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Success brings one man's worst impulses to the surface in this drama based on a true story. Marco Baldini (Elio Germano) studied finance at the urging of his family and was expected to pursue a career in the banking industry, but his heart was never in it, and when he was offered a job as an announcer at a radio station in Milan, he jumped at the chance, despite the misgivings of his father (Antonio Buonomo). Baldini soon found himself teamed up with impulsive funnyman Rosario (Corrado Fortuna) on the station's morning show, and to his surprise he quickly becomes one of the nation's most popular on-air personalities. Baldini now has his afternoons and evenings free and an impressive salary, allowing him to indulge his passion for betting on the horses. But Baldini's luck with the ponies isn't very good, and the more he loses, the more he bets; before long, Baldini is no longer capable of covering his gambling debts, and turns to crime in a desperate effort to make up the difference. Il mattino ha l'oro in bocca (aka The Early Bird Catches The Worm) was based on the autobiography of radio personality Marco Baldini, in which he shared the behind-the-scenes story of his rise and fall in broadcasting in the early 1990's.