Rome 11:00

Plot

In the early 1950s, Italy was suffering from serious unemployment and it was especially difficult for women to get jobs. In response to a newspaper ad seeking a secretary for an accountant's office, the two hundred women crowded the small building's staircase, hoping for an interview. They came from diverse backgrounds: fallen nobles, prostitutes seeking to change their lives, wives with unemployed husbands, and affluent daughters with not enough pension to survive.

Waiting on the stairs, the women exchange impressions and discuss their lives of misery and their tricks for making a living. Gianna, played by Eva Vanicek is first in line, the pawn of a strong-willed mother, while Caterina, played by Lea Padovani, is a prostitute hoping for a new life. Angelina, played by Delia Scala is a servant, also hoping to escape her situation. Other characters include a pregnant unwed mother (Elena Varzi), a young woman who wants to be a singer (Irene Galter), and an artist's mistress (Lucia Bosè).

When a poor workman's wife, Luciana Renzoni, played by Carla Del Poggio, tries to move ahead in the line, the resulting scuffle among the women causes the staircase to collapse.

The injured are taken to a hospital, but to be treated, the hospital is demanding a payment of 2,300 Lire per day. Many of them are unable to pay and are forced to go home.

Awards

Reception

New York Times film critic, Bosley Crowther called Rome 11:00 a "vivid, raw-boned movie" and "a film of absorbing interest and persistent emotional power." He also praised Carla Del Poggio for her sensitive portrayal of the anguish felt by her character, Luciana Renzoni, after precipitating the tragedy.

Legacy

In 1956, filmmaker Elio Petri published Roma ore 11, a collection of his interviews with people involved in the tragedy. The documentation originally served as a basis for the film. The work was republished in 2004.