An obvious cheap-crime picture, very much on the sentimental side, and therefore thematically inferior to the two films it fell between. But it contains some very strong Fellini phases and accumulations of moods that make it well worth seeing.

The most obscure film of the highly visible Federico Fellini.

Although on a single viewing I would not rate the film equal to La Strada in human and evocative appeal, it does show Fellini at his cinematic best.

Far from negating my admiration for La Strada, Il Bidone seemed to me to confirm the genius that was manifested in it.