I Vitelloni

I Vitelloni is set in a small seaside town on Italy's Adriatic coast, where five friends in their twenties drift through their days without work or purpose. Fausto, the group's ringleader, chases women until he gets Sandra pregnant and has to marry her, while the others chase their own vague ambitions: Riccardo wants fame, Leopoldo dreams of writing for the stage, Alberto chases fantasies, and Moraldo thinks about leaving for the city. The five live off their families and fill their time with pool, women and the distractions of the holiday season, restless in a town that offers them little outlet. The film follows how this shared idleness gradually gives way to the pull of real life, with marriage and responsibility pressing hardest on Fausto.

Federico Fellini directed and co-wrote the screenplay with Ennio Flaiano. It was his third feature, following The White Sheik a year earlier and preceding La Strada the next year. The cast includes Franco Interlenghi as Moraldo, Alberto Sordi as Alberto, Franco Fabrizi as Fausto, Leopoldo Trieste as Leopoldo, Riccardo Fellini as Riccardo and Leonora Ruffo as Sandra, among 31 credited performers.

The film was made in Italy and France and runs 103 minutes. On IMDb it holds 7.8 from around 23,000 votes, and on TMDB 7.7 from far fewer, suggesting a settled reputation among a broad international audience. A critics' rating of 9.1 from 29 reviews places critical regard above both audience scores.