Synopsis:

Set in Rome in the 1950s, this is the story of Isabella. She is twenty and beautiful, but unfortunately for her dreams, comes from a modest background. Elvira, her mother, is worried when Isabella meets a rich Roman prince named Adriano. He can take the young girl into the fable world which she has so longed for. In her attempt to enter the ranks of the rich, Isabella is prepared to try every trick in the book and to hide her every thought and action in a web of lies and deceit. Elvira warns her that Adriano is married, and begs her to marry Albino, a good looking school teacher. She is also aware that Isabella is deceiving her and others but it is too late. Isabella decides to marry Albino and as soon as she returns from the honeymoon begins a desperate affair with Adriano, who knows nothing of her marriage.
The prince’s wife Paola, in a jealous bid to get her husband back, tells him that Isabella is married.
Isabella’s lies begin to let her down. Albino discovers her adultery and both men seek their revenge. Albino takes a police squad to catch the couple in the middle of their adultery…. And Adriano only manages to escape a scandal because of influential friends.
Isabella is so ashamed that she tries to commit suicide. At the last minute she calls both men in turn, to save her, but they just assume it is another of her lies. Only the young boy Corrado, living above Isabella, understands that her life is really in danger and rushes her to the hospital. She refuses all future contacts with Albino and Adriano, and Corrado leaves her the keys to his flat so she can reflect on a new attitude to life. But it is too late….will she be able to get out of the habit of telling lies?