Lili

I remember watching this as a kid. Love Leslie Caron's interaction with the puppets.

I love the films she has made but I have never been a Leslie Caron fan per se. Having said that, however, I must say I thoroughly enjoyed her in this film which also stars the very tall and handsome, Mel Ferrer, the handsome and always debonaire, Jean-Pierre Aumont, Kurt Kasznar and Zsa Zsa Gabor. Watch for a quick screen appearance by Amanda Blake, who we remember as Miss Kitty, owner of The Long Branch Saloon, on TV's long running series, Gunsmoke! The diminutive Lili Daurier is an orphan of only 16 when she comes to a small town in search of the friend of her father. He is the town baker who is supposed to help Lili if anything happens to her father. Of course, Lili's father has died and she is now hoping to secure employment with him in his bakery. Upon her arrival at the address, she finds the store is dark and deserted. The shop-keeper next door informs her that the baker passed away just a month ago! This man realizes Lili is now without anyone at all and offers her a job selling notions and a place to stay in his store! This quickly turns out to be a case of his wanting much more from her than simply her shop duties! She is saved from this man's advances by the entrance of Marc (Jean-Pierre Aumont) who is there to buy some things for his magic act in the carnival he is part of which has just set down stakes in the town! She quickly exits the shop with Marc and is instantly taken with his undeniable charm! Waiting for him are two of his carnival comrades, Paul & Jacquot, who have a puppet act there. Paul ignores her altogether and in fact, is a bit gruff with her, but it is Jacquot who takes pity on her and recommends that Paul talk to his friend who runs the food "Cabaret" so that Lili can work there. Marc is also a bit taken by Lili, but when he learns she is only 16, backs away quickly! Marc actually secures the job for her serving customers at the Cabaret, but she is really terrible at it and is let go before the first shift is over! It seems she was more interested in watching Marc's feats of magic than doing her job! Lili speaks to Marc after his show but it seems he doesn't really care and he rebuffs her again when he discovers she has lost her job. Not knowing where to turn, Lili is now very sad, depressed and low about her situation and starts to wander through the carnival stalls until nightfall. She is contemplating doing away with herself when suddenly, Paul, who Lili calls "The Angry Man," sees her and tries to get her to pay attention to the puppets he is now speaking through. She walks over and meets the red headed "Carrot Top" who then introduces Lili to "Golo" the Giant, "Reynardo" the Wolf and "Marguerite" the Dancing Lady. A crowd of workers has gathered to watch by now and together, she and Carrot Top sing the adorable song, Hi-Lili-Hi Lo, while Marguerite dances. The result is absolutely charming. She has met the puppets one by one and is conversing with them as though it were the most natural thing in the world! Paul & Jacquot realize that the customers are going to love this new part of the act and...I'm going to leave it right there so that you can follow the rest of it when you see the film...and see it you must! It's a great little film, so enjoy it! PS: Caron was only 5'1" and Ferrer was 6'3" and I've always thought the final dream dance sequence, a marvel in movie making!

Seeing this as a child @ my neighborhood theater, this movie left an indelible impression on me that stayed with me over the years. Very happy to have it in my collection.

Love this movie. A great classic movie from the 1950s.

A simplistic yet poignant story. Ms. Caron is a beautiful dancer and lovely singer. Lili is very naive young lady who finds herself all alone. She keeps receiving help, however has blinded herself into thinking she loves someone, the wrong someone. Of course all works out in the end.

I somehow picked the perfect movie to watch this morning. Lili. It's about a puppeteer at a carnival who is bitter because of the hand life has dealt him. He was a dancer but his leg was injured in the war. So he performs with several puppets who are really just an extension of himself as he stays hidden below the small stage. As himself he's constantly bitter, but as the puppets he's able to express happiness. A beautiful young naive girl played by Leslie Caron comes along and the puppeteer falls in love with her but sees that she is in love with the "ladies man" of the carnival, the magician. The girl thinks of the puppeteer as "that angry man" but performs with him as part of the act; she kind of forgets that it's the angry man down below controlling and speaking for most of the puppets. I thought it was perfect that the puppets all refer to the puppeteer as the boss. When the girl is sad they ask her why: "Oh, is it the boss making you sad again?" Referring to the puppeteer as "the boss". I just really liked that.I fall in love with the character Lili. And I relate so much to this puppeteer who is bitter because he wants something better. He wants to fall in love with this sweet girl, dance again and just be happy. You're damn right if you think I got emotional while watching it. I miss working with genuinely nice and sincere people. Last week I had a shouting match with the "new guy" at my work. This guy is an arrogant you-know-what. I'm like the puppeteer and do a few things very well that nobody else at my work can do (it's why I still have a job there). This guy is a jack of all trades who compensates by doing a little of everything. He's of the mind that "we can do without you". Funny, he's been there for months and me 8 years but he still thinks he's going to swing getting rid of me. Cuttthroats? Yep. But watching Lili was exactly what I needed to do this morning. I'm like that puppeteer. I want the girl and to be happy. I hope others find this movie so warm like I did this morning. Oh, I am looking elsewhere for work...heh heh...but still Lili has me feeling much happier that I did last week.If this film was done in widescreen (the early 1950s was when that started...to counteract Lucy and etc on the TV) let's have a good DVD treatment. In addition to being pure magic, this movie is therapy!

I've been looking for this movie for years, so glad i finally got it

Une fois on le bois, on est dans la charm de cet musical magnifique.

Delightful film

Habe die DVD Lili bereits erhalten alles prima

me ha gustado mucho la pelicula, ya la habia vist, por lo que la queria tener enDVD