| Director | Vittorio De Sica |
|---|---|
| Genre | drama film |
| Runtime | 91 min |
| Country | Italy |
| Box office | $74,924 |
Police disperse an organized street demonstration of elderly men demanding a raise in their meager pensions. One of the marchers is Umberto D. Ferrari, a retired government worker.
He returns to his room and finds that his landlady has rented it out for an hour to a young couple to have sex. She threatens to evict Ferrari at the end of the month if he cannot pay the overdue rent, fifteen thousand lire. He sells a watch and some books, but only raises a third of the amount. The landlady refuses to accept partial payment.
Meanwhile, the sympathetic maid confides in Umberto that she has her own problems. She is three months pregnant, but is unsure which of her two lovers (both soldiers) is the father, the tall one from Naples or the short one from Florence.
Feeling ill, Umberto gets himself admitted to a hospital. It turns out to be tonsillitis and he is discharged after a few days. When he returns to the apartment, he finds workmen renovating the entire place. The landlady is getting married. Umberto's room has a gaping hole in the wall. The maid tells him it is to become part of an enlarged living room. The maid was taking care of his dog Flike, but a door was left open and Flike ran away.
Umberto rushes to the city pound and is relieved to find his dog; however, when he makes a veiled plea for a loan to one of his friends who has a job, the friend refuses to listen. Unable to bring himself to beg from strangers on the street Umberto contemplates suicide, but knows he must first see that Flike is taken care of. He packs his belongings and leaves the apartment. His parting advice to the maid is to get rid of the boyfriend from Florence.
Umberto attempts to find a place for Flike, first with a couple who board dogs, then a little girl he knows, but the latter's nanny makes her give the dog back. Flike goes to play with some children and Umberto slips away, hoping that one of them will adopt him. Despite Umberto's attempt to abandon Flike, the dog finds him hiding under a footbridge. Finally in desperation, Umberto takes the dog in his arms and walks on to a railway track as a speeding train approaches. Flike becomes frightened, wriggles free and flees. Umberto runs after him. At first, Flike seems to be frightened and hides from Umberto, but Flike seems to be coaxing Umberto away from the tracks and back into the park. The chase slowly morphs into play as Umberto lures Flike with a pine cone. The movie ends with Umberto and Flike running and playing down the park lane.