblers, hookers, policemen, soldiers and endless chain of cigarette-smoking and alcohol/espresso-drinking.

Director

Marcello Pagliero

Writers

Marcello Marchesi, Ennio Flaiano, Cesare Zavattini

Language

Italian

Country

Italy

Release date

17 December 1946

Ensemble

Cast

• 

  Valentina Cortese

  La ragazza

• 

  Andrea Checchi

  Il giovane

• 

  Nando Bruno

  Il ladro

• 

  Marisa Merlini

  Mara

• Gar Moore

  Lo statunitense

• 

  Vittorio De Sica

  Il signore distinto

• Manlio Busoni

  Il falsario

• 

  Fedele Gentile

  Il ricettatore

• 

  Francesco Grandjacquet

  Il padrone della bisca

• Rossano Licari

• 

  Ave Ninchi

  L'affittacamere

• 

  Ennio Flaiano

  Il questorino (uncredited)