The Wool Cap is a 2004 American televisiondrama film directed by Steven Schachter, who wrote the teleplay with William H. Macy. It is an updated and Americanized version of the 1962 film Gigot starring Jackie Gleason, who wrote the original story. In the film, Charlie Gigot, a mute and alcoholic superintendent of a dilapidated New York Cityapartment building becomes the unwilling parent figure for Lou, a young girl temporarily left in his care by a woman who fails to return for her. The two and Gigot's pet monkey struggle to make it through the winter in his ramshackle basement apartment while he tries to find someone willing to take her in.
Fox owns the international ancillary rights, while North American ancillary rights are now in the hands of CBS Television Studios. Paramount Pictures handles video distribution for the CBS library, though this particular program was released on DVD before the Viacom/CBS split.
Plot
In New York City, Charles Gigot is an alcoholic, disgruntled hearing-mute and superintendent of an apartment building with eccentric tenants. One day, he meets Lou, a young girl who lives with her mother Arlene and her boyfriend, Bernard. When Gigot suspects that their apartment may have been broken into, he investigates, only to encounter two thugs looking for the couple. His presence creates a diversion that allows Lou, who had been in hiding, to escape to the basement with her mother. Despite Gigot's protestations, Arlene leaves Lou in Gigot's care for an indefinite time while she sorts things out with Bernard.
Annoyed at having his solitude compromised, Gigot attempts to ignore Lou completely, but her brash and back-talking attitude makes her unbearable. Lou is equally uncomfortable with Gigot's spartan style of living – he has no food in the apartment, drinks frequently, and is emotionally distant. In fact, his only friends seem to be his pet monkey, Grace, and Gloria, a middle-aged prostitute. Wanting to find a relative with whom Lou can live, he learns from the apartment's lease that Lou has an aunt named Cheryl who lives in Philadelphia. They travel via bus to Cheryl's house, but Gigot is unsuccessful in convincing her to take Lou, learning that Arlene and Cheryl hate one another and that Cheryl does not consider Lou a relative. Realizing that finding Arlene is the only solution to the dilemma, Gigot and Lou research one of her contacts, who sends them to an apartment building in the city. Gigot goes in alone and discovers that the place is a crack house and that Arlene has become a drug addict. Seeing a dead-end, Gigot's only option is to return home with Lou. Things become even more complicated, however, when he is robbed at a diner and is forced to perform a sideshow featuring Grace and Lou to raise enough money for the bus tickets.
During this course of events, Gigot and Lou bond and she comes to live with him permanently. Lou's influence causes Gigot to stop drinking and to help her with her education (he realizes that she is almost illiterate and two years older than the rest of her class). They develop a father-daughter relationship, with Lou helping Gigot grieve when local thugs poison Grace in an act of revenge for Gigot disposing of drugs belonging to one of their members. Eventually, policemen visit the apartment building and inform Gigot that Arlene died from an overdose. He attempts to shield Lou from the truth, but is forced to tell her while on a trip to a theme park. Her grief prompts Gigot to seek out a friend named Clarence who served with him in Vietnam and has since become a foster parent for multiple children without homes. Clarence and his wife, Bess, however, announce that they are retired, leaving Gigot with no other choice but to become a foster parent himself after Child Protective Services arrives to claim Lou. The process comes to a halt, however, when Gigot's jail-time prevents him from being a candidate and a proposal of marriage to Gloria is refused. At this point, Gigot's only chance is his parents, whom he hasn't seen in 28 years. Hoping that they will officially adopt Lou so that he may take care of her, Gigot pays them a visit and is shocked to learn that his mother died years ago and his father has since remarried. During an argument, it is revealed that Gigot's downward spiral into alcoholism and virtual isolation were a result of post-traumatic stress from his time in Vietnam. The titular wool cap, which he wears throughout the film, belonged to his younger sister who died in a car accident while Gigot was at the wheel, drunk and high. Hurt by Gigot's indifference throughout the years, his father rejects him and his request to adopt Lou.
Meanwhile, being a foster child is hard on Lou, who falls into a life of waywardness. She is eventually arrested for shoplifting and put into juvenile hall where she refuses to see Gigot, having given up hope on ever finding a home. Depressed and utterly forlorn, Gigot attempts to start afresh on Christmas Day by letting go of the past (symbolized by throwing his sister's wool cap into a river) and visiting a church, where he breaks down crying. On coming home, he finds his stepmother and father waiting for him at the apartment building. After a brief hesitation, Gigot and his father embrace, a sign that they will begin to repair their relationship. Later that evening, Gigot visits Lou at juvenile hall and introduces her to his father. Using sign language, he tells her that he would like to adopt her. In a subtle imitation of Gigot, she becomes speechless and wordlessly accepts.
