"This rumor goes wild in the city, every respectable person starts to throw a bone to the poor around him or her, hoping to hit the jackpot, whereas the millionaire, naturally, takes a shine to a nubile circus girl (Noris),trying to woo her as a bum. So it appears that Camerini attempts to mingle the haves and the have-nots, but such an idea doesn't comply with the fascist regime's values, and what makes this farce still relatable today is its hard-edged depiction of the haves' hypocrisy and cupidity, once the jackpot is revealed (although falsely),they attitude towards the poor takes a volte-face right on the spot, but Camerini doesn't do it ironically, he does it with a straight face, a matter-of-fact correctness implies it is the right thing to do, the gaping gap cannot be breached. What the poor can enjoy is a fling of joie de vivre in an amusement park, the smiles on their faces are indwelled. Is it the input of Cesare Zavattini, one of the co-screenwriters? It is his first screenplay, but most importantly, it marks the first contact between him and De Sica, soon Italian neorealism would be birthed by dint of their preeminent collaborations."

read my full review on my blog: Cinema Omnivore, thanks.

I concur with my colleague Italian Gerry's typically knowledgeable review and would only add a few things. A decade before they teamed up to work wonders with their first neo realist films, the charming young De Sica (as light comedy star) and the socially conscious Zavattini (as writer) collaborated here for the first time. The film made an impact on 20th Century Fox boss Zanuck who read the Variety review arguing the film could be remade, and done better, as a terrific American production, so he bought the rights. (What goes around comes around: Italians had been savvy to the appeal of Depression era US comedies like It Happened One Night and now Hollywood would copy an Italian version of such a movie.) The film has much appeal still today for its lively rhythm and colorful populism though the caricatures of the assorted bums who are suddenly treated well by the bourgeoisie because people think one of them might be rich, teeter on being cutesy and condescending. Interesting that one of the big showpieces is a banquet for the beggars held under a circus tent, which anticipates the famous parody of the Last Supper in Bunuel's Virdiana 25 years later. Bunuel is under no illusions about sentimentalizing or idealizing the poor, in his scathing viewpoint they are just as bad as everyone else.