As a genre, "Italian comedy films" present a different facet of Italian cinema. These films are about an imperfect Italian society where people would like to get involved in self mockery (auto derision) as it enables them to correct weaknesses related to their behavior. "Big deal on Madonna Street" is about a small group of small time criminals from different backgrounds who make various plans to crack the safe of a pawnshop. After the end of second war world, Italy was in an absolute mess. Its ordinary people suffered the most as they did not have any jobs. This compelled many people to make quick money by stealing whatever that was available to be stolen. Apart from Dino Risi, Mario Monicelli is hailed by critics and public as the undisputed master of Italian comedy films. However, he mixed a great deal of dramatic elements in "I Soliti Ignoti". Monicelli shows how difficult things seem to appear when one is in the planning stages of a crime as people are beset by personal problems. Apart from depicting the universal sociological truth that "crime never pays", Monicelli's film also questions why some people do not want to work ?