- published: 09 Feb 2014
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Gigot is an American motion picture; it was released in 1962 by 20th Century Fox. The film starred Jackie Gleason and was directed by Gene Kelly.
Gigot (Gleason) is a mute Frenchman living in a cellar in the Ménilmontant district of Paris in the 1920s. He ekes out a hand-to-mouth existence as a lowly janitor at his landlady's apartment building. He is routinely treated with condescension by most of his neighbors and often is made the butt of practical jokes. However, he is a most decent and kindhearted fellow, traits not unnoticed by children and the local animals he often feeds. He is accepting of his humble existence, but has one unusual predilection: he is attracted by funeral processions, and finds himself attending, whether or not he ever knew the departed. He marches straight through to the grave site and can't help but cry along with all the other mourners.
One evening after being extraordinarily abused by some locals at a nearby pub, he is meandering toward home in the rain. He chances upon a weakened and fearful street urchin Collette (Katherine Kath) and her 6-yr old daughter Nicole (Diane Gardner), huddled in a doorway trying to stay dry. Unaware and uncaring as to whom or what he might have encountered, he takes them to his dingy basement abode where he dries and warms them, gives them what food and drink he has, a bed to sleep in, and shelter from the rain. Collette is suspicious of Gigot but so exhausted and ill, she reluctantly and in-graciously accepts what she senses are likely his innocent tidings. Nicole, now rested and with the vitality of youth, begins to warm to him while mother convalesces.