LA CITTÀ SI DIFENDE (Italy 1951) Poverty and hunger lead four men to rob the stadium cash register during a football match on the outskirts of Rome. The four of them scatter while fleeing from the police. One of them, a former successful football player called Paolo (Renato Baldini) who has never really got back on his feet after breaking his leg, is spurred on by an additional motivation: he hopes to win back his former lover Daniela (Gina Lollobrigida), who left him after he was no longer able to offer her the living standards she desired. As already in GIOVENTÙ PERDUTA, Pietro Germi connects elements of Neo-realism with film noir tropes.