What Is to Be Done?

Young Betty Pellegrino (Orla Conforti) is a strong-minded 13-year-old, left on her own to deal with life in the poorer districts of an industrialized Turin. Street life alternates with bouts in the reformatory, and Betty's prospects for a decent life seem fairly dim in spite of her consistently ready wit and ability to take whatever life hands out. Then she meets a social worker willing to add Betty to her already heavy case load. Maybe there is some hope after all, as two against the world double Betty's odds.