Customer Reviews

Lili [VHS]

5 star:		(40)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

"Lili" is one of the most magical and enchanting films ever. It is a small film - not lavish and overblown - but a production that grabs your heart from the very beginning. Leslie Caron has never been better and richly deserved the Academy Award nomination (and should have won). Her scenes with the wonderful puppets (some of the best uses of puppetry in films) are completely enchanting. Mel Ferrer, Jean Pierre Aumont, Kurt Kasner and, surprisingly, Zsa Zsa Gabor couldn't be better. The excellent ballet sequence at the end of the film in which the puppets turn into the puppeteer each time Lili dances with them, showing her that the person behind the characters she has come to love is her real love, is a perfect resolution for the story. "Lili" was the basis for an equally wonderful Broadway musical, "Carnival". This is a film that can be viewed over and over and never lose it's charm and magic.

How hard can it be to find a film with elements of homelessness, unemployment, despair, suicidal thoughts, thievery, feigned affection, disability and self-pity? Not very hard you say. But in a G-rated film barely eighty minutes long?

Still unavailable on DVD format, "Lili" (1953), is available only as a rare "Video Compact Disc" (VCD) which compresses movies onto (at least two) CD-sized disks; i.e., a CD which contains moving pictures and sound. By using an MPEG compression standard, VCDs can hold up to 700 Mb (eighty minutes) of full-motion video and quality stereo sound and can be played on almost all standalone DVD players and PCs. VCD quality is similar to that of VHS tapes.

VCD not withstanding, and barely a decade after "The Wizard of Oz," MGM still made the industry's best-looking films. The sets, costumes and color of "Lili" are outstanding. And at least two things in the film suggest that 1939 classic -- a puppet named "Golo" who resembles Burt Lahr's "Cowardly Lion," and a surreal, yellowish road on which Lili eventually seeks something better.

We first meet Lili (Leslie Caron), an orphaned teenager, at a bakery where a friend of her late father had promised her a job. But he too has died. Homeless and unemployed, she falls in with some traveling circus performers whose act causes her inattentiveness which immediately costs her the job she does get.

Deflated, she climbs a trapeze ladder but is thwarted by the high-pitched voice of "Carrot Top," one of four puppets manned by Paul Berthalet (Mel Ferrer). Paul is overtly bitter that his limp has reduced him from a once-famous dancer to a puppeteer on a French midway. He is particularly aloof towards Lili, except during his puppets' "conversations" with her, planned spontaneities which have become growing nightly attractions at the circus. Through these improvisations with her savior Carrot Top plus a foxy kleptomaniac named Reynardo, a cowardly giant called Golo and the pulchritudinous ballerina, "Margurite," she and Paul can communicate their true feelings as well as introduce the hit song, `Hi-Lili, Hi-Lo" (Best Score Oscar).

Sparring regularly with Paul, "the angry man," she is genuinely hurt when she learns that Marc (Jean-Paul Aumont), a vain womanizing magician, is married to Rosalie, his assistant (Gabor). Marc delights in flaunting Lili's childlike advances, warning her "never come on to a man like that." Marc is either a true heel or is perhaps too absorbed in himself to realize that Lili genuinely loves him.

Although not a musical, the film does contain two wistful ballet dream sequences which showcase Caron's considerable dancing talent. It is thru these musings that she begins to mature as a woman.

When Lili learns that Marc and Rosalie are married and plan to leave the show, she tries to escape until she is joined in her second dream sequence by human versions of the puppets she adores, each of whom becomes Paul as they dance divinely. After all, Marc had recently declared to her, "I am the puppets."

Predictably, it is indeed Paul, the talented but crippled war hero, who is the better choice for Lili who learns for herself, as did Dorothy Gale, that growth can be a painful but ultimately fulfilling journey.

"Lili" ranks with "2001: A Space Odyssey" and "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" as one of the three finest motion pictures ever filmed. Its captivating song, "Hi-Lili, Hi-Lo," ranks with "Over the Rainbow," "When You Wish Upon a Star," "You'll Never Know," and "It's a Grand Night for Singing" as one of the five best original movie songs. Its climactic dream-ballet sequence, in which Lili dances with life-sized versions of four puppets, is rivaled only by the "Out of My Dreams" dream-ballet sequence of "Oklahoma." And no actress has ever been more adorable and endearing--or capable--than Leslie Caron is in this movie.

