Revisado por dierregi

Svevo Bandini is married with Maria and father of three sons. He's also an unemployed bricklayer who spends all his money at the pool hall, so that wife and kids won't have any presents for Christmas.

With the help of fellow Italian immigrant Rocco, Svevo gets work at the house of rich widow Hildegarde and sort of moves there, so as to avoid the mother-in-law he cannot stand.

The point is, mother-in-law is actually right, Svevo is a disrespectful cheater, good for not much and her daughter Maria could have done better, but the plot still adheres to the male point of view, so that women are either hags or desperate for male attention.

After having decamped with the widow, Svevo tries to go back home but Maria is upset and kicks him out, therefore son Arturo concocts some lies to convince his mother to take back Svevo. All of this in slow motion and mixed with Arturo's growing pain.