The story starts in a small [albeit unnamed] town, simply known as "a small world", in the
Po lowlands of northern
Italy, in the early summer of 1946. The town's Communists (which in the Italian
dopoguerra -the Italian
post-war period- are represented as the local section of a party analogous to the
PCI) led by Peppone has just won the majority of seats within the local council, an event which they exploit for
propaganda purposes – and with some non-vocal, but church bell-assisted protest by the outraged Don Camillo, the spiritual leader of the town's section of the Christian political party (likewise probable analogous to the Christian-Democrat
DC party) – when an unexpected event puts an instant stop to this arising conflict: Peppone has just added a new member, a son, to his family, and following a personal and
pugilistic appeal by Peppone himself (as well as some admonishment from
Christ) to a reluctant Don Camillo, the child is baptized in Camillo's church. Similar conflicts arising in the course of the story are settled between Don Camillo and Peppone in a similarly conflicting, but ultimately unified fashion, such as: • the erection of a kindergarten for the town after Don Camillo finds out that Peppone has used money stolen from the
fascists during
World War II to finance the construction of his new community hall, and blackmails him with this knowledge; • a farmhand strike organized by the Communists to impose a special tax on the wealthier landowners in order to give the town's people work, resulting in the local cattle herds not
getting milked until both Don Camillo and Peppone surreptitiously resolve the problem together; • a river blessing procession and the funeral of the town's generally respected old teacher, Ms. Christina, which are both kept strictly non-political despite the Communists' initial intentions. An important side story within the film is the
Romeo and Juliet-esque relationship between a young girl named Gina Filotti, who has just returned to the town from boarding school as the story begins, and a young man named Mariolino Brusco. Gina and Mariolino's blossoming relationship, however, is off to a bad start: not only that the families of Gina (as Christians) and Mariolino (as Communists) are on ideologically opposite sides, they are also entertaining a long-running private feud. When their cause finds no support with neither Peppone as the mayor, nor with Camillo as a priest, the two lovers decide to commit a double suicide. Fortunately, both opposing parties come to their senses just in time, rescue the two and get the wedding underway. But during the combined wedding and house-warming festivities for the now-finished community hall and kindergarten, Don Camillo takes offense at one of Peppone's better throws at an
Aunt Sally stall, which results in a public mass brawl. Even though Peppone resents Don Camillo's interferences and their after-effects on personal health, he secretly enjoys their amicable quarrels and repeatedly tries his best to persuade the local
bishop not to have Camillo replaced. However, with this last misdeed the bishop decides to send Camillo to a different community, and Peppone has threatened Camillo's parish not to say farewell to him as he is about to depart. But to his delightful surprise, Don Camillo does receive a touching goodbye from the people of his town – first from his parish at the train station next town, then from Peppone and his party comrades at the very next station afterward. Before Camillo departs for his new destination, Peppone asks him to come back soon and promises that Camillo's successor will not last long under his attention. ==Cast==