The Irony of Money

A wallet full of cash ties together four short stories, each following a different holder whose life is changed by finding the same windfall. One segment follows a shoeshiner in Seville who sees a sudden opening to better his lot, another tracks a humble clerk in Salamanca who faces an ethical choice, a third centers on a bullfighter from Cuenca whose pride and need collide, and the last looks at a Parisian newsboy who reacts in his own unexpected way. The film shifts tone between comedy and drama, using regional details and small moral puzzles rather than high-stakes thrills, and it keeps outcomes modest and character-focused.

Released in 1957, the film was directed by Edgar Neville and Guy Lefranc, presented as a four-part anthology and featuring actors like Antonio Vico, Irene Caba Alba, Fernando Fernán Gómez and Cécile Aubry.

Box office figures for the movie aren't widely reported, and it didn't become a major commercial hit. It seems to have had a modest run at the time, finding most of its audience in regional and niche markets rather than mainstream international success.

Among fans of midcentury European cinema the picture is remembered for its vignette format and its use of distinct Spanish locales alongside a Paris episode. That structure, and some performances by recognizable names from Spanish film, keeps it of interest to collectors and historians who study how light comedy and social observation mixed in the 1950s.

Critical reaction has been mixed, matching its modest contemporary reputation, and user ratings remain low to middling, for example a 5.1/10 average from a small number of votes. The movie plays with themes of luck, personal ethics and class difference, balancing light humor with quieter dramatic moments, and it tends to appeal to viewers who like character snapshots and moral small dilemmas rather than big plot twists.