Toto Looks for a House

1950 Italian comedy film

1949 (1949)

Running time

76 minutesCountryItalyLanguageItalian

Toto Looks for a House (Italian: Totò cerca casa) is a 1949 Italian comedy film directed by Mario Monicelli and Steno.^[1] The film is stylistically related to Italian neorealism, though it can be seen as a parody. It was a commercial success, being the second most popular film at the box office that year.^[2]

Plot

In an post-war period Italy, the problem for every citizen is to find a comfortable place to live. Beniamino Lomacchio (Totò) is one of the many people without a home and, together with his family, he has been living in a school. He cannot live there much longer, though, because school re-opens in September. Beniamino is a poor clerk and does not know what to do; he just hopes he'll find a comfortable apartment with a landlord who doesn't ask for too much rent.

One day, however, Beniamino finds a place to move into: a cemetery caretaker's house. Not all the family is convinced it's a great idea. They stay there for a short while, fleeing when they think they see a ghost. After leaving the house, Beniamino finds another job at the studio of an artist. But even here the family Lomacchio will not agree with Beniamino. They then find a large apartment. But they've been cheated; the apartment has already been rented out to another family. Eventually, even after staying in the Colosseum, Beniamino is in a car accident. He has finally found a home: a psychiatric hospital.