One member of the gang, Carlo – nicknamed Picasso in being an aspiring artist – pretends to his faithful wife Iris that he is a traveling salesman, but she gradually stops believing him.

Another member is Roberto, who finds scamming poor people diverting and has fun spending the loot and going to parties, where he attempts to steal some jewels.The head of the gang, Augusto, meets his teenage daughter Patrizia who he has not seen for years, and his conscience is also awakened.

After swindling a large sum out of a farming family in the windy appenine mountains, he talks, pretending to be a priest, to their sick teenage daughter.

[2] On the occasion of its 9 year delayed US premiere, critic Bosley Crowther gave the film a mixed review, calling it "a cheap crime thriller."

He added, "For this film, which is often mentioned in estimations of the master's works, is notable as a false step in his movement toward the development of a type of story material ...