A film quite unique for its time, Campo de' Fiori, set in Rome's famousopen-air market, is a hybrid of commedia all'italiana and affectingneorealist drama. (Fellini had a hand in the script.) For Anna Magnani,the film was a step in the right direction-toward her triumph in OpenCity-as Stephen Harvey writes: "Two years before Open City, Magnaniappeared opposite Aldo Fabrizi in an unabashedly proletarian role forthe first time-a blunt-spoken produce vendor who pines for thefishmonger at the adjacent stall. Still the focus remained on Fabrizi,the poignant Little Fellow who himself longed in vain for anaristocratic type who looked like every other movie icon of the era,while Magnani languished offscreen for reels at a time."