Big Deal on Madonna Street

Cosimo is arrested for a bungled car theft and sentenced to a few months in prison. He harangues his girlfriend and lawyer, insisting he deserves release to pull off a bigger job. This setback seeds the plan that will drive the rest of the story.

In prison, Cosimo learns of a flimsy wall between a pawn shop safe and an adjacent vacant apartment, a scheme stolen from another inmate. The idea becomes Cosimo’s fixation as a potential shortcut to wealth. The plan stays with him as he awaits release.

Cosimo’s gang pressures Peppe the boxer to confess to the plan, hoping to gain leverage. The warden does not believe Peppe, and Peppe ends up in the same jail cell as Cosimo. Peppe later reveals he was given only a year of probation, which infuriates Cosimo and hardens his resolve.

With Peppe’s ‘cooperation,’ the group pulls in Mario, Michele, Tiberio, Capannelle, and safecracker Dante. They assign roles and refine the plan, moving from rumor to organized effort. The project grows larger and riskier as the team takes shape.

Tiberio steals a movie camera from a flea market to try to film the combination to the pawn shop safe. The attempt shows the crew’s lack of practical lock-picking skill. The failure pushes them to seek more professional help from Dante.

The crew enlists Dante, a genteel safe cracker on parole, who provides tools and a brief primer. His presence adds a cautious, professional edge to an otherwise improvised plan. The collaboration raises both the stakes and the likelihood of success.

The gang discovers the vacant apartment is actually occupied by two spinster sisters and their maid, Nicoletta. They learn the sisters leave weekly, creating a potential window for entry. Peppe frets about a possible tryst with Nicoletta, but she quits unexpectedly, complicating the timetable.

Cosimo is released and tries to preemptively rob the pawn shop at gunpoint. The wary pawnbroker misreads his intent and brushes him off. Disheartened, Cosimo is drawn into a purse-snatching that ends with him being struck by a streetcar.

Mario, the youngest member, falls for Michele’s sister Carmelina and withdraws from the caper to avoid risking his future and embarrassing his mother. He vows to pursue a straight life and court Carmelina. His exit alters the crew’s dynamic and leaves more pressure on the remaining members.

The elderly tenants finally undertake their weekly trip away from the apartment, creating the window the crew hoped for. Tiberio deposits his baby with his wife, who is in prison, to keep him safe during the break-in. The team steels themselves for the risky operation.

The gang penetrates what they think is the hidden wall, only to discover it opens into the apartment’s kitchen because the elderly women had rearranged the furniture. The misdirection disorients them and halts their progress. Time grows tight as dawn approaches.

Desperation leads to a final raid of the apartment’s refrigerator, but a stove explosion ends their attempt at cooking up a successful heist. One by one, they drift homeward, with Peppe and Capannelle remaining as the last holdouts. A newspaper later reports the break-in, noting the unknown culprits stole nothing precious, but perhaps something far more mundane—pasta with chickpeas.