A poor taxi driver receives the news that his brother died leaving him a fortune. His bossy wife is thrilled by the prospect of becoming part of "high society". But in reality this is all a plot concocted by a gang of bank robbers with the purpose of incriminating the poor man and thus deviating attention from them.
The poor worker who becomes rich without expecting it and comes to prefer the life of poverty to the new one is surely an allegory of Brazil, a country which shuns every opportunity to become a successful one by first world's standards. It would appear that we are happier as a complete mess where financial straits and out of control violence are permanent features of national life. The fact is, it is not everyone who can bear the responsibility which comes with affluence. It is a little amazing that so many films of the period have sudden riches as a plot point -- in the same year of 1957 there was A Baronesa Transviada, for example. Anyway, the bottom line is that this is a poor cinematic spectacle, with very obvious humor and songs which will not imprint indelible marks in one's memory. A somewhat more generous appraisal than mine may be found in this well-written review.
Rating: 31
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