The film jumps forward a year. It is winter again and Gigot has since become the manager of his father's business. He goes to pick up Lou from school where she has become an excellent student. The two are seen driving off together and laughing, happy to have found one another.
Danny Strong is an American actor, film and television writer, director, and producer. As an actor, Strong is best known for his roles as Jonathan Levinson in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Doyle McMaster in Gilmore Girls. He also wrote the screenplays for Recount, the HBO adaptation Game Change, Lee Daniels' The Butler, and co-wrote the two-part finale of The Hunger Games film trilogy, Mockingjay – Part 1 and Mockingjay – Part 2. Strong also is a co-creator, executive producer, director, and writer for the Fox series Empire and created, wrote and directed the award-winning Hulu miniseries Dopesick.
Louis Cameron Gossett Jr. is an American actor. Born in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City, he had his stage debut at the age of 17, in a school production of You Can't Take It with You. Shortly after he successfully auditioned for the Broadway play Take a Giant Step. Gossett would go on acting on stage. One of these plays was A Raisin in the Sun in 1959, and in 1961 he made his debut on screen in its film adaptation. From thereon, Gossett added to his resume many roles in films and television, as well as releasing music. In 1977, Gossett gained wide recognition for his role of Fiddler in the popular miniseries Roots for which he won "Outstanding Lead Actor for a Single Appearance in a Drama or Comedy Series" at the Emmy Awards.
Colleen Rose Dewhurst was a Canadian-American actress mostly known for theatre roles. She was a renowned interpreter of the works of Eugene O'Neill on the stage, and her career also encompassed film, early dramas on live television, and performances in Joseph Papp's New York Shakespeare Festival. One of her last roles was playing Marilla Cuthbert in the Kevin Sullivan television adaptations of the Anne of Green Gables series and her reprisal of the role in the subsequent TV series Road to Avonlea. In the United States, Dewhurst won two Tony Awards and four Emmy Awards for her stage and television work. In addition to other Canadian honors over the years, Dewhurst won two Gemini Awards for her portrayal of Marilla Cuthbert; once in 1986 and again in 1988. It is arguably her best known role because of the Kevin Sullivan produced series’ continuing popularity and also the initial co-production by the CBC; allowing for rebroadcasts over the years on it, and also on PBS in the United States. The initial broadcast alone was seen by millions of viewers.
Rescue Me is an American comedy-drama television series that aired on FX from July 21, 2004, to September 7, 2011. The series focuses on the professional and personal lives of a group of New York City firefighters.
S. Epatha Merkerson is an American actress. She has received accolades for her work, including an Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, four NAACP Image Awards, two Obie Awards, and two Tony Award nominations. She is known for her portrayal of Lieutenant Anita Van Buren on the NBC police procedural drama series Law & Order, a role she played from 1993 to 2010, appearing in 388 episodes of the series. She is also known for playing Reba the Mail Lady on Pee-wee's Playhouse and Sharon Goodwin in the NBC medical drama Chicago Med since the series premiered in November 2015
Frances Hardman Conroy is an American actress. She is best known for playing Ruth Fisher on the television series Six Feet Under (2001–2005), for which she won a Golden Globe and three Screen Actors Guild Awards, and received four Primetime Emmy Awards nominations for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. She is also known for playing the older version of Moira O'Hara in season one of the television anthology series American Horror Story, which garnered Conroy her first Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress on Television nomination, and as well a Primetime Emmy Awards nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie. Conroy subsequently portrayed The Angel of Death, Myrtle Snow, Gloria Mott, Mama Polk, Bebe Babbitt, and Belle Noir on seven further seasons of the show: Asylum, Coven, Freak Show, Roanoke, Cult, Apocalypse, and Double Feature, respectively. Conroy is the fourth actor who has appeared in most seasons of the show. For her performance in Coven, she was nominated again for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie.
