''Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow'' () is a 1963

comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

anthology film An anthology film (also known as an omnibus film or a portmanteau film) is a single film consisting of three or more shorter films, each complete in itself and distinguished from the other, though frequently tied together by a single theme, premise ...

directed by

Vittorio De Sica Vittorio De Sica ( , ; 7 July 1901 – 13 November 1974) was an Italian film director and actor, a leading figure in the neorealist movement. Widely considered one of the most influential filmmakers in the history of cinema, four of the fil ...

. Starring

Sophia Loren Sofia Costanza Brigida Villani Scicolone (; born 20 September 1934), known professionally as Sophia Loren ( , ), is an Italian actress, active in her native country and the United States. With a career spanning over 70 years, she is one of the ...

and

Marcello Mastroianni Marcello Vincenzo Domenico Mastroianni (26 September 1924Come da lui stesso dichiarato a 1'10" dquesta intervista/ref> – 19 December 1996) was an Italian actor. He is generally regarded as one of Italy's most iconic male performers of the 20t ...

, the film consists of three short stories about couples in different parts of Italy. The film won the

Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (known as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2020) is one of the Academy Awards handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to a ...

at the

37th Academy Awards The 37th Academy Awards were held on April 5, 1965, to honor film achievements of 1964. The ceremony was produced by MGM's Joe Pasternak and hosted, for the 14th time, by Bob Hope. The Best Picture winner, George Cukor's ''My Fair Lady'', w ...

Plot

Adelina of Naples

* Written by

Eduardo De Filippo Eduardo De Filippo OMRI (; 26 May 1900 – 31 October 1984), also known simply as ''Eduardo'', was an Italian actor, director, screenwriter, and playwright, best known for his Neapolitan language, Neapolitan works ''Filumena Marturano'' and ...

in collaboration with Isabella Quarantotti In 1954, in the working-class

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

district of Forcella, Adelina supports her unemployed husband Carmine and their child by selling

black market A black market is a Secrecy, clandestine Market (economics), market or series of transactions that has some aspect of illegality, or is not compliant with an institutional set of rules. If the rule defines the set of goods and services who ...

cigarettes in the street while pregnant with their second child. When her furniture is to be repossessed due to an unpaid fine, her neighbours assist her by hiding the furniture. A local lawyer warns Carmine that, since the fine and furniture are under Adelina's name, she will be imprisoned. However, Italian law stipulates that women cannot be imprisoned while pregnant or within six months after the delivery. Armed with this information, Adelina schemes to stay pregnant continuously. After seven children in eight years, Carmine becomes too exhausted to perform sexually and Adelina nearly resorts to being impregnated by their mutual friend Pasquale, but decides against it. She then turns herself in, and the whole neighbourhood gathers money to free her and petition for her

pardon A pardon is a government decision to allow a person to be relieved of some or all of the legal consequences resulting from a criminal conviction. A pardon may be granted before or after conviction for the crime, depending on the laws of the j ...

, which eventually occurs and she is reunited with Carmine and their children.

Anna of Milan

* Written by Cesare Zavattini and Billa Billa * Based on the short story "Troppo ricca" by

Alberto Moravia Alberto Pincherle (; 28 November 1907 – 26 September 1990), known by his pseudonym Alberto Moravia ( , ), was an Italian novelist and journalist. His novels explored matters of modern sexuality, social alienation and existentialism. Moravia i ...

While her wealthy industrialist husband is on a business trip to

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

, bored

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

ese housewife Anna picks up her lover Renzo, a lower-class writer, in her husband's

Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...

for a drive in the countryside. She feels neglected by her husband, who, according to her, only cares about work and money. On the drive, Anna allows Renzo to take the wheel of the Rolls-Royce, and while she seductively proposes that they run away together that night, he swerves to avoid a young boy selling flowers by the roadside and crashes the car into a tractor. Infuriated by the damage to her Rolls-Royce, Anna hitches a ride home with a passing motorist, leaving Renzo by the side of the road. After begrudgingly buying a bouquet of flowers from the boy, Renzo throws the flowers away as he walks away.

Mara of Rome

* Written by Cesare Zavattini Mara works as a prostitute from her rooftop apartment overlooking Piazza Navona, servicing a variety of regular high-end clients including Augusto, the wealthy, powerful and neurotic son of a

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

industrialist. One evening, Mara befriends Umberto, a handsome and callow young man studying for the priesthood but not yet

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

, who is visiting his grandparents in the adjacent apartment. Embarrassed to disclose her real occupation, she tells him that she is a manicurist. Umberto's strict grandmother sees them talking and, knowing that Mara is a prostitute, interrupts their conversation, telling Mara that she will go to hell and threatening to start a petition to have her evicted from the building. Umberto protests, but Mara defends herself. The next day, Umberto's distraught grandmother visits Mara and informs her that her grandson, who is infatuated with Mara, is willing to renounce his priesthood to be with her. Sympathetic, Mara vows to set Umberto on the path of righteousness back to the

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...

and, if she succeeds, she will take a vow of celibacy for a week. When Umberto argues with his grandparents and threatens to join the

French Foreign Legion The French Foreign Legion (, also known simply as , "the Legion") is a corps of the French Army created to allow List of militaries that recruit foreigners, foreign nationals into French service. The Legion was founded in 1831 and today consis ...

