In this farce Madame Dalia (Alda Mangini) is a mature countess/pseudo-spiritualist grifter who has rented a villa by the sea and, avoiding police surveillance, runs a clandestine gambling den. In town for a peace conference two suitors, one American and one German, go to the gambling house in an attempt to win over Giulietta (Sophia Loren) Madame Dalia’s supposed niece, a woman they believe was the subject of a portrait they became enamoured with during the war.

Gemma, caught between her desires and reality, struggles to navigate her marriage and personal ambitions.