Not really a musical, Lili is best described as a romantic fable or sophisticated fairy tale. It tells the story of a naive 16-year-old orphan who joins a carnival. There she brings success to a lame puppeteer (Mel Ferrer) by interacting with his four puppets. Her ingenuousness leads her to regard the puppets as real persons. Ferrer, though outwardly bitter about the war injury that ruined his career as an acclaimed dancer, shows flashes of inner kindness and humanity: he uses his puppets at one point to infuse joy into a despondent Lili, and he smiles when she isn't looking. Soon he falls in love with Lili. But she can't recognize as Ferrer's the tenderness that is revealed only in the puppets. Repelled by the overt rudeness of "the angry man," Lili becomes infatuated with the carnival's magician, a ladies' man. When she eventually learns the magician is married, Lili's eyes open. But the puppeteer's jealousy still clouds her vision. She decides to leave the carnival. Her departure precipitates the dream sequence. Here, dancing with the four puppets she has grown to love, she slowly realizes that each character represents a facet of the puppeteer's personality. Gola the giant, for example, is frightened by girls, so he tries to frighten them; but he is actually cowardly, clumsy, longing to be loved. Lili's belated recognition that Gola and the others are really Ferrer brings the story to its heartwarming conclusion.

This imaginative movie is more than a classic. It is pure enchantment. Make it your top priority.

Just to set the record straight on the source of this magnificent film. It is NOT based on the book "Love for Seven Dolls". The book was written and published a few years AFTER the film came out. It is based on a short story by Paul Gallico titled "The 7 Souls of Clement O"Rielly" that was published in the Saturday Evening Post. In it the story is of a girl on a TV show acting with puppets who is going to leave, then realizes her love for the puppets is actually for the puppeteer.

It was a sort of take on the wonderful "Kukla, Fran and Ollie" program, but there was never a romance beteen Burr Tillstrom and Fran Allison. In fact, the book, "Love for 7 Dolls" is dedicated to Burr Tillstrom (the puppeteer for Kukla) and Fran Allison. So it is obvious Mr. Gallico is acknowledging the inspiration for the stories to the TV show.

I watched this movie with no expectations. I had no idea what it was about and only knew that it got a few Oscar nominations the year it came out. As the movie unfolded, I didn't see much to interest me but I stuck with it. This young lady who recently lost her father, came to a distant town to look up one of his old friends. Maybe he could offer her a job. Unfortunately he, too, had recently passed away. She ends up with a group of circus preformers who take her under their wing. She falls for the magician and I was still unimpressed midway through the movie. However, she gets involved with the puppet show (and, ultimately, one of the puppeteers). Their act and her interchange with them gets to be quite compelling. There is a one-sided love interest that develops which dovetails with the puppet act. That may sound strange but the point is that this is all skillfully put together. The movie culminates in an extended fantastical lyrical dance that just blew me away. I'm no expert on the terpsichoreal arts but I know when it reaches out and touches my emotions. The costumes, the set, the choreography, and especially the dancers all told the story of a relationship discovering itself. The ending was a forgone conclusion as the dance fantasy fades back into reality. Essentially the last third or fourth of the movie was such an artistic achievement that I give the whole film a blanket 5 star rating.

I like checking out older movies especially on channels like TCM. It has been my experience that I am more apt to discover a great movie by looking back than by looking forward. They still make great movies these days; just not that often anymore. There are a lot of classics from the past just waiting to be rediscovered. "Lili" was a reminder of that for me.

Lili is a really enchanting musical fantasy.People often forget it is just that-a fantasy.It is beautifully and sensitively acted by Leslie Caron and Mel Ferrer.I fell in love with Mel Ferrer just like many others seem to have done.No wonder-he was a good man and actor. This movie seems to protray many deeper emotions and feelings than most musicals do.It reminds me of Green Mansions(starring Audrey Hepburn),but I definately would never call it "creepy"

I have never seen such a beautiful and tender movie in my entire life. I recommend it definetly. Leslie Caron is an incredible actress as the naive and sweet Lili. And, if everyone of you ladies fell in love with Mel Ferrer, I have to confess that I fell in love with Carrot top! The puppets are great and the music is so pretty that you will end up singing the main song all day.

'Lili' opens in the bright atmosphere of a French town with a likable 16-year-old orphan looking for a job with her deceased father's old friend... Lili soon discovers that the place is close and the baker with whom she came to work with has died a month ago...

With no money, no family, and no place to go, Lili meets Marc, a delightful entertainer who offers her a job as a waitress in a traveling carnival show...

Marc's hilarious blend of comedy and magic leaves the wistful Lili roaring with laughter... Marc is breathtakingly good on stage... He is blessed with the fastest hands in the business... Lili is fired, that same night, for spending too much time watching his whole act...

Feeling intensely sad, hopeless, drained and helpless, Lili thinks of killing herself... She begins to climb a highly wooden staircase, ignoring a gently voice calling her to come along... She is distracted by a group of character puppets, who helps her forget her sorrow...

Lili is introduced to Carrot Top, the interesting fellow capable of running his life and everybody else; to Golo, the cowardly giant longing to be loved; to Reynaldo, the thief and opportunist full of compromises and lies; and finally to Marguerite, the vain, jealous beauty obsessed with self...

