[2] The film is set in Sagliena, an imaginary small town in central Italy; Marshal Antonio Carotenuto, an elderly womanizer who will have to adapt to the monotonous and quiet life of the village, is transferred here immediately after the war.

Here he meets "Pizzicarella la Bersagliera", a young local girl secretly in love with the carabiniere Stelluti.

The film's popularity resulted in two sequels, one with Lollobrigida in 1954: Pane, amore e gelosia (Bread, Love and Jealousy, US title: Frisky) and the open-ended Pane, amore e... (English title: Scandal in Sorrento) in 1955, starring Sophia Loren in the female lead role.

De Sica also reprised his role in the Spanish-set Bread, Love and Andalusia (1958).

In The Andy Griffith Show, Season 5, Episode 17, Barney Fife sends a letter saying he watched this movie while on vacation in Raleigh, NC.