sciurus: The title means "Bicycle Thieves". The U.S. distributor changed the title to singular form.

Icicle Thief (Soap Thieves)

Popsicle Thief

it's plural, literally it's "thieves of bicycles", the English language translation has been changed recently

Thank you Smart Dalek and matteo!

No thank you to my Italian neo-realism professor!

That's interesting ...it actually changes the meaning of the title quite a bit, and thus has an impact on the overall effect of the film. It becomes not about one thief, but about a world of theives.

...which is one of the most brilliant, moving, heartrending, amazing works of art I've ever seen.

Almost forgot: Tricycle Thief.

by the way a not very widely known anecdote is this. De Sica's inspiration for the film came from a sad memory from his own childhood. De Sica's father was a very dapper, elegant (just like the director himself) man: he found himself in financial trouble, unable to pay some creditors. Among those creditors was his tailor, who once showed up unannounced at dinnertime at the De Sicas, interrupting dinner and yelling and insulting and threating De Sica's father in front of little, terrified Vittorio.

That moment remained in De Sica's memory -- the humiliation of a father in front of his own child, and the father's determination to do anything necessary -- even steal -- not to let down one's own family again.

It was the little spark that many years later started one of the greatest films of all time.

and of course, speaking of De Sica and children, this film comes to mind, too