♫ Hi Lili, Hi Lili, Hi Lo… ♫
I love classic movies. Even as a young child I was really into a lot of the movies from the 1930’s to the 1950’s. I’m NOT old. I just happen to like older movies. Not to sound like my grandparents, but they just don’t make movies like they used to. Don’t get me wrong. They make awesome movies these days, but there is also something very appealing about the charming movies from decades ago. Ones that I didn’t have to rely on technology to entertain movie goers. You don’t always need a lot of “bells and whistles” to impress people.
One classic movie is now available on DVD. Lili, which stars Leslie Caron and Mel Ferrer, was a critical darling when it was released in 1953.
Lili is the story of a sweet, innocent country girl name Lili (played by Leslie Caron).
Lili goes to a small town in hopes of finding a friend of her late father’s, only to find out that he has passed away. Lili now finds herself stuck in this little town with no money and no place to go. Thankfully a local shop keeper offers to give her a job and to feed her. Sadly he only wanted to take advantage of her, not help her. Fortunately handsome carnival magician name Marcus the Magnificent comes to her rescue.
Lili is grateful for Marc’s help and follows him back to the carnival. Marc, feeling sorry for the young girl, helps to get her a job as a waitress. Lili ends up getting fired from her first night of work because she is too busy watching Marcus’ magic show instead of waiting on tables.
Poor Lili is now homeless and doesn’t have any money. She is so upset that she considers ending her life.
The carnival’s puppeteer, Paul (played by Mel Ferrer) sees Lili and knows how upset she is. He uses the puppets to engage in a conversation with her. Lili starts to interact with the puppets as if they are real people.
Eventually everyone who is around Lili and the puppets stops to watch her interact with them. They find her entertaining. So does Paul who asks Lili if she would like a job at the carnival talking to the puppets.
Lili doesn’t really like Paul. She think of him as an angry man. Unbeknown to Lili, Paul used to be a dancer but suffered a leg injury during the war. He enjoys being a puppeteer but feels like it’s less of a career to have compared to what his life was like before the accident.
Paul soon starts to fall in love with Lili, but Lili is still chasing after Marcus. Paul wants to let Lili know about his feelings for her but he’s doesn’t have the confidence to tell her in person. Instead he uses the puppets to convey this thoughts to Lili, but Lili sees the puppets as real and doesn’t catch on that Paul has feelings for her. Lili is also still chasing after Marcus.
Once day Lili finds out that Marcus is getting married. She is crushed and feels she needs to get far away from Marcus and the carnival. Can Paul and the puppets stop her before it’s too late? Will Paul confess his feelings to Lili? Will Lili ever seen Paul as anything more than an angry man? Could she learn to love him too?
To find out you need to pick up a copy of Lili, now available on DVD where ever movies are sold.
This is a very sweet movie. It’s hard not to fall in love with the bright eyed and wholesome Lili. The puppets are delightful too.
Here is a movie clip. You can also view the clip here, http://bit.ly/ShKYQ5.
These days films are chuck full of special effects and non-stop action. It’s nice to be entertained by a movie the relies more so on a nice story then tons of CGI and special effects.
Have you seen the movie Lili? What did you think about it? Feel free to leave a comment on this post. I love hearing fro my readers. 🙂
Kimberly
*I received a free screener copy in order to do this review. There was no compensation. The opinions expressed are my own and are not ifnluenced in any way.