João Barbela is poor man who lives out of charity - what coins the people of Lisbon's popular districts give him as 'pay' for his puppeteering work. For the kids, he is like a king, Dom Roberto = puppet). When he meets Maria, an equally poor girl, he fancies to change her life, and get her a house, maybe marrying, and being happy together.Life does not exactly have a happy ending, like he managed with his puppets 5-minute plays...
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