Hot Potato () is a 1979 Italian-style comedy film directed by Steno. The film stars Renato Pozzetto, Massimo Ranieri, Edwige Fenech, Mario Scarpetta and Clara Colosimo.
The film discusses a range of issues such as homophobia in the political left, Anni di piombo violence, working class culture, and the sustainability of Eurocommunism.
Bernardo Mambelli nicknamed "il Gandi" is a PCI militant and pugilist working at a Milanese paint factory. One night, he sees a fascist gang beating a frail young man. He saves the man and brings him to his house to learn that he is Claudio, a homosexual.
With nowhere to go and recovering from the assault, Claudio starts staying at Bernardo's house but a series of typical misunderstandings lead his comrades as well as his girlfriend Maria to believing that he has "turned gay". Bernardo is now seen as a potential lost cause and the ongoings soon reveal a "hot potato" situation for him.
The film was initially conceived as a segment of a two-part film titled "Fa male mischiare" () directed by Nanni Loy; the two segments were eventually developed into full-length films, the other of them becoming Loy's Café Express.
Author Sergio Rigoletto wrote that it "was a film grounded in a changing political climate that revealed a considerable shift of attitudes within the Italian Left, with the Communist Party finally showing a willingness to engage in a dialogue with homosexual activist groups." Andrea Sangiovanni argues that "despite its sex comedy title, it was in fact the story of the identity crisis of a metalworker due to a chance encounter with a young homosexual man."
Casa del Cinema opined it is "the first Italian comedy film entirely built on a gay situation with any substance and credibility; Giorgio Arlorio intended it to be a slightly more serious film than it turned out, but it's still quite entertaining; Steno doesn't push the situation to its extremes, it's not the right time yet, but seeing the average worker's reactions to diversity isn't bad." The Tribune and the Niagara Falls Review gave it a rating of 2ý stars out of 5.