It is small town America in the 1950s. Twelve year-old Angelo Villano has one dream: to someday sing like his idol, Mario Lanza. His grandmother, Mama Theresa encourages him; and his beautiful voice catches the attention of the formidable but kind Father Walsh who arranges for him to receive formal training. This infuriates Angelo's widowed father, Frank, who wants his son to be a steelworker like him. Determined to "make a man out of him", Frank forbids Angelo from singing. When Angelo is chased by bullies into the path of an oncoming car, he recovers all but his voice, retreating into a silent world that no one can touch. One night, locked in the church basement, the frightened Angelo experiences a spectacular vision, a true Christmas miracle, that changes his life. And when his vision and his voice return during Christmas Eve Mass, no one can deny the beauty and blessing of his amazing gift.
The opening scenes showed NYC at night... including the Twin Towers... a sure sign to the viewer that the movie was made in more innocent times. Donald O'Connor played the priest who encouraged "Angelo" to keep singing... But "Father Walsh" was also the boy's closest adult friend, other than his grandmother and dad.
In a separate track on the DVD, one of the producers, Thomas Travers, explained to Mother Angelica (a founder of EWTN), that the movie's idea was conceived back in 1983; and that any movie with religious intent was both risky and difficult to market.
Above, "Angelo" (Ruben Gomez of Menudo) entertained his friends... until the bullies came in. They always made fun of him for singing, instead of playing football.
