The young Mantuan Don Vincenzo Gonzaga, under the interested pressure of his father, Duke Guglielmo, obtained the annulment of his marriage to Margherita Farnese, who was then forced to retire to a convent. The simultaneous need to replenish the coffers of the Duchy with a conspicuous dowry and to cope with the hostility of opposing armies at the borders by establishing good alliances, induced Vincenzo to marry again. The choice fell on Eleonora Dè Medici; but the story of the marriage between Vincenzo and Margherita, despite the young libertine’s many adventures being notorious, made the rounds of Italy, leading the Medici to doubt his vigour. Therefore, Eleonora’s parents imposed on Vincenzo, as a condition for granting him their daughter’s hand, a pre-emptive demonstration of virility with an illibate maiden. This will be Giulia, a poor, very pretty girl, found at a hospice. In spite of the embarrassing presence of witnesses and many other obstacles, Vincenzo succeeds in doing as he was asked and will therefore be able to go through with his second marriage, while Giulia will be rewarded with a dowry and a husband.
Genre: comedy
Cast
Vittorio Gassman: Prince Vincenzo Gonzaga
Virna Lisi: Giulia Albizzi
Philippe Leroy: Ippolito
Paola Borboni: Madonna Violante
Tino Buazzelli: Duke of Mantua
Anna Maria Guarnieri: Margherita Farnese
Maria Grazia Buccella: Marchesa Clelia di Pepara
Francesco Mulè: a doctor of the Gonzaga family
Giusi Raspani Dandolo: Francesca Gonzaga
Esmeralda Ruspoli: Bianca De’ Medici
Soundtrack Luis Bacalov
