Dictionary Definition
gigot n : lamb leg suitable for roasting [syn:
leg of
lamb]
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Extensive Definition
Gigot was an American
motion
picture released in 1962 by 20th
Century Fox. It starred Jackie
Gleason and was directed by Gene
Kelly.
Synopsis
Gigot (Gleason) is a mute Frenchman living in the
Montmartre
district of Paris at the turn of
the twentieth century. He makes a hand-to-mouth living as a janitor
at his landlady's apartment building. Though treated with
condescension by most of his neighbors, he is much loved by the
local children and by animals, whom he often feeds. He seems
content with his life, though he has one strange passion: he
attends every local funeral, whether or not he knew the departed,
marching in the funeral march and crying along with the other
mourners.
One rainy evening he is returning home when he
comes across a prostitute named Collette (Katherine
Kath) and her young daughter Nicole(Diane
Gardner) sitting in a doorway trying to keep dry. He lets them
stay at his apartment. Collette is suspicious of Gigot from the
start but young Nicole warms to him right away. One of the highest
points in the movie is the scene wherein Gleason does a stunning
pantomime, Gigot takes Nicole to church only to discover she is
unbaptized and completely ignorant of what a church is and unaware
of God. Young Nicole points to a crucifix and asks Gigot what it
is. Gigot clearly struggling and regretful of his muteness acts out
the story of Christ beginning with Mary cradling the baby Jesus,
His childhood through to the horror of the crucifixion. When Gigot
is through he opens his eyes to see Nicole staring at him with a
single tear on her face. Nicole then turns and blows a kiss to
Christ on the cross. Gigot oftens entertains the little girl,
sometimes by dancing to his old Victrola, and on
another by dressing as a waiter to feed his mouse. He is also very
protective of Nicole, once running alongside her on a
merry-go-round to make sure she doesn't fall off. It is this
protectiveness that leads him to prevent Collette from plying her
trade several minutes later on a park bench near the
merry-go-round. Furious, Collette wants to know what Gigot will do
for money, after all his meager wages won't support the three of
them. Not certain what to do, an opportunity is handed him when he
is at the bakers, to get some broken cookies to feed to the
pigeons. The baker is called away, leaving the till open. Gigot is
very reluctant, but steals from the till. He takes the broken
cookies - and leaves the usual steep payment for them!
With his ill-gotten gains, Gigot, Collette and
Nicole go on a shopping spree, buying much-needed new clothes for
Collette and Nicole and a meal at the local restaurant for all
three. Gigot is even persuaded to get a straw boater. But the good
times are not to last when the baker discovers the theft, and soon
Gigot is a suspect. When Gigot and Nicole go missing (they're only
at his apartment, listening to the Victrola while Gigot dances)
Collette gets distraught. Gigot dances with a little too much gusto
though, the roof in the apartment falls in. Gigot is unhurt, but
Nicole is unconscious. Frightened, he takes the girl to a doctor.
Thinking the Victrola may help, he goes back to retrieve it and
runs staright into an angry mob. (He needn't have worried: Nicole
is not seriously hurt.) The mob chases Gigot to what looks like an
old mine near the river, Gigot falls into the river and does not
resurface. The locals think Gigot is dead, and organise a funeral
for him. Gigot is not dead, merely resurfaced upstream. He sees the
funeral march and as always follows, though he keeps a distance.
When the time comes for the eulogy, he realizes it is he they're
holding the service for, and is moved by what may be their false
sentiments. Suddenly, one of the mourners sees Gigot, and the chase
starts again.
Background
Gleason had conceived the story himself years
earlier and had long dreamed of making the film. He wanted Orson Welles
as director, and though Welles was an old friend, the board at Fox
rejected him as being an overspender. Gene Kelly was selected as a
compromise.
The film was shot on location in Paris. Most of
the production crew and cast were French, some spoke no English.
Gleason bore with this in two ways: Kelly spoke French, and
Gleason's character had no lines, being mute.
Gleason was extremely proud of the film, which
earned one Academy
Award nomination for Best Adapted Score. Gleason received a
story credit and a music credit. On the other hand, according to
the book The Films of Gene Kelly by Tony Thomas, Kelly himself said
that the movie "had been so drastically cut and reedited that it
had little to do with my version."
The term "gigot" means "leg of mutton" in French.
This presumably refers to Gigot's muteness.