Film director Blasetti is looking for a little girl for his new movie. Along with other mothers, Maddelena takes her daughter to Cinecittà, hoping she’ll be selected and become a star. She is ready to sacrifice anything for little Maria.
Under provincial Italian law at the time, once a roof is erected, the occupants cannot be evicted from a building. This comedy follows the efforts of a family to erect the roof on a house overnight so that a newlywed couple can have their own home.
Back home after his wife's death, a migrant labourer faces a dilemma between a high-paying job overseas and one last chance at reconnecting with his son, who sees him only as a stranger because of all his years abroad.
