Lili
| Lili | |
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| Directed by | Charles Walters |
| Produced by | Edwin H. Knopf |
| Written by |
Helen Deutsch Paul Gallico (story Love of Seven Dolls) |
| Starring |
Leslie Caron Mel Ferrer Jean-Pierre Aumont Zsa Zsa Gabor |
| Music by |
Bronisław Kaper Gerald Fried (uncredited) |
| Cinematography | Robert H. Planck |
| Edited by | Ferris Webster |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
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Release date
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Running time
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81 minutes |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1,353,000 |
| Box office | $5,393,000 |
Lili is a 1953 American film released by MGM. It stars Leslie Caron as a touchingly naïve French girl whose emotional relationship with a carnival puppeteer is conducted through the medium of four puppets. The screenplay by Helen Deutsch was adapted from "The Man Who Hated People", a short story by Paul Gallico which appeared in the October 28, 1950, issue of The Saturday Evening Post.
It won the Academy Award for Best Music, and was also entered into the 1953 Cannes Film Festival.
Following the film's success, Gallico expanded his story into a 1954 novella entitled The Love of Seven Dolls. The film was adapted for the stage under the title Carnival! (1961).
Naive country girl Lili (Leslie Caron) arrives in a provincial town in hopes of locating an old friend of her late father, only to find that he has died. A local shopkeeper offers her employment, then tries to take advantage of her. She is rescued by a handsome, smooth-talking, womanizing carnival magician, Marc, whose stage name is Marcus the Magnificent (Jean-Pierre Aumont). Lili is infatuated with him and follows him to the carnival, where on learning that she is 16, he helps her get a job as waitress. Lili is fired on her first night when she spends her time watching the magic act instead of waiting tables. When Lili consults the magician for advice, he tells her to go back to where she came from. Homeless and heartbroken, she contemplates suicide, unaware that she is being watched by the carnival's puppeteer Paul (Mel Ferrer). He strikes up a conversation with her through his puppets — a brash red-haired boy named Carrot Top, a sly fox, Reynardo, a vain ballerina, Marguerite, and a cowardly giant, Golo. Soon, a large group of carnival workers is enthralled watching Lili's interaction with the puppets, as she is seemingly unaware that there is a puppeteer behind the curtain. Afterwards, Paul and his partner Jacquot (Kurt Kasznar) offer Lili a job in the act, talking with the puppets. She accepts, and her natural manner of interacting with the puppets becomes the most valuable part of the act.
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Wikipedia