For The Passionate Thief, Totò was reunited with his revue costar of the forties, Anna Magnani, whom he revered. An adaptation of two novels by Alberto Moravia, this film depicts the failed illusions of two broken-down bit players at Cinecittà. The marvelous Magnani portrays a hapless would-be actress who becomes implicated in a theft by a retired extra (Totò) and a young pickpocket (Ben Gazzara) with whom she falls in love. Time Out New York called this, one of Monicelli’s most beloved comedies, “fun and frothy… It’s like a long night of champagne without the hangover.”
35mm film print from Istituto Luce Cinecittà.