What really happened on board the Rome-Los Angeles flight in March 1964, which was carrying a substantial group of people to Oscar night? Angelo Rizzoli led the group behind the five nominations for Otto e mezzo: as well as the commander, there were Fellini and Masina, actors, scriptwriters, technicians, organisers and a whole host of human variety aboard the Constellation, flying to Hollywood. But during the New York stopover, a man got off the plane and took a plane back to Rome. That man was Ennio Flaiano: he had worked with Fellini for almost twenty years. After that transatlantic flight, all contact between them ended forever. Why did Flaiano get off that plane and cross the Atlantic again in such a hurry?