Les Carabiniers (1963) tells the story of two poor men called to serve in battle, lured by promises of the world's riches.

Ulysses (Marino Mase) and Michelangelo (Albert Juross) receive letters from the king of their fictional country that allow them to have complete freedom from consequence while fighting in the war, in return for anything they desire—swimming pools, Maseratis, women—at the enemy's expense.

Their wives, Venus and Cleopatra (Catherine Ribeiro and Genevieve Galea) encourage them to fight when they hear about the riches.

They return home with a suitcase full of postcards of the splendors of the world that they have fought for, and are told by army officials that they must wait until the war ends to receive their pay.

The tight rope is rarely stretched so high in movies..."[2] The author and critic Susan Sontag referenced the film in her 1977 collection of essays On Photography.