During a day of their honeymoon, newlyweds are separated by the city's lust and the desires it produces.
Incredibly, only moments after arriving in Rome for their honeymoon, pure young bride Wanda sneaks out of her room, leaving her fastidious groom Ivan all alone. Obsessed with the very masculine Fernando Rivoli--the hero of her favorite romantic photo-novel, The White Sheik--Wanda plucks up the courage to meet him in person, only to be seduced by the arrogant protagonist, so far away from the hotel and her husband. As a result--perplexed by Wanda's strange disappearance, and unable to disclose the news to his family--Ivan meanders through the ill-lit Roman streets in search of his wife, on pins and needles, waiting for their 11:00 appointment with his uncle and the Papal Audience at the Vatican. What does the new day have in store for the separated newlyweds?—Nick Riganas
The first two days of a marriage. Punctilious clerk Ivan brings his virginal bride Wanda to Rome for their honeymoon, an audience with the Pope, and an introduction to his uncle. They arrive early in the morning and he has time for a nap. She sneaks off to find the offices of a romance magazine she reads religiously: she wants to meet "The White Sheik," the hero of a soap-opera photo strip. Star-struck, she ends up 20 miles from Rome, alone on a boat with the sheik. A distraught Ivan covers for her, claiming she's ill. That night, each wanders the streets, she tempted by suicide, he by prostitutes. The next day, at 11, is their papal audience. Can things still right themselves?—<[email protected]>
Young newlyweds Ivan Cavalli (Leopoldo Trieste) and Wanda (Brunella Bovo) go to Rome on a dull honeymoon to meet with the papal father and a gaggle of family relations. Wandas favorite comic strip, The White Sheik, originates in Rome and while her husband naps before their family duties begin, she sneaks out to the studio where the comic strip is managed to try to meet her matinee idol who portrays the White Sheik, Fernando Rivoli (Alberto Sordi) but gets included in the daily location shooting some twenty miles from the city. On the excursion Wanda experiences what location shooting is like for these free-spirited actors and the young virgin is impressed when Rivoli attempts to make love to her. Meanwhile back in Rome Ivan deals with his relatives who are eager to meet his new young bride, suffering many thoughts of heartache as to why Wanda would abandon him, the young husband invents a cover story to buy time after contacting the Police to file a missing-person report. Wanda is so alluring to Rivoli that she is hired as one of the support cast but runs away when Rivoli's overbearing wife appears and is left behind when the cast and crew return to Rome. In Rome Ivan bumps into a lady of the night, Cabiria (Giulietta Masina) and when he returns the next morning finally reunites with Wanda and some interesting truths are established.
