Mille lire al mese was directed by Max Neufeld, an Austrian Jew who would want Alida again that same year for La casa del peccato, Ballo al castello, and Assenza ingiustificata. If nothing else, that string of films would start a trend imitated by girls everywhere: the “Valli style” hairdo, “with loose long hair and a big, soft wave covering half her face”, as press from that time would write. That was the year in which she built, or someone built for her, the character of the false ingénue, the misunderstood innocent young girl, or even the peppery imp, with the addition of a surprising and as yet uncorrected Istrian accent. Her wiggling hips, simpering ways, brusque gestures, outbursts, quick shifts, head tosses, and sudden tenderness would do the rest.

Lorenzo Pellizzari, in “Cinegrafie”, 17, 2004