Lili (1953)

An orphaned young woman becomes part of a puppet act and forms a relationship with the anti-social puppeteer.

Director:

Charles Walters

Writers:

Helen Deutsch (screen play), Paul Gallico (based on a story by)

Stars:

Leslie Caron, Mel Ferrer, Jean-Pierre Aumont

Won 1 Oscar. Another 6 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited 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
Alex Gerry	...	Proprietor
Ralph Dumke	...	M. Corvier
Wilton Graff	...	M. Tonit
George Baxter	...	M. Enrique

Storyline

Members of a circus troupe "adopt" Lili Daurier when she finds herself stranded in a strange town. The magician who first comes to her rescue already has romantic entanglements and thinks of her as a little girl. Who can she turn to but the puppets, singing to them her troubles, forgetting that there are puppeteers. A crowd gathers around Lili as she sings. The circus has a new act. She now has a job. Will she get her heart's desire?

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Plot Keywords:

puppet version of character | 16 year old | suitcase | looking in a window | magic act | 

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Taglines:

M-G-M's Technicolor Delight!

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Genres:

Drama | Musical | Romance

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Certificate:

Passed

Did You Know?

Trivia

When the camera shows a circus poster for "Mark the Magnificent" it is seen that the actor drawn on the poster looks more like French-born actor Louis Jourdan than the French-born Jean-Pierre Aumont.

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Goofs

When Lili sees Marc's act for the first time, there is a slight but obvious film cut as Marc is holding up the cloak before his assistant is revealed.

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Quotes

Paul Berthalet: That child's an idiot.
Jacquot: She's not an idiot. And she isn't a child any longer. She's beginning to realize the fact that there's cruelty in the world and she's starting to protect herself from it.

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Connections

Referenced in RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars: Snatch Game: All Stars Edition (2018)

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Soundtracks

Lili And The Puppets
Music by Bronislau Kaper
Danced by Leslie Caron and Mel Ferrer

User Reviews

The most truthful coming of age movie

Of all the popular overblown, oversexed "coming of age" movies (mostly about male coming of age - starting with "The Summer of '42"), none has the honesty and truth of "Lili". Why? Because coming of age has less to do with sex (as most men think) than it has to do with an awareness of evil. The most telling line in the film is spoken by Paul's partner, who chides Paul for slapping Lili and says, "She is realizing that there is cruelty in the world, and she is learning to protect herself from it." Like Eve in the Garden of Eden, Lili's loss of innocence comes with her knowledge of evil, not her loss of virginity.

And unlike other coming of age movies that have the young actors tossing around "cute" sexual comments that don't ring true for a callow young person (because they were obviously scripted by a jaded 50-year-old male), "Lili" rings true with every note (as Paul says, "She's like a little bell that gives off a pure sound every time you strike it."). Her naivety is far more true to form -- when she is warned by one of the puppets that the lecherous puppet Renaldo "is a wolf", the innocent Lili replies, "I thought he was a fox." This is exactly the way a kid would really respond -- not "getting" the sexual reference and thinking that the comment was about the species of the animal.

I understand Audrey Hepburn beat out Leslie Caron for the Oscar that year with her amateurish performance in "Roman Holiday" -- what a travesty that was, since Audrey's performance had none of the depth and exquisite vulnerability of Leslie's performance in "Lili".

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 July 1953 (USA)

Also Known As:

Lili

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,353,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

81 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1