Lili

"Lili", based on Paul Gallico's "Love For Seven Dolls", is one of the most delightful films ever. Leslie Caron deserved her Academy Award nomination as "Lili". The ballet sequence at the end of the film in which each puppet turn into Paul, the puppeteer, making Lili realize she loves him is magical. "Lili" was the basis for a big, lavish Broadway musical "Carnival" that lost the basic beautiful simplicity of the original. This film is a classic and deserves to be. The puppets are magnificent.

All too rarely has a film about lost innocence and earnest love been so sensitively brought to the screen. Respected screenwriter Helen Deutsch (The Seventh Cross '44) adapted Paul Gallico's (The Snow Goose) darkly observant novella "The Seven Souls of Clement O'Reilly" into an inspiring story of a naive young orphaned girl coming of age. Deutsch also maintains the opportunistic exploitation of the vulnerable girl without sensationalizing this angle.

The Academy award-winning score by brilliant composer Bronislau Kaper is nothing short of unforgettable. This beautifully produced MGM film cannot be called a musical as there's only one song but what a song! It's been universally popular for over 60years, and screenplay writer Helen Deutsch also wrote the world-renowned lyrics.

The haunting dream-ballet sequence that closes this unique movie brings both tears of joy and wonder at its stirring and visually fascinating realisation. Apart from a couple of clunky trick edits, direction, cinematography (Robert Plank - 'Strange Cargo '40) and performances - combine to create movie making at its most magical - and should be seen by all lovers of classic film art. While it might not be to everyone's taste (what ever is?) in 2004 the New York Times added Lilli to their listing of the best 1,000 movies ever made.

The WB Archive DVD delivers an excellent visual and sound transfer.

this is quite an old movie, as you know. my mother wasn't even born when it came out. yet i enjoy it greatly. it is a true love story, and unlike movies of today's age, it depicts that love with elegance and style. it is not only about love, but about the "blossoming" of Lili, of how she grows into womanhood and learns the ways of the world, as well as her own world. personally, i find it all to be quite symbolic, with Lili as the symbol of good and innocence. it also has some interesting humor in it (the puppets are well characterized and amazingly personalized). i think you will fall in love with the well-rounded main characters just as i did. i hope people will not be turned off by the age of the movie (it is over 50 years old now) because i find newer love stories to be far too sexual that leaves nothing to the imagination. this movie is VERY imaginative and beautiful in its storytelling. of course, kids could watch it and enjoy it to some extent, but the language is slightly elevated and the meaning is quite deep. watching this movie as an older person truly made the difference. i hope you enjoy it.

This is one of my all time favorite movies, and I have taken every occasion to see it again after the first time in 1953. Leslie Caron is perfectly cast as the homeless orphan who falls in with a circus troupe and becomes part of their puppet act, only to fall in love with the embittered puppet master. In the end, the lovers get together after Lili (Leslie Caron) gets to display her ballet dancing talents.

First of all, to correct a comment made by at least one person here, the movie came before the stage musical "Carnival." Second, the movie is far superior to the stage musical. True, it's short. So? True, there's just one song. But the one song, "Hi-Lili Hi-Lo," is better than anything in "Carnival." So much for comparisons. The movie absolutely defines movie magic. It creates an unforgettable world with an unforgettable heroine played with genius by the great Leslie Caron in a performance nominated for an Oscar and deserving of a win (she was beaten by the charming but less-inspired Audrey Hepburn). Anyone who passes up the chance to see "Lili" is denying themselves one of the prime treats in all of cinema. I've seen it countless times and never fail to laugh and cry. But where is the DVD??? Give, already!