In this scathing parable of the abyss between rich and poor that cannot be breached, Bette Davis represents a pitiless plutocracy in the form of an American millionairess whose passion for cardplaying occupies her declining years. Each year, for laughs, she journeys with her cowed secretary (Joseph Cotten) to Rome to partake in scientific scopone, a Latin card game, with two impoverished locals, Peppino and Antonia (Alberto Sordi and Silvana Mangano). Installed in a luxurious villa on the edge of the suburban slum where Peppino and Antonia live as squatters with their five children, the dowager generously finances their ante and then proceeds to win it back...in spades. Still, the indigents live in hopes of sudden wealth, and their annual affair provides live game--show entertainment for the entire neighborhood. This year, it appears that they may beat the American at her own game, with the venomous help of their eldest daughter, Cleopatra.