It was Zavattini’s idea to show four famous actresses as real women. Valli is seductive, Bergman a housewife and Magnani a super-Magnani, but Zampa’s episode with Isa Miranda (wife of the director and producer Alfredo Guarini, who directed the introductory episode) is the least known but perhaps the most interesting because it is a finer combination of documentary and invention. Miranda rescues a proletarian child and returns to her empty home regretting having sacrificed everything for her career. “Isa Miranda is so reserved and authentic, she seems to Zampa so open to everything that happens, that the episode takes on a particular power and sympathy and ability to move viewers in a subtle and deep way” (Giorgio De Vincenti, “Bianco & Nero”).