In Italy, small-town newlyweds Wanda and Ivan Cavalli embark on their honeymoon in the big city of Rome. Ivan dutifully wants to keep appointments with family and church, but Wanda is only interested in meeting her favorite photo-strip star known as "The White Sheik". While Wanda impetuously sneaks away to locate the object of her affections, disconsolate Ivan tries his hardest to keep up appearances with the couple's relatives.
Acting
Alberto Sordi's Sheik: magnificent fraud, tragic buffoon.
Direction
Fellini's first solo—already playing with illusion and shame.
Costume
That sheik outfit: ridiculous, sublime, pure cardboard fantasy.
Director
Federico Fellini
Alberto Sordi
Fernando Rivoli, the White Sheik
Brunella Bovo
Wanda Giardino Cavalli
Leopoldo Trieste
Ivan Cavalli
Giulietta Masina
Cabiria, the Prostitute
Ernesto Almirante
Dottore Fortuna, the Photonovel's Director
Fanny Marchiò
Marilena Alba Vellardi
Gina Mascetti
Rita Rivoli, Fernando's Wife
Jole Silvani
Assunta, Cabiria's Colleague
Enzo Maggio
Furio
Mimo Billi
Man on the Beach
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Giulietta Masina's scene-stealing turn as Cabiria was so beloved she got her own Oscar-winning spin-off, Nights of Cabiria (1957).
Fellini cannibalized his own failed marriage to actress Giulietta Masina—who plays a prostitute here while Wanda chases a fake lover.
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