Bicycle Thieves

Maria sells the dowry bed sheets at a pawn shop to raise money. The sale provides enough to redeem Antonio's bicycle.

Antonio is offered a job posting advertising bills but cannot accept because the position requires a bicycle. He discusses the situation with Maria and decides he cannot take the job without one.

On his first day of work, Antonio is at the top of a ladder when a young man steals his bicycle. He chases the thief but is thwarted by the confederates, losing the bicycle.

The police file Antonio's complaint but say there is little they can do. They offer limited assistance and emphasize the lack of witnesses.

Advised that stolen goods surface at the Piazza Vittorio market, Antonio and Bruno go there with several friends. They find a bicycle frame that might be his, but the vendors refuse to allow them to examine the serial number. A carabiniere reads the serial but will not let them inspect it themselves, and it does not match the missing bicycle.

At the Porta Portese market, Antonio and Bruno spot someone they believe to be the thief with an old man. The thief eludes them and the old man feigns ignorance.

They follow the thief into a church, but the thief slips away from them amid the crowd.

Antonio pursues the thief into a brothel, whose denizens eject them. Outside, hostile neighbors gather and the thief conveniently falls into a fit for which the crowd blames Antonio. A policeman notes that the case is weak because there are no witnesses and the neighbors can provide alibis.

Their way home takes them to the Stadio Nazionale PNF football stadium. Antonio sees an unattended bicycle near a doorway and, after much anguished indecision, instructs Bruno to take the tram to a stop nearby and wait.

Antonio circles the unattended bicycle and jumps on it. A hue and cry rises as he is chased, and Bruno, who has missed the tram, is stunned to see his father pursued.

The bicycle's owner notices Bruno in tears and, in a moment of compassion, tells the others to release Antonio.

Antonio and Bruno walk off slowly amid the buffeting crowd. Antonio fights back tears while Bruno gently holds his father's hand.