With no money and a wife and two children to support, he is desperate for work. The film tells the story of Antonio Ricci, an unemployed man in the depressed post-World War II economy of Italy. But Antonio views the bicycle as his and his family's means of survival, so he jumps on any clue to locate the bicycle and/or the thief-whom he actually saw-and perhaps take desperate measures in these desperate times. When the police tell him that they can only keep the bicycle's serial number on file in case it does show up, Antonio, with his friends and his older son, adolescent Bruno, by his side, go on what seems like a futile mission to locate the bicycle, which could now be anywhere in Rome. On Antonio's first working day, his bicycle is stolen as he is on his ladder hanging a poster. At some sacrifice, he and Maria sell some of their possessions so that Antonio can get his bicycle out of hock they believe it's worth the sacrifice, as the return in employment salary and overtime far excesses the initial capital outlay in getting the bicycle back. He did own one, but he pawned it to put food on the table for himself, his wife Maria, and their two young children. A bicycle is a requirement for the job, and he tells a white lie that he owns one. This morning he is told that he has a job starting the next day: hanging posters around the city. Maths Jesperson Ricci is only one of several men who regularly stand outside his local municipal employment office in Rome every morning hoping that work, doled out on a qualification basis, is available. Driven into utter despair Antonio and Bruno walk back home-back to unemployment. A local policeman believes Antonio's story about the theft, but as he cannot find the stolen bike in the apartment, the case is dismissed. The third time Antonio happens to see the thief, he succeeds to pursue him to his dwelling-place. As he cannot catch the thief, he instead pursues the old man, who goes into a church and disappears during the Mass. The search is unsuccessful, but Antonio and his son Bruno continue to the market at Porta Portese, where Antonio happens to see the thief talking to an elderly man. A friend offers to help him search for it the next morning at Piazza Vittorio, where street vendors sell stolen bikes. The first day at work Antonio's bicycle is stolen. At the moment his bicycle is at the pawnshop, but Antonio's wife Maria says they can pawn their six sheets instead. There is one condition: he must have his own bicycle. After two jobless years, Antonio Ricci is finally offered a job as a poster-hanger. The unemployment rate is high in postwar Italy.

Cycle thief