LA PIETRA DEL PARAGONE (The Touchstone) concerns the Count Asdrubale who is wealthy and therefore of great interest to many women – notably Aspasia, Fulvia, and Clarice. Only Clarice, however, loves him for something other than his riches. There are also male hangers-on: the corrupt journalist Macrobio, the poetaster Pacuvio, and Giocondo, who is Asdrubale's true friend, but who has his own eyes on Clarice. To test his friends and would-be fiancées, Asdrubale pretends that he has been bankrupted. Sure enough, only Clarice and Giocondo stand by him, and when his fortune is "miraculously" saved, the three have the last laugh on everyone else... or do they? This production is set in what looks like the early 1960s. But the real innovation is the use of blue screen technology: using tiny cameras and sets, along gigantic screens hanging over the stage, a kind of video mixing makes the singers appear to inhabit any number of fanciful settings and perform a myriad of improbable actions.
The story of Bendegúz, the teenage boy who never succeeds in anything and about whom everybody's first though is "I wish you had been hanged when you were born!" drops out of school and becomes a cowboy. He works for the Stationmaster whose cows he has to graze by the railway. Despite his goodwill and kindheartedness he always manages to spoil everything he touches. No matter his wit, he gets into humiliating situations and regularly fights with the Ugly Witch (the Stationmaster's mother-in-law). However his good spirit and cheerfulness never leave him.
Portrayal of a family’s attempt to change the spending habit of the indulgent and hedonistic patriarch, Alfredo. The family decides to try to fool him into spending less by telling him that his large fortune is gone.
A son quits his job and is persuaded by his father to head off to a cottage in the remote mountains. Together, the two of them manage to get through their days while wearing old jerseys left by a deceased grandmother. The following summer, the two once again leave the stifling heat of Tokyo, as if escaping to the mountain cottage. However, the next summer is very different.
Young women in a small Japanese town look to revive their home's declining fortunes by building a Hawaiian village tourist attraction.
Having faced the reality of his failed career as a punk rock musician, 36-year-old Stefano Nardini returns home to his family in the small-town North.
A tiny European country which for years has survived financially only through evading its bills and smuggling is finally facing bankruptcy, when a rich American agrees to save the place by buying it. But before, the deal is closed, he dies. His nearest relative and heir turns out to be a young woman with high ethical and democratic standards, but no experience with money, or affairs of state, or Europe. A charming young English visitor helps her to muddle through. Comedy and romance follow.
After Dick Harper loses his job at Globodyne in an Enron-esque collapse, he and his wife, Jane, turn to crime in order to handle the massive debt they now face. Two intelligent people, Dick and Jane actually get pretty good at robbing people and even enjoy it -- but they have second thoughts when they're reminded that crime can hurt innocent people. When the couple hears that Globodyne boss Jack McCallister actually swindled the company, they plot revenge.
A Democratic political consultant helps a retired Marine colonel run for mayor in a small, conservative Wisconsin town.
Yuka Shibuya, a struggling actress, and Hatsue, a widowed chestnut farmer, meet a mysterious, bloodied man in the farm. The three end up living together during chestnut season and form a special bond while a miracle slowly unfolds.
Lambros Konstantaras performs a wealthy gossip that has never worked, and all he has to do is make fun and jokes to others. But when he suddenly finds himself in the street, he realizes that life is not just fun and is forced to look for a job. In the end, it turns out he had not lost his fortune as it was an idea his father had invented shortly before he died to be
A hotel porter is left a fortune but after living it up for a while he returns to his old place of work which is in financial difficulties.
Dr. Castellanos is saved from bankruptcy.
Elizabeth Rimplegar inhabits a household populated by virtual lunatics. Her mother, Nellie, mishandled the family fortune, and, alas, the stock market crash has depleted their worth. Elizabeth's goofy brothers cannot easily adjust to the life of the average worker. Meanwhile, the family doctor has his eye on Elizabeth, but he will have to compete with her suitor, an ill-informed writer.
When Shane inherits a gentleman's club from his estranged uncle, he leaves his Midwestern home for Los Angeles. Run by a booze hound and employing a dozen out of control strippers, Shane must do everything he can to save the club from bankruptcy and maybe make history in the process.
The discovery of the tomb of William Tell’s son in a town in the Basque Country spurs the village's cantankerous citizens to lobby for Swiss annexation.
Pedro, who is having a tough time, receives the news that his grandfather died. He inherits 2 cows and a donkey. He and his uncle go to the village where his grandfather lived. But this journey will end up as they never expected.
A naive innkeeper arrives from the Alps into town to investigate his shady investor only to discover that he owns a sex shop. Needing money for a good cause, he and his sons join in. However, his partner is actually a diamond smuggler.
In Murcia, a southern province of Spain rich in fruits and vegetables parcels, a girl and a boy are in love but he is so shy that she accepts a rich competitor proposal. From the zarzuela of the same name.
A small town family discovers an unwanted houseguest is harder to eject than they expected. Comedy.