Oppressed by work, a jealous wife and an annoying daughter, Peppe, a stove salesman in Rome, is hypnotized by a fakir during a variety show. Peppe accidentally falls into a trance and returns home, behaving like a mother.
To get ahead after he answers a newspaper ad for a business proposition, Passaguai borrows the more impressive apartment of a retired actor and arranges an elaborate luncheon there.
