A forgotten classic, Crime of Love is a story about two factory workers living in Northern Italy who form a romantic connection. The woman, torn between the freedoms of the North and her traditional Sicilian values, slowly allows herself to love, then marry, her co-worker. Soon after her wedding, she dies as a result of industrial pollution from her job.

The film gives a good idea of the north-south mentality clash in Italy. The workers from the north and the south may have the same political ideas, but when they go home to their families they are worlds apart. They can't understand each other, even when in love like the Lombard Nullo and the Sicilian Carmela, but they are united by death caused by the ruthless disregard for safety measures of the industry managers and of those (the doctor) that should look after the lives of the workers and not simply appease the interests of the owners.