, Mara goes over to their apartment, with the reluctant Augusto in tow, and finally persuades Umberto to return to the seminary, earning his grandmother's gratitude. Mara rewards Augusto with a

striptease A striptease is an erotic or exotic dance in which the performer gradually undresses, either partly or completely, in a seductive and sexually suggestive manner. The person who performs a striptease is commonly known as a "stripper", "exotic d ...

but stops as she remembers her week-long vow. Frustrated, Augusto prepares to leave, but Mara convinces him to stay and pray with her.

Cast

"Adelina" *

as Adelina Sbaratti *

as Carmine Sbaratti * Aldo Giuffrè as Pasquale Nardella * Agostino Salvietti as Dr. Verace * Lino Mattera as Amedeo Scapece * Tecla Scarano as Verace's sister * as Elivira Nardella * Carlo Croccolo as auctioneer * Pasquale Cennamo as chief police * Tonino Cianci as Antonio Cianci "Anna" * Sophia Loren as Anna Molteni * Marcello Mastroianni as Renzo * Armando Trovajoli as Giorgio Ferrario "Mara" * Sophia Loren as Mara * Marcello Mastroianni as Augusto Rusconi *

Tina Pica Tina Pica (31 March 1884 – 15 August 1968) was an Italian supporting actress who played character roles on stage. Her film debut came in 1935 with '' The Three-Cornered Hat''. In the 1950s, she became a celebrity thanks to her role as Caram ...

as Grandmother Ferrario * Gianni Ridolfi (credited as Giovanni Ridolfi) as Umberto * Gennaro Di Gregorio as Grandfather Vincenzo

Production

The production of ''Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow'' took place in various locations across Italy. Each of the three segments was shot in different settings, reflecting the diverse cultural and social landscapes of the country. The first segment is set in

and follows the story of Adelina. The second story is set in

and revolves around the character of Anna. The final segment is set in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

and centers on Mara. The "Adelina" segment is based on the true story of Concetta Muccardi, a Neapolitan street vendor of contraband cigarettes who had 19 pregnancies to avoid going to prison. Muccardi died on 21 November 2001 at the age of 78, by which time five of her children were still alive. For her

scene in the "Mara" segment, Loren was coached by Jacques Ruet, choreographer for the

Crazy Horse Crazy Horse ( , ; – September 5, 1877) was a Lakota people, Lakota war leader of the Oglala band. He took up arms against the United States federal government to fight against encroachment by White Americans, White American settlers on Nativ ...

Box office

''Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow'' grossed a staggering $9.3 million in North America and becoming the second highest-grossing Italian film at the time, just behind

La Dolce Vita ''La Dolce Vita'' (; Italian for 'the sweet life' or 'the good life'Kezich, 203) is a 1960 satirical comedy-drama film directed by Federico Fellini and written by Fellini, Ennio Flaiano, Tullio Pinelli, and Brunello Rondi. The film stars M ...

. The film brought home $8 million in proceeds for Carlo Ponti's company.

Reception

On the

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website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the film holds an approval rating of 78% based on 9 reviews, with an average rating of 7.3/10. John Simon of '' The New Leader'' described ''Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow'' as an "overrated dud".

Accolades

* 1965

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

for Best Foreign Language Film * 1965

BAFTA Award The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTAs or BAFTA Awards, is an annual film award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to f ...

for Best Foreign Actor – Marcello Mastroianni * 1964 Golden Globes – Samuel Goldwyn Award (nomination) * 1964 David di Donatello Awards – David for Best Production – Carlo Ponti * 1964 National Board of Review, USA - NBR award.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Yesterday Today And Tomorrow 1963 films 1963 comedy films 1960s French films 1960s Italian films 1960s Italian-language films 1960s pregnancy films 1960s sex comedy films Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award winners Commedia all'italiana Films about prostitution in Italy Films based on works by Alberto Moravia Films directed by Vittorio De Sica Films produced by Carlo Ponti Films scored by Armando Trovajoli Films set in Milan Films set in Naples Films set in Rome Films shot in Milan Films shot in Naples Films shot in Rome Films with screenplays by Cesare Zavattini French anthology films French pregnancy films French sex comedy films Italian anthology films Italian pregnancy films Italian sex comedy films Italian-language comedy films Italian-language French films