Lili (1953)

Director:

Charles Walters

Writers:

Paul Gallico (story)
Helen Deutsch (screenplay)

Release Date:

21 September 1953 (Sweden)

Genre:

Drama | Musical | Romance

Tagline:

You'll fall in love with...

Plot:

Members of a circus troupe "adopt" Lili Daurier when she finds herself stranded in a strange town. The...

Plot Keywords:

Puppet | Carnival | Circus | Puppeteer | Singing

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 5 wins & 8 nominations

Cast

Leslie Caron	...	Lili Daurier
Mel Ferrer	...	Paul Berthalet
Jean-Pierre Aumont	...	Marc (as Jean Pierre Aumont)
Zsa Zsa Gabor	...	Rosalie
Kurt Kasznar	...	Jacquot
Amanda Blake	...	Peach Lips (red-haired dame)
Alex Gerry	...	Store proprietor
Ralph Dumke	...	M. Corvier (cabaret and restaurant manager)
Wilton Graff	...	M. Tonit (theatre agent)
George Baxter	...	M. Enrique (theatre agent)

Runtime:

81 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

USA:G (re-rating) (1973) | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Chile:TE | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | USA:Approved (PCA #15985)

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

The earliest known appearance of the "smiley" emoticon, :-), was in an ad for this film in the New York Herald Tribune on 10 March 1953, page 20, columns 4-6. The film opened nationwide, and this ad possibly ran in many newspapers. It read: Today You'll laugh :-) You'll cry :-( You'll love <3 'Lili'" This should not be confused with the graphical yellow "smiley face", which was first drawn by Harvey Ball some 10 years later.

Quotes:

Jacquot: What the devil is the matter with you? You're in love with the girl and she's in love with someone else. This sort of thing happens all the time; people don't *die* of love. You'll recover... But meanwhile can't you be civilized about it?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Pulp Fiction (1994)

Soundtrack:

Hi-Lili, Hi-Lo

A charming, fairy tale type movie

I was directed to pick up "something light" and happily decided on this. I needed something that might please a four year old who loves dance as well as her mother and grandmother who are from France.

The story is set somewhere in France and has a simple fairy tale flavor to it. The movie was released in 1953 when Leslie Caron was about 22 and could look the 16 years old required.

It tells the coming of age of an adolescent orphan girl who gets involved with a carnival, her infatuation with a magician who is a ladies man, and her involvement with a puppeteer (Mel Ferrer).

An interacting subplot involves the puppeteer. As a dancer, he was a rising star before being wounded in WW II. Unable to continue dancing because of the injury, he turned to puppetry in a traveling carnival. As a person, he's somewhat bitter and angry at his loss; through his puppets, he can be empathic and tender. Can or will he also change and mature?

The orphan girl ends up being part of his puppet show, interacting with the characters very much in the way Shari Lewis was to later interact with Lamb Chop, Charlie Horse, and Hush Puppy. (I thought at first the movie borrowed from Shari Lewis's TV show but found it may be the reverse since Shari didn't start her act until after this movie.) Leslie Caron is nicely naive and believable in the role. There are some nice dream/dance scenes which a 4 year old doesn't understand but which those twice her age or older probably would.

I've not seen "Carnival" so I can't be disappointed that this movie lacked its music or plot. "Lili" stands quite well on its own very nicely as a charming fairy tale. There's just a little suggestion of sexual awakening, the coming of age involves more the capacity to see who can invest or commit. Kind of a refreshing change that it could deal with an important issue and not have to bring in a lot of lust or passion.