Four short films by four different directors dealing with the principles of modern life.

Based on a Pirandello play, Vittori De Sica plays a wealthy young social lion who has to constantly fight off a horde of women who are eager to marry him because of his position and money. He weds Elisa Cegani, a servant girl, who turns out to be a more appealing wife than any of the others could have been. Assis Noris decorates the screen well as one of the chasers and pursuers. In 1937, De Sica and Noris made a film, "II Signor Max," which, other than the setting and character role names, basically has the same plot as this film.

Directed by Amleto Palermi

The last days of Napoleon on the island of Saint Helena.

The story of an old man who is losing his grip on reality, fighting to keep his memory in spite of the fast moving society in which he lives.

An Italian industrialist who has made a fortune in America returns to Italy planning to make a film about a beautiful woman who smiled at him before he left his home country years before.

A blacksmith from Montevergine, accused of murder, flees to Argentina. Years later, a mute witness testifies to his innocence, leading to his acquittal. Just before returning home, an Argentine woman plants opium in his luggage, resulting in a ten-year prison sentence. After his release, he finds his daughter engaged to a wealthy landowner who had falsely accused him. Enraged, he plans to kill the man but is moved by grace at the Marian Shrine, lays down his weapon, and makes peace with his enemy.