If what you know about this exuberant, self-regarding movie comes from its countless inferior imitations (from Paul Mazursky's Alex in Wonderland and The Pickle to Woody Allen's Stardust Memories to Bob Fosse's All That Jazz), you owe it to yourself to see Federico Fellini's exhilarating, stocktaking original—an expressionist, circuslike comedy about the complex mental and social life of a big-time filmmaker (Marcello Mastroianni) stuck for a subject and the busy world surrounding him. It's Fellini's last black-and-white picture and conceivably the most gorgeous and inventive thing he's ever done—certainly more fun than anything he made after it. (The only other Fellini movie that's about as pleasurable is The White Sheik.)

Direction: Federico Fellini.

Screenplay: Federico Fellini, Ennio Flaiano, Tullio Pinelli, and Brunello Rondi, based on a story by Fellini and Flaiano.

Photography: Gianni di Venanzo.

Editong: Leo Catozzo.

Art Direction: Piero Gherardi.

Music: Nino Rota.

Marcello Mastroianni.....................................Guido Anselmi

Claudia Cardinale....................................................Claudia

Anouk Aimée.............................................................Luisa

Rossella Falk........................................................Rossella

Sandra Milo...............................................................Carla