Having emerged from a cataleptic state, Adriano is content to be thought of as dead so as to collect the insurance money, to which his wife Maria reluctantly agrees. They go off with the proceeds to a mountain resort only to bump into Cesare, who is Adriano's former employer. Thinking on his feet Adriano claims he is the dead man's brother. Matters are further complicated when Cesare who has always loved Maria, proposes marriage........
This delightful piece does not exactly represent a milestone in the careers of Vittorio de Sica, Isa Miranda and Gino Cervi but to watch three such consummate professionals together is a joy.
It is adapted from the play by prolific writer Aldo de Benedetti and directed by Carlo Lodovico Bragaglia, both of whom specialised in comedy and who worked frequently with de Sica. It is good to see Benedetti credited here. Being Jewish, he had endured lean times courtesy of Il Duce's 'racial laws'. He also contributed to the script of what is arguably Cervi's greatest film 'Four steps in the clouds'. Fast forward twenty-five years and de Sica was to depict the dreadful effects of the 'racial laws' in his version of Bassani's 'Il Giardino dei Fitzi-Contini'.
What can one say of the fabulous Signorina Miranda? She chose to return to Italy at the outbreak of WW11, became the brightest star in the firmament of Cinecitta and proved to be a fine actress in the years thereafter.
These three are ably supported by the colourful characterisations of Dina Galli as Cesare's mother and Luigi Almirante as the custodian of the cemetery where Adriano is supposedly buried.
The best and most enduring comedies are not the ones that set out with the intention of causing riotous laughter but those in which the humour arises from the absurdities and ironies of the human condition. This subtle and beautifully performed piece in which characterisations matter more than 'laughs', definitely falls into the latter category and as such can be revisited with pleasure.