Childishly happy with the colorful puppets, and not realizing that she is having a big impact, Lili receives the ovation that ignites her creative spark, responding to the four unique puppets losing herself in their questions and imaginations...

When she is asked to sing, Lili belts out an old song of love... The entire company of puppets behind her joined in for a stirring chorus... This was executed to perfection that night - accompanied by the waltzing music of the accordion...

The show is a hit! Lili's childish manner proves she can entertain, persuade and appeal...

But Lili remains dazzled by Marc, who reinforces his spoken humor with visual effects... She dislikes the boss, Paul Berthalet, believing him to be cruel, heartless, frustrated and always angry...

Mel Ferrer had the talent for improvisation... He uses his puppets with humor, voice sound effects, stories and more...He captures Lili's heart and soul... And by speaking through his models he was able to express his anxiety, curiosity, austerity, and confusion...

Lili, touched by the magic of romance, comes to understand the meaning of love much later... She tells Marcus: 'I've been living in a dream like a little girl, not seeing what I didn't want to see.' She discovers that the love exuding from her adorable puppets comes from the loves of that unreasonable, mean, jealous, bitter puppeteer...

Jean-Pierre Aumont adds his charm to the whole story, and remains the beautiful magician armed with an exceptionally likable stage personality...

Kurt Kaszner continues to be Paul's loyal and peaceful friend who explains to the delicate girl that the boss had once been a great dancer until his leg was injured in the war and could no longer dance...

Zsa Zsa Gabor behaves as the glamorous assistant whose fervent desire is to reveal to everybody her secret...

Charles Walters' motion picture is not very musical, but his film culminates in a delightful dream ballet... Caron demonstrates a graceful dancing...

The movie received six Academy Award nominations including Leslie Caron as Best Actress in a Leading Role, and won the Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture, and accommodated the hit song "Hi Lili, Hi Lo.'

Charles Walters is another, like George Sidney, another incredibly talented director whose 1950s work has been for too long overshadowed by his MGM competitors Cukor, Donen and Minnelli. Walters isn't nearly as flashy as these guys, but where it counts, he's got it all, and as a choreographer, he can design dance films in a way that eluded these other non-dancers. LILI isn't a musical per se, though years later it inspired the memorable Bob Merrill score for CARNIVAL, but it has more than enough music to qualify it as the kind of picture you leave the theater whistling the tunes from. And in Leslie Caron they found the right blend of wistfulness and innocence; even her mouth looks bruised, but her eyes light up whenever she sees her darling puppets.

When are they going to put this one out on DVD? OR its charming counterpart, also with Caron and Walters--THE GLASS SLIPPER?

Kind of a coincidence that both LILI and DARLING LILI, two otherwise unrelated entertainments, have both been kept from DVD?

Mem Ferrer is magnetic playing Berthelet, a man you feel has had an enormous tragedy like Heathcliff. Leslie Caron appeals to his better nature, and Ferrer makes you feel it. I wonder if he felt this way about Audrey Hepburn, to whom he was in real life married at this time. As for Zsa Zsa Gabor, MGM made her look gorgeous here, yes, she looks like a doll, but as Rosalie, she shows signs of spark which warm her up a bit and help to soften her famously blank features. in her quarrels with the "Poacher," Lili, she actually shows that she can act in character for more than a line or two. Between this film and MOULIN ROUGE (the original by John Huston), Zsa Zsa Gabor could have gone down in history as being one of the loveliest women ever to grace the screen, but subsequently her nasty, not to say grasping disposition caused her image to plummet way South, and not in a good way.

Wow, I'm not sure if the guy from New York saw the same film I did. I love this beautiful film. It's just about 80 minutes long and absolutely perfect for the entire family. Lili is sixteen, not eighteen, and has just been orphaned. She is completely innocent and unused to the world of the City, carnivals, love,and jealousy. In a moment of desperation (she's lost her job with the carnival, has been kicked out of the horse cart she's been sleeping in, etc.) she contemplates suicide-- at least that's implied. But a lonley puppeteer, a former dancer maimed in WWII, grabs her attention with his unforgettable puppets and gives her hope. She joins the puppeteer and his assoc. and the act changes to focus more on adult issues with LiLi "playing" a passing girl whom the puppets stop and engage in conversation, jokes, etc. Lili's got a crush on the handsome magician who rescued her from a dirty old man (G rated scene) and doesn't see that the puppeteer is secretly in love with her. Of course, Lili grows up and realizes that the puppets who seem to know what's in her heart are really just one man, the puppeteer or the "angry man" as she calls him. I saw this first on TV and the local host said that this movie had played in one New York theater for years on end--it was that popular. It's truly a delight for all ages, but especially us girls.