Shoeshine

Shoeshine takes place in Rome in the years just after the Second World War. Two poor boys, Pasquale and Giuseppe, earn a living shining shoes on the streets and dream of buying a horse of their own. To raise the money they take on a job for adults connected to the black market, and when it goes wrong they are arrested and sent to a juvenile prison, where they are separated. The hardship and pressure of the institution strain their friendship, and the choices each is forced to make set them against one another.

The film was directed by Vittorio De Sica, the first in the chronological list of his features, ahead of Bicycle Thieves, Miracle in Milan and Umberto D. The screenplay was written by Sergio Amidei, Adolfo Franci and Cesare Giulio Viola, and Paolo William Tamburella produced it. Franco Interlenghi plays Pasquale and Rinaldo Smordoni plays Giuseppe, with smaller roles for Annielo Mele, Bruno Ortenzi, Emilio Cigoli and Gino Saltamerenda.

Released in 1946 and running ninety-one minutes, the drama is set among the poor of postwar Italy. On IMDb it holds a critics' rating of 8.8 out of 10 from seven reviews, while on TMDB it has 7.8 out of 10 from 279 votes, so audiences rate it highly though somewhat below the critics' mark.