According to the Italian Wikipedia, this movie was adapted from an eponymous Italian TV show. It consists of loosely-assembled sketches where Gassman is given a free hand to go through various characters and disguises.
The whole thing is watchable, of course, but suffers from the lack of dramatic tension since there's barely a storyline. Besides, most sketches were possibly funny 60 years ago, now they bring a smile at best - you see the gags coming from a distance. Gassman is of course a terrific presence, but in some episodes he's completely over-the-top.
Strangely enough, the most endearing moments of the movie, as far as I'm concerned, were some "transition" sequences which show peeks of everyday's life in the Italy of 1960 - scenes with Dorian Gray, the restaurant sequences, shots of the poor Roma suburbs... All in all a minor movie.
The whole thing is watchable, of course, but suffers from the lack of dramatic tension since there's barely a storyline. Besides, most sketches were possibly funny 60 years ago, now they bring a smile at best - you see the gags coming from a distance. Gassman is of course a terrific presence, but in some episodes he's completely over-the-top.
Strangely enough, the most endearing moments of the movie, as far as I'm concerned, were some "transition" sequences which show peeks of everyday's life in the Italy of 1960 - scenes with Dorian Gray, the restaurant sequences, shots of the poor Roma suburbs... All in all a minor movie.