He Who Hesitates Is Lost

He Who Esitates Is Lost^[1] (Chi si ferma è perduto) is a 1960 Italian comedy film directed by Sergio Corbucci.^[2][3] The title is based on a slogan of Benito Mussolini's regime, literally meaning "who stops is lost".

Accountant Antonio Guardalavecchia and certified bookkeeper Giuseppe Colabona are employees at the Naples branch of the Pasquetti company, a transport firm. Their office manager is Cesare Santoro, a very strict superior who does not tolerate the unprofessional behavior of the two clerks. At the height of yet another reprimand directed at Colabona and Guardalavecchia in front of a newly hired employee, Donato Cavallo, a native of Catania, Santoro threatens to transfer them to Sardinia—but the following day he unexpectedly dies.

After returning to the office following the funeral, Guardalavecchia and Colabona begin to quarrel, each aspiring to the vacant position left by the deceased manager. However, Napoleone, the building’s doorman, advises them not to fight, explaining that Santoro had written detailed reports on each employee. He hands them a letter announcing the imminent arrival of the general transport inspector, one M. Rossi, who will decide who will succeed Santoro as head of the Naples agency.

The two men therefore sneak into the office at night and destroy their personnel files, which contain their performance records and a recommendation for transfer to Sardinia. Afterwards, each independently—and unbeknownst to the other—organizes a plan to gain the inspector’s favor. Colabona decides to wait for Rossi at the train station with a bouquet of flowers, while Guardalavecchia hires the violent Cavicchioni to stage a fake assault on the train against Inspector Rossi, so that he can intervene and defend him, earning his admiration.

By sheer coincidence, two men named M. Rossi are on the same train: Matteo Rossi, the inspector tasked with deciding the future manager of the Pasquetti company, and Mario Rossi, an unsuspecting school inspector. Guardalavecchia and Cavicchioni board the train at Formia station and carry out their plan—but against the wrong Rossi. Upon arrival, Guardalavecchia leaves with the school inspector, inviting him to his home without realizing the mistake, while Colabona welcomes the real transport inspector.

At Guardalavecchia’s home, Mario Rossi is received by the accountant’s wife, Italia, and meets their daughter Iole, an elementary school teacher, with whom he falls in love.

The following morning, Inspector Matteo Rossi arrives at the company offices, and Guardalavecchia—unaware of who he is—treats him rudely. Once he discovers the inspector’s true identity, Guardalavecchia returns home and angrily sends away the innocent Mario Rossi. The next day, in an attempt to make up for his unfortunate first impression, Guardalavecchia becomes extremely diligent at work and excessively courteous toward Matteo Rossi, while portraying Colabona as a jinx. To prove this, Guardalavecchia stages fake mishaps at the inspector’s expense.

This strategy backfires, however, as Rossi becomes very fearful of Colabona’s supposed “powers.” Colabona, for his part, retaliates by having Guardalavecchia discredited in front of a hard-of-hearing client, who had previously been mocked by both rivals and who can now finally hear thanks to an acoustic device donated by Colabona himself. Guardalavecchia, in turn, takes revenge by contacting Adua, a friend of Cavicchioni, and arranging for her to show up at the office and stage a compromising situation involving the unsuspecting Colabona. Inspector Matteo Rossi, realizing that both men are responsible for all these unpleasant incidents, reprimands them and threatens serious consequences if they continue their disloyal rivalry.

A few days later, a reception is organized to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the Naples branch of the Pasquetti company, attended by the company president, Grand Officer Amilcare Pasquetti. On this occasion, Inspector Matteo Rossi encounters Teresa, Colabona’s wife, with whom he had a past love affair that was abruptly interrupted by the events of the Second World War. Guardalavecchia fears that Colabona is using his wife’s attractiveness to secure the promotion and therefore begins courting the president’s sister, Giulia Pasquetti.

In order to obtain a favorable turn in his modest career by slyly exploiting the considerable influence Mrs. Pasquetti has over her husband, Guardalavecchia—dressed in a seventeenth-century style cloak—sneaks into the garden of the villa where the Pasquettis are staying and stages a dialogue with her as a parody of the famous balcony scene from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. He refers to her as the sure path to promotion, quotes the Neapolitan saying a cuoppo cupo poco pepe capa, and ends the conversation with the incongruous promise: “and so at last you will know how good cheese with pears is!”

The following day, Guardalavecchia invites her to Villa Lolita, a highly disreputable hotel recommended by Cavallo. That same evening, Mario Rossi and Iole also decide to meet at the same hotel to stage a fake romantic encounter and force her parents to accept their relationship. At the same time, Matteo Rossi and Teresa Colabona arrange a clandestine meeting at the same place, again on Cavallo’s advice, while Cavallo himself plans to go there with Adua. Exasperated by the situation and the chaos that ensues, President Pasquetti orders the immediate transfer of both Colabona and Guardalavecchia to Sardinia.

The film ends with an iconic scene: Guardalavecchia and Colabona stand on the deck of the ship taking them to Sardinia, dressed in traditional Sardinian clothing, still arguing and bickering just as they did when they worked side by side in the office.

• Totò: Antonio Guardalavecchia
• Peppino De Filippo: Giuseppe Colabona
• Aroldo Tieri: Matteo Rossi
• Luigi De Filippo: Donato Cavallo
• Alberto Lionello: Mario Rossi
• Alberto Talegalli: The client who complains
• Angela Portaluri: Iole Guardalavecchia
• Mario Castellani: Commendatore Amilcare Pasquetti
• Lia Zoppelli: Giulia Pasquetti
• Jacqueline Pierreux: Teresa
• Luigi Pavese: Cesare Santoro
• Anna Campori: Italia
• Pietro De Vico: The waiter
• Renzo Palmer: Cavicchioni
• Marisa Traversi: Adua
• Enzo Petito: Napoleone

Media related to Chi si ferma è perduto at Wikimedia Commons

• He Who Hesitates Is Lost at IMDb