"Variety Lights"
1950
Directed by Federico Fellini

Fellini's first, truly wonderful feature is the story  of a group of second-rate theatrical performers on tour. The aging manager of the company falls in love with a newcomer, to the chagrin of his faithful mistress (Giulietta Masina). Though co-directed by Alberto Lattuada, "this is Fellini's film rather than Lattuada's. Already present in his special 'universe': his sense of irony, his baroque qualities, his sympathy for and delight in downtrodden eccentrics, and his portrait of 'bidones' striving comically to find themselves" (Georges Sadoul). Italian with English subtitles. 86 minutes.