Lili Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		5.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

Lili Blu-ray Movie Review

Sixteen going on seven.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III June 14, 2025

A romantic drama with light musical elements, Charles Walters' Lili -- based on a story by Paul Gallico and adapted by Helen Deutsch (The Unsinkable Molly Brown, King Solomon's Mines) -- is a fluffy Technicolor affair designed to please any child at heart. Speaking of "child", that's the best way to describe titular Lili Daurier (Leslie Caron) , a naive teen who ventures to town in search of employment after her father dies. Caron plays Lili a bit too wide-eyed and dimwitted for my taste, but this production as a whole is elevated by great cinematography and colorful supporting characters, which include a group of puppets capably voiced by Mel Ferrer (The World, the Flesh and the Devil).

Entering town looking every bit lost and confused, sixteen year-old Lili meekly asks for directions to a bakery that closed its doors after the owner passed away. That's bad news for orphaned Lili, who was promised employment there one day and is now stuck with no backup plan. Although the resident proprietor (Alex Gerry) seems willing to help her, it's immediately apparent that he's got other intentions. Luckily, handsome Marc (Jean-Pierre Aumont) -- coincidentally, one of the men she begged for directions -- steps in to help and, being a womanizer himself, almost seems like he has ulterior motives as well. But he's a lot less openly aggressive and she's kind of smitten anyway, especially after Marc introduces her to his "family": members of a travelling circus where he's known as Marcus the Magnificent.

Things thankfully stay platonic as Marc helpfully lands her a waitressing gig where he's performing alongside lovely Rosalie (Zsa Zsa Gabor, in an early featured role), but Lili is fired for staring slack-jawed at his magic act instead of helping customers. Despondent and nearly on the verge of suicide, Lili is soon cheered up by puppeteer Paul Berthalet (Ferrer)... or rather, by the puppets themselves as he voices them in secret. Her naivete -- or potentially just her deep need for any kind of emotional connection -- means that Lili thinks she's speaking with actual people, not red-haired "Carrot Top", crafty fox "Reynardo", shallow ballerina "Marguerite", and cowardly giant "Golo". Carnival patrons of all ages are curiously delighted by her child-like interactions with the puppets, and soon Lili's drawing larger crowds than anyone else. Paul, who's perpetually stuck backstage with a permanent leg injury, secretly pines for his "co-star" and resorts to showing various parts of his own personality -- including resentment for his current job, which is a lot less glamorous when compared to his earlier years as a dancer -- through the colorful characters.

Nursing her own lingering feelings for Marc, confusion towards Paul's mixed messages, general trepidation about her own life, and of course the default behavior of a single-digit child, Lili occasionally escapes into vivid dream scenarios that remain a highlight of his sporadically charming film. It's a well-constructed romantic drama that's more tangled than your average love triangle, lightly elevated by the beautifully colorful visuals and winning charm of most of its key and supporting performances. Yet Lili's best attribute is brevity, as the story is decently layered enough to support its brisk 81-minute running time and wrap up before wearing out its welcome. Its lone song -- the perennial favorite "Hi-Lili, Hi-Lo", which was incidentally penned by screenwriter Helen Deutsch -- is a real standout and is performed more than once, just enough to make Lili feel like a musical even though it's really not. Tough to classify, it can instead simply be described as lightweight and charming with a broad appeal that scored big with 1953 audiences.

Much of that appeal still shines through more than seven decades later, and in other ways Lili shines brighter than before thanks to the dutiful restoration efforts by Warner Archive, who as usual nurse its glorious Technicolor visuals back to life on Blu-ray via a new and meticulously clean 4K-sourced transfer. Add in lossless audio and several extras and you've got another WAC disc worth adding to your collection. Simply put, it's a real show-stopper.

Lili Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

If you've followed our coverage of Warner Archive titles during the last few years, you should know that any native Technicolor treated to WAC's 4K-sourced restoration process is typically a crisp five-star effort. Lili is no different, as this colorful production features no shortage of beautifully rendered hues and inviting atmospheres, all of which come alive on this new 1080p transfer that has been meticulously cleaned of age-related dirt and debris while retaining an stock-specific amount of organic film grain. From the warm and welcoming carnival atmosphere to colorful costumes. including Lili's impossibly red dress as featured in a dream sequence (screenshot #5), there's a lot to appreciate about the film's visuals and, quite simply, I can't imagine it's ever looked better than it does here. As usual, the encoding is also terrific with no signs of compression- related artifacts, and the entire show plays at a supportively high bit rate from start to finish. Not surprisingly, it's another winner and absolutely deserving of a perfect score.

Lili Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio track serves up Lili's capable mono mix in a two-channel container for wider (but still authentic) playback, with particular highlights being the crisp dialogue and support for its original score. It's fairly lively within format boundaries, enjoying a bit of natural width that helps to bolster some of its more bustling scenes as well as group conversations. No age-related damage remains aside from some light hiss, which is usually a sign that very little to no noise reduction has been applied to preserve its dynamic range.

Optional English (SDH) subtitles are offered during the main feature only, not the extras listed below.

Lili Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in a keepcase with vintage poster-themed cover artwork. The extras mostly consist of a few era-specific cartoons presented as pre-show entertainment that I could imagine Lili herself enjoying.

• Classic Cartoons - Three decently restored shorts from the MGM vault (some more decently than others).

• The Impossible Possum (6:33) - This fun 1954 Barney Bear short, which is appropriately puppet-themed, features our hero trying to catch a possum for dinner. This looks to have been sourced from WB master from several years ago as implied by the minimal grain but otherwise looks pretty good.
• Pecos Pest (6:43) - This great Tom and Jerry outing -- made in 1953 but released in 1955 -- features Jerry's mustachioed Uncle Pecos, an avid guitar player who's not afraid to use Tom's whiskers as strings. Like the previous short, this one's light on grain but at least very clean with great colors.
• Puppy Tale (7:01) - Clearly the best-looking of these three included cartoons, this lovable Tom and Jerry short finds Jerry as the unexpected owner of a frisky pup who's abandoned by his owner. It's one of those rare T&J outings where Tom ends up being a big softie in the end, which is always a nice break.

• Theatrical Trailer (3:15) - An appropriately colorful promotional piece than can also be seen here.

Lili Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Charles Walters' Lili is a