Miracle in Milan (1951)

Baby "Totò" is found in a cabbage patch by a kindly lady who brings him up before she dies and he must go into an orphanage. From thence he emerges as one of the most optimistic of young men (Francesco Golisano). His upbeat demeanour and good manners regularly bamboozle the miserable and curmudgeonly amongst post-war Milanese society until he encounters a gent who tries to pinch his small bag. He gives him the bag instead, and is in return invited to stay at the man's home on this wintery night. That introduces "Totò" to a lively and vibrant community living, favela-style, on some bombed-out waste ground. Shorty after his arrival, the wealthy "Mobbi" (Guglielmo Barnabò) arrives having bought the land and he wants this shanty town gone! The police arrive, fairly well equipped, but before they can evict them all his late "mother" arrives from the heavens (a bit like the ghost of "Jacob Marley" - only without chains) and offers him a dove. With this bird he can do what he likes. He can, quite comically, thwart the venal "Mobbi" yes, but what he also quickly discovers are a collection of poverty-stricken individuals who now want everything from a fur coat to a radio - oh, and squillions of Lire too! It's good fun this film as it pointedly takes a swipe at poverty and greed, extols the virtues of honesty and decency and is really quite funny too. For much of the film, Golisano's character reminded me of a combination of "Oliver Twist" and Chaplin's "Tramp" - but always with his glass half full and this is really quite an entertaining ninety-odd minutes.