It's a night at the end of summer in a small coastal Italian town. Miss Mermaid is being chosen at an outdoor festival, and we meet the "vitelloni" (variously translated as calves, idlers, loafers, or slackers) of the title: Fausto, the handsome self-styled ladies man and group leader; Leopoldo, the glasses-wearing intellectual and would-be playwright; Riccardo, a singing tenor; Alberto, a somewhat childlike, lighthearted guy; and the narrator, Moraldo, the youngest of the group but also the quietest and most thoughtful. These guys, despite having some ambitions, are all in their mid-to-late 20s and still live with their families. Moraldo's sister Sandra wins the Miss Mermaid award but faints as she has the sash put on. We realize this is movie shorthand for 'pregnant,' and Fausto, the impregnator, is forced by his father to do right by the girl; the father says Fausto will marry Sandra "if I have to kick your ass all the way to church." Reluctantly, he does, and while in Rome on his honeymoon, the gang is a bit adrift. Leopoldo calls Fausto a man of passions, but Alberto says he's just horny. Leopoldo, who lives with his aunts and types out his plays into the night, carries on a tentative flirtation with a neighbor girl from their windows. Riccardo is concerned with his growing gut. Alberto has to sneak drinks out of sight of his mother and sister, who has her own secret: she's stepping out with a married man. Moraldo walks the city streets alone at 3 a.m. and strikes up a friendship with a teenage boy who is also out at three on his way to his job as a luggage handler at the train station. Fausto returns with a mustache (which is big news in the village) and Sandra's father gets him a job at an antique gift shop, but it's not long before Fausto is back to his flirtatious ways, first with his boss’s wife and later with a dolled-up high class woman he sits next to at the theater (flirting even with his wife right next to him).
Come winter, the most exciting events in their lives involve facial hair: Riccardo grows a mustache, Leopoldo grows a goatee, and Alberto gets sideburns. But soon, after Fausto is fired for his flirty behavior (he has always considered the job menial but it brought money into his household), he and Moraldo plot a revenge robbery: stealing a large angel statue from the store's warehouse—their attempt at carting it around trying to sell it to local churches is amusing. When an famous but washed-up older actor comes to town, Riccardo sends him a copy of one of his plays and the actor wants to meet with him to talk about producing it. But the actor gets drunk, takes him down to the nighttime docks and makes a pass at him. Alberto gets obnoxiously drunk at a big party and later feels helpless when his sister goes against his advice about her affair. Finally, after the birth of Sandra's baby, Fausto spends the night with an actress; Sandra gets wind of it and disappears, leaving the five buddies to set out in search of her.
This early film from Federico Fellini looks and feels like none of his later movies from the 60s that made him an international name—one party scene, involving drunks and huge papier-maché heads, does feel like later Fellini. In many ways, it's a traditional coming of age story, though the characters are much older than is usual for this genre. It's unclear at the end if any of them have really grown. The narrator, Moraldo, gets the gumption to leave town in the final scene, but we don't know how much getting out of town will actually affect him. Though we see much of the action through his eyes, and the actor playing him, Franco Interlenghi, gives perhaps the best and most subtle performance, his character is the least developed. Some critics read the film as semi-autobiographical, in which case Moraldo's gift for observation may be what will serve him in his future as a filmmaker. Very few viewers take note of some gay subtext with the character. His first meeting with the teenage Guido definitely has the feel of an awkward after-hours pick-up, and Moraldo is the only one of the idlers who never seems interested in women. Moraldo is our way into the lives of these men, but Fausto is treated as the main character and Franco Fabrizi is excellent in the role; he’s attractive and generally remains sympathetic despite his caddishness, though some IMDb critics would absolutely disagree with me. While we don't condone his behavior, he also does not come across as deliberately hurtful (he does try to shield Sandra from his behavior), and there is a certain adolescent innocence in the way he acts on his urges, though of course we know he should have grown out of that years ago (his age is explicitly given as 30). Alberto Sordi (Alberto) went on to a very long career, known largely as a comic actor. Leopoldo Trieste is Leopoldo, Riccardo Fellini, the director’s brother, is Riccardo, and Leonora Ruffo is Sandra, and they are all fine. The five idlers have great chemistry and the film feels realistic without being grittily naturalistic. I had avoided this film in the past, never quite being in the mood for a dreary kitchen-sink film but my pre-judging was wrong and it's quite enjoyable. Pictured at left are Fabrizi and Interlenghi. [TCM]