The Wool Cap is a 2004 American television drama 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 City apartment 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.
The film, a co-production of Viacom Productions and 20th Century Fox Television, was shot in Atlanta, Georgia and Montréal, Québec, Canada. It stars Macy as Charlie and Keke Palmer as Lou, with Don Rickles, Ned Beatty, Cherise Boothe, Julito McCullum, and Catherine O'Hara in supporting roles. It premiered on TNT on November 21, 2004.
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.