FRIDAY MOVIE SUGGESTION NIGHT PRESENTS: "GIGOT"!

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There is no way for me to fully prepare you for the film you are about to see. It has been largely forgotten by 21st Century audiences. So, given the brutal nature of the entertainment industry today and stories of broken lives, this is my answer to the network garbage on TMZ and the public's unending fascination over Paris Hilton and Britney Spears. This film is the other side of life and I've decided that it's time for people to start remembering what real love is, what it means to see compassion on the big screen, and how a real story is written. Furthermore, if ever there was a movie filmed to bring HOPE to a world that desperately needs it now more than ever, this is the film to watch!

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On the day Jackie Gleason died, it was revealed that GIGOT was the pride of his life; it was the most favorite film he had ever acted in. This is NOT the Jackie Gleason many of you are familiar with. It IS in fact, the man beneath the surface of the last CBS "60 Minutes" interview with Jackie Gleason shortly before his death. And aside from re-runs of "The Honeymooners" and the notorious stories of Gleason as a hard-living, womanizer on Miami Beach, this film reveals the living core of the complicated Actor, Director, Dancer, Writer, Comedian and Producer who truly earned the title of "The Great One". In 1962, Jackie Gleason and co-writer John Patrick ("Teahouse of the August Moon"), A.J. Russell and Frank Tashlin had finished a script that Jackie had hoped his friend Orson Welles would direct and Paddy Chayefsky would pen. However, 20th Century Fox (and many others) virtually blacklisted Welles as an over-blown talent who would potentially delay and outstrip the budget. For his part, Chayefsky (who later wrote the film "Network") was simply not interested. In a surprise move, Actor/Dancer Gene Kelley was recruited to direct and filming commenced in Paris, France. The result was a Masterpiece of Cinema. Briefly...

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Gigot is the story of a mute Frenchman leading a hand-to-mouth existence as a janitor of an apartment building in the Montmartre district of Paris in the 1920's. He is the target of emotional and physical abuse by main stream society. However, he is beloved by the local children and by animals, whom he feeds often. His dismal existence is unexpectedly transformed one evening when he returns home to find a prostitute named Collette (Katherine Kath) and her young daughter Nicole (Diane Gardner) sitting in his doorway trying to keep dry from the rain. Gigot lets them in to his apartment and befriends the pair. Collette is very suspicious of Gigot, however her young daughter warms to him immediately. Over time, Collette subjects Gigot to cruelty and rejection. The film's ending will shock you!

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NOT TO BE MISSED: The scene where Gleason delivers a stunning pantomime inside a church with Nicole present in a difficult struggle to answer her question about the story of Christ. This is THE most demanding acting scene I have personally witnessed and it should be shown in Master Class level of Acting. The Cast: Jackie Gleason is Gigot; Katherine Kath is Collette; Gabrielle Dorziat is Madame Brigitte; Jean Lefebvre is Gaston; Jacques Marin is Jean; Albert Rémy is Alphonse; Yvonne Constant is Lucille Duval; Germaine Delbat is Madame Greuze; Albert Dinan is the Bistro proprietor; Diane Gardner is Nicole; Franck Villard is Pierre; Camille Guérini is the Priest; René Havard is Albert; Louis Falavigna is Monsieur Duval; Jean Michaud is Gendarme; Richard Francoeur is the Baker; Paula Dehelly is the Baker's wife and Jack Ary is Blade. I have waited for the right time to suggest this film. Two years have passed and now is the hour.

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THIS ONE IS SPECIAL!
ENJOY!