Totò, one of Italy's all-time great comedians, stars as a Neopolitan petty criminal named Don Felice, who pretends to be a Turkish eunuch. Felice is a fraudster and a womaniser who escaped from a Naples prison with his cell-mate, a pick-pocket named Faina (Aldo Giuffrè). The duo, now on the run, rob a foreigner who turns out to be a Turkish eunuch sent by the government to the house of Don Pasquale (Carlo Campanini), a wealthy and jealous Sorrento merchant, to guard his attractive wife Giulietta (Isa Barzizza) and his daughter Listetta (Primarosa Battistella) in exchange for the votes of his local constituents. Don Felice assumes the identity of the eunuch which provides much of the film's comedy.