La sposa non può attendere (1949)

Anselmo Brunelli is a wealthy businessman from Rome who is very careful to plan every aspect of his life. He has to travel to San Biagio (probably a fictional town) to marry Donata Venturi. Near his destination, some passersby stop him and ask for help saving a girl who has just thrown herself into the river. Anselmo hesitates, since saving the girl risks making him late for his wedding, but then decides to dive in. After receiving first aid at a farming family’s home, Anselmo is told that the girl is pregnant, and offers to take her to the station so she can return home. The girl, named Maria, confesses that she gave herself to her lover only out of love and did not want to force him to marry her, even though she is expecting a child. From the station, Anselmo calls Donata and tells her he has had a minor car accident. But just as he is about to set off again, the stationmaster calls him back because the girl has fainted from labor pains. He decides to take her to a nearby convent, where all the nuns think he is the child’s father. A midwife is needed for the birth, so Anselmo goes to San Biagio to find one. The guests at his wedding recognize him and take him to the church, where they have been waiting for hours. At last the wedding takes place, but during the wedding reception the nuns arrive looking for the doctor among the guests. Donata and her family learn that Anselmo took Maria to the convent, and they too think he seduced her. To save face and purely out of self-interest, Donata’s family decides to ignore what happened and send the girl some money, convinced that the scandal can be avoided and that the newlyweds will soon make peace. But Anselmo, deeply moved by Maria’s genuine feelings, is no longer willing to put up with pretense and his wife’s lack of trust, and leaves the marital bedroom to return to the convent. There he discovers that the baby has been born and that Maria is finally happy, having given up her plans to kill herself. Maria believes that if this experience has been enough to change Anselmo in a single day, he cannot leave Donata without also helping her change the way she sees things. And indeed, when Anselmo returns to his wife’s house, he realizes that Donata has given up playing the part of a conformist and is ready to love him with all her heart.