A poignant comedy about a mute who befriends Nicole, the little daughter of a prostitute. Gleason shows his considerable talents as an actor without uttering a sound as he plays the bumbling, kind-hearted janitor, Gigot. Gleason wrote the original story and music for this film.
Acting
Gleason's full-body performance—no voice, total mastery.
Score
Gleason composed the melancholy jazz himself.
Direction
Gene Kelly restrains his usual razzle-dazzle beautifully.
Director
Gene Kelly
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Gleason was so devastated by the film's commercial failure that he bought back the rights and refused to let it air on TV for decades.
This bombed against the French New Wave's cool irony—Gleason's sincerity was already old-fashioned by 1962.
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