A musical fantasy in the perfect tradition of a modern fairy tale, “Rigoletto” is the story of a man named Ribaldi (Joseph Paur) who moves into the town of Castle Gate. The townspeople are suspicious of him for two reasons –first, he’s able to purchase the largest mansion in town, even though it’s the Depression and money is tight. Second, he’s rumored to be a monster. He never leaves his house and it’s said that he’s horribly disfigured.
When eviction notices start to flood the town, it’s suspected that Ribaldi is behind it. He does own the mortgage on the home belonging to Bonnie, a young teenaged girl, and her small family. Her mother, single and trying to support her children herself, can’t find a way to make the payment, but Bonnie (Ivey Lloyd) offers to go work for Mr. Ribaldi until other arrangements can be made. Imagine Bonnie’s surprise to learn that Mr. Ribaldi is a singing teacher – Bonnie has always dreamed of becoming a singer.
As Bonnie comes to know Mr. Ribaldi better, she learns to look past his disfigurement to the real beauty within him. He helps her unlock her own personal beauty as he teaches her to sing, and a strong friendship grows. He even makes friends with the children of the community. But the parents are cruel, taunting him and finally attacking him. As he lays injured from their beating, it is revealed that he has been anonymously doing good deeds for the people of the town, paying for their operations and making their lives better in any way he can.
I’m not going to tell you how the movie ends; I’ll just say that they all live happily ever after.
I really enjoyed this movie and have watched it repeatedly. The music is beautiful, the message touching, and it’s a film you and your whole family can enjoy and learn from together.
This film was not rated.
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