Richard Dale Jenkins is an American actor who is well known for his portrayal of deceased patriarch Nathaniel Fisher on the HBO funeral drama series Six Feet Under (2001–2005). He began his career in theater at the Trinity Repertory Company and made his film debut in 1974. He has worked steadily in film and television since the 1980s, mostly in supporting roles. His eclectic body of work includes such films as The Witches of Eastwick (1987), Little Nikita (1988), Flirting with Disaster (1996), Snow Falling on Cedars (1999), The Mudge Boy (2003), Burn After Reading (2008), Step Brothers (2008), Let Me In (2010), Jack Reacher (2012), The Cabin in the Woods (2012), Bone Tomahawk (2015), The Last Shift (2020), The Humans (2021), and Nightmare Alley (2021).
Door to Door is a 2002 American television drama film about Bill Porter, an inspiring and successful door-to-door salesman with cerebral palsy. The film stars William H. Macy, who plays Porter, and also features Helen Mirren, Kyra Sedgwick, Michael Shanks, and Kathy Baker. Door to Door, directed by Steven Schachter, was produced for the TNT cable network. It was nominated for twelve and won six Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Made for Television Movie and Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie. It also won a Peabody Award. It premiered on TNT on July 14, 2002.
Lauren Keyana "Keke" Palmer is an American actress, singer and television personality. Known for playing leading and character roles in comedy and drama productions, she has received several accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award, five NAACP Image Awards, and nominations for a Daytime Emmy Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award. Time magazine included her on their list of most influential people in the world in 2019.
The Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series is an award given by the Screen Actors Guild to honor the finest acting achievements in Miniseries or Television Movie.
My House in Umbria is a 2003 American made-for-television drama mystery film, based on the 1991 novella of the same name by William Trevor and published along with another novella in the volume Two Lives. The film stars Maggie Smith and Chris Cooper, and was directed by Richard Loncraine.
A Woman Called Golda is a 1982 American made-for-television film biopic of Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir directed by Alan Gibson and starring Ingrid Bergman. It also features Ned Beatty, Franklin Cover, Judy Davis, Anne Jackson, Robert Loggia, Leonard Nimoy, and Jack Thompson.
The Last of the Blonde Bombshells is a 2000 British-American television film directed by Gillies MacKinnon. The script by Alan Plater focuses on the efforts of a recently widowed woman to re-unite the members of the World War II-era swing band with which she played saxophone. It features Carry On actress Joan Sims in her final acting performance before her death in 2001, and Romola Garai in her first professional role. The film was a joint project of BBC Films and HBO. It premiered in the US on 26 August, and in the UK on 3 September.
The Starter Wife is a 2007 USA Network television miniseries, based on the 2006 novel of the same name by Gigi Levangie Grazer. Its title is derived from the concept of a starter marriage. Filmed over four months in Queensland, Australia, the plot focuses on Molly Kagan who, after years of marriage to a Hollywood film mogul, is forced to redefine herself and her role in society when her husband leaves her for a younger woman.
Steven Schachter is an American television, theatre, and film director and screenwriter.
Bernard and Doris is a 2006 film directed by Bob Balaban. The teleplay by Hugh Costello is a semi-fictionalized account of the relationship that developed between socialite heiress and philanthropist Doris Duke and her self-destructive Irish butler Bernard Lafferty later in her life.
The 31st Primetime Emmy Awards were held on Sunday, September 9, 1979. The ceremony was broadcast on ABC. It was hosted by Henry Winkler and Cheryl Ladd. This ceremony is remembered for problems with the Pasadena Civic Auditorium's air-conditioning.
Page Eight is a 2011 British political thriller, written and directed for the BBC by the British dramatist David Hare, his first film as director since the 1989 film Strapless. The cast includes Bill Nighy, Rachel Weisz, Michael Gambon, Tom Hughes, Ralph Fiennes, and Judy Davis. The film was followed by Turks & Caicos (2014) and Salting the Battlefield (2014), which were broadcast on BBC Two in March 2014. The three films are collectively known as The Worricker Trilogy.
Suzanne "Crazy Eyes" Warren is a fictional character played by Uzo Aduba on the Netflix series Orange Is the New Black. Warren is portrayed as intelligent, but lacking in social skills, and prone to spiral into emotional outbursts and delusions when agitated due to mental illness. She is a recurring character in season one and a regular character beginning with season two.
The Triple Crown of Acting is a term used in the American entertainment industry to describe actors who have won a competitive Academy Award, Emmy Award, and Tony Award in the acting categories, the highest awards recognized in American film, television, and theater, respectively. The term is related to other competitive areas, such as the Triple Crown of horse racing.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
