The film is adapted from the famous Italian novel L'edera written by Grazia Deledda and published in 1908.

The fate of the family depends on the success of their efforts to inherit the estate of a distant uncle who, is hosted by the Decherchis, because of his ill health and is now on the verge of dying.

Annesa, exacerbated by the refusal of the uncle to help financially Annesa's financially strapped nephew Don Paulu Decherchi (played by Roldano Lupi), that she is secretly in love with, murders the uncle.

American film critic Howard Thompson wrote for The New York Times that the pairing of Columba Dominguez and Rolando Lupi "generate only mild conviction and, for that matter, precious little steam".

He complimented Gualtiero Tumiata as "turning in a good, gusty performance as the village priest".