Angelo is a blond four-year-old mulatto--a present from an American G.I. to an Italian married woman. The G.I. is killed during the war and the mother dies in childbirth. Matteo, the woman's husband, returns after five years in jail to find himself the negro child's legal father.

Matteo's initial reaction to Angelo is disgust and repulsion; he tries to prove that his wife committed adultery, and that therefore he is not legally responsible for the child. But an old cynical lawyer tells him that before God the mulatto is his equal, and before the law he is his son.

Gradually Matteo's attitude towards the mulatto changes. When he sees the other boys picking on Angelo, he finds himself asking some embarrassing questions. He wonders why this mulatto, who cries like any other white child, is not their equal. Matteo is humbled by Angelo's simple faith in God and in the goodness of man. His initial repulsion becomes pity and--almost--love.

A theme of this type can easily become too moralizing and too artificial, but in this Italian film it doesn't. Don Genna--a friend of Matteo who regards life as one enormous joke--and other humorous relief keep the picture from being just another sermon.

Angelo is most appealing in his simplicity--his innocent tugging at Matteo's pants, his naive washing every five minutes to make himself as light as the other boys. He would not have been so convincing, nor the plot so moving, if the acting and directing had been anything less then magnificent.

The movie closes with three lines affirming its basic philosophy: the injustices of life can reduce a man to despair, but his innate goodness will ultimately raise him again. Despite the obvious handicap of any foreign film which must rely on English subtitles to get across its meaning, "Angelo" is unusual, enjoyable, and provocative.