Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

Lack of good storyline.

hyped garbage

Admirable film.

I see that several reviewers have used the word, "Haunting," in describing this film, as did I. If you allow yourself, "Lili" will speak to you on many, many levels, several you won't recognize right away, and this makes it haunting. There's always something "else" going on that's just beneath the surface. This makes for very rich and profound entertainment. A fairy tale? Perhaps, that too. Consider the topics touched on: alcoholism, rape, infidelity, suicide... this is serious entertainment, couched in sweetness and light. Visually, Lili is a fascinating film to watch. The color, although vivid, is not the overwhelming and oppressive color of an MGM 40's musical which only interferes with the talent. Here the viewer feels as if they are reading an old children's book filled with lovely illustrations.There is multi-layered meaning one would not expect in such a "light" story. But it is intelligent, has depth and is profound, not the least reason is the presence and use of puppets. SPOILERS ALERT! This is done beautifully, as they represent, not only the puppeteers' inner life but the mystical quality of the puppets themselves. The dance between Caron and the puppets "come to life" near the end is magical and moving for precisely these reasons. All the actors are perfectly cast. Do not hesitate to let yourself really enjoy this film fully, completely and deeply. Let your imagination fly. It will be worth it and you'll be surprised what you come up with and don't be surprised if you shed a tear when it's over. And that song! Bravo!

I had never seen Lili before today and I mentioned that to a friend who told me this was Mel Ferrer's greatest film role. I'm happy to report that he was oh so right. The title role however is played by Leslie Caron who with her elfin charm and ability to dance was doing a small dress rehearsal for the much bigger budgeted Gigi.Lili is a French orphan who wanders into Marseilles looking for employment at a bakery owned by a friend of her late father. When that doesn't pan out she's kind of adopted by a passing carnival. She likes magician Jean-Pierre Aumont whose a charming sort, but a brooding and angry puppeteer Mel Ferrer intrigues her.Probably Montgomery Clift would have been perfect casting for the puppeteer, but Mel Ferrer delivers a great performance as a very bitter man. He's got reason to be bitter. An up and coming ballet dancer he was wounded in the late war and now limps. A psychologist could probably better explain how with his puppets he acts out all the various aspects of a complex personality.But Ferrer and his partner Kurt Kaszner hit upon an idea of essentially using Caron as a stooge for the puppets when they see how a crowd of onlookers reacts to them. This is where the song Hi Lili Hi Lo comes in which became a mega hit for the show.Caron's dancing talent is utilized to maximum effectiveness in the final imaginary ballet sequence. It's so well done that one doesn't really notice that Ferrer only appears intermittently and only takes a step or two. The illusion is MGM musical making at its finest.Oddly enough the song Hi Lili Hi Lo got no Academy Award nomination. The film itself earned a few and composer Bronislau Kaper got an Oscar for overall scoring.Zsa Zsa Gabor is in this as well playing Aumont's wife who for the sake of the act keeps the marriage a secret so that love struck girls can imagine themselves with him. A lot of the film is Aumont being charming and fending off Caron's intentions. Gabor finally calls a halt to that. She's playing a part and not just being Zsa Zsa Gabor. She plays it well too.Charming musical numbers, a charming performance by Leslie Caron, and a great bit of acting from Mel Ferrer. Last but not least is that simple catchy song that you can't get out of your head.All great reasons why Lili has held up for over 60 years and great reasons to see it over and over.

This is a cute little movie, and a sweet love story. Leslie Caron is very likable as a naive 16-year-old all alone in the world, who is taken in by a traveling carnival company. Mel Ferrer is the brooding puppeteer who only expresses his true feelings through his alter-ego hand puppets.Acclaimed in its day and still well-loved by many, LILI (1953) nevertheless feels like the obscure film it has become. There are elements of the story that would play best in the minds of children, such as accepting that a 16-year-old would forget that puppets aren't living personalities. (Not to mention any issues of grown men longing after teenage girls.) Personally, it's just not my "style", I suppose. (The puppets are... I don't want to say "creepy", but...) The whole thing is wrapped in a sort of hokey childlike innocence that doesn't really work for my jaded adult mind. It's alright as a curiosity and Caron is great in an early dream sequence (with Zsa Zsa Gabor).

I saw this movie when I was about 20, in one of those tatty cinemas that showed wonderful old movies week after week and I immediately recognised it as from a very favourite story of mine by Paul Gallico - Love of Seven Dolls. I had already read pretty well all of his fiction and this is surely his best. The book is deeply moving and dark as Capitaine Coq, the villain/hero is very abusive to the little waif Mouche who goes along with him because there's nowhere else for her she believes but suicide in the Seine. The movie is far lighter but there are still faint dark echoes. It was the first time I'd seen Leslie Caron, who remained afterwards one of my favourites of women actresses - remember her in Chocolat? After that one viewing, I never saw the movie again until very recently but I had never forgotten it and was astonished that a musical which had been nominated for Oscars could disappear so completely. I still vividly remembered some moments from it, notably the finale of the ballet and the male leads. On first viewing I was entranced by Aumont but now I prefer Mel Ferrer - tastes change! I had missed its one or possibly two showings on TV here that I had noticed - on the last occasion years ago my videorecorder failed to record, big disappointment. But this recent second viewing confirmed my view that this is a truly charming movie.One of my other favourite movies is La Strada and I realised it is also the same story though I don't know if the makers of La Strada took the theme from Gallico's book or it was their own original. However, the elements are the same although dark like the Gallico story - the abusive man and in this case his simple-minded wife and her passing fancy for a flashy other man. Only the endings are really different.I drop this movie by one star to 9 because I wish it had used the original story rather than dumbing it down.