Rome 11:00  

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Rome 11 o'clock or Roma, ore 11 (1952) is an Italian film directed by Giuseppe De Santis and one of the best examples of Neorealist filmmaking. The dramatic plot is based on the real story of an accident that happened on 15 January 1951 on Via Savoia in Rome when a staircase collapsed because of the weight of two hundred women waiting for a job interview. One woman was killed and 76 were injured.

Augusto Genina made the film Tre storie proibite, based on the same tragic event.

Plot

In the early 1950s, Italy was suffering from serious unemployment and it was especially difficult for women to get jobs. In response to a newspaper ad seeking a secretary for an accountant's office, the two hundred women crowded the small building's staircase, hoping for an interview. They came from diverse backgrounds: fallen nobles, prostitutes seeking to change their lives, wives with unemployed husbands, and affluent daughters with not enough pension to survive.

Waiting on the stairs, the women exchange impressions and discuss their lives of misery and their tricks for making a living. Gianna, played by Eva Vanicek is first in line, the pawn of a strong-willed mother, while Caterina, played by Lea Padovani, is a prostitute hoping for a new life. Angelina, played by Delia Scala is a servant, also hoping to escape her situation. Other characters include a pregnant unwed mother (Elena Varzi), a young woman who wants to be a singer (Irène Galter), and an artist's mistress (Lucia Bosè).

When a poor workman's wife, Luciana Renzoni, played by Carla Del Poggio, tries to move ahead in the line, the resulting scuffle among the women causes the staircase to collapse.

The injured are taken to a hospital, but to be treated, the hospital is demanding a payment of 2,300 Lire per day. Many of them are unable to pay and are forced to go home.

Cast

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