A Sweetheart Deal?
Tuscany, circa 1927.
To seal a lucrative busi ness merger, Gianni Lucci and his partner Claudio Massimo secretly arrange for Gianni’s only son, Stefano, to marry a Brazilian businessman’s daughter. Fearing Stefano will balk because he loves Claudio’s daughter Ilaria, she gets shipped off to a foreign school. With Stefano convinced she’s gone, Gianni issues his son an ultimatum: marry the Brazilian or be banished forever. The heartbroken Stefano defiantly walks out on his father and his inheritance. Penniless and alone, he brazenly sets off to America.
30 years later in 1957, Stefano and Anna are happily married with two kids and one on the way. There’s a hitch to his happiness however, even with his father-in-law’s financial help: Stefano’s struggling to provide for his growing brood. At the same time in Tuscany, an elderly Gianni, desperate for an heir, entices his wayward son home by faking his impending death. Learning of her husband’s treachery, Stefano’s mother, Alda, spins her own plan to keep her missing son home.
To make matters more comically complicated, the newly widowed Ilaria accidentally stumbles into Stefano’s arms on his first day in Italy. Observing the two ex-sweethearts, Claudio panics, fearing their reunion may lead to marriage and Stefano eventually inheriting the Massimo millions. His solution: kidnap and kick him out of Italy. Ilaria has another agenda: to seduce Stefano into remaining with her.
Stefano has his own reasons for being tempted to stay. As sole heir to the Lucci fortune, he can easily provide for his American family, but he can only do that from Italy. If he goes back, he can foresee only a life of financial uncertainty.
Finally, all the underhanded planning comes undone at a disastrous dinner party, where Stefano negotiates a final sweet deal, thus insuring a happy ending in this saucy tale of romance, comedy, and Italian “business”.
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