After nearly two years of unemployment, Antonio (Lamberto Maggiorani) finally finds work posting bills. But he needs a bicycle to do the job. Unfortunately, he was forced to pawn his own bicycle long ago. In a humbling, tragic scene, Antonio exchanges his family's linen for his bicycle. But when the bike is stolen on his first day of work, he must comb the streets of Rome in search of the bike: his family's only means to survival.

Shot on location in Rome, and using non-actors as a means of heightening the reality of the film, Ladri Di Biciclette received the Honorary Award for Best Foreign Film at the 1950 Oscars