Jean Gabin plays another of his "doomed by fate" protagonists in the Italian His Last 12 Hours. Written by Cesar Zavattini, the film is essentially a fantasy, all about the spiritual regeneration of ruthless industrialist Carlo Bacchi (Gabin). Killed in a traffic accident, Bacchi is given a 12-hour Heavenly reprieve to return to Earth and make up for his previous selfish behavior. During those last 12 hours, Bacchi is obliged to bring happiness to a loser named Santini (Jean Carette), whom he has never even met. As it turns out, the sourpuss Santini has hardly been a "saint" himself, so Bacchi really has his work cut out for him.