The actors in the film were all amateurs. Vittorio De Sica decided not to use professionals.
The one poster Ricci is putting up that we see in detail features Rita Hayworth in Gilda (1946).
Vittorio De Sica claimed he selected the actors for the characters of both Bruno and Antonio because of their walks.
There's a scene later in the movie where Bruno is nearly run over twice while crossing the street. This was absolutely unrehearsed - it was filmed on location and the two cars happened to pass by at that time.
Lead actor Lamberto Maggiorani really did struggle for work after this film was completed.
The film is frequently on critics' and directors' lists of the best films ever made. It was given an Academy Honorary Award in 1950, and, just four years after its release, was deemed the greatest film of all time by the magazine Sight & Sound's poll of filmmakers and critics in 1952. The film placed sixth as the greatest ever made in the latest directors poll, conducted in 2002.