Morricone works his magic again in this 1969 Italian production directed by Luciano Lucignani, Vittorio Gassman, and Adolfo Celi. Vittorio, Adolfo and Luciano (this film is based loosely on the lives of the directors of the film) were great friends during their days at the Academy for Dramatic Arts, which they attended in the years just after the Second World War, but they lose touch soon after. Adolfo goes to Brazil where he becomes a very successful actor; Vittorio remains in Italy and he also becomes a stage and movie star; and Luciano becomes a director, playwright, film critic, scholar and ardent communist. Adolfo, after many years away, begins to miss home and sends a telegram to Vittorio and Luciano to inform them of his return to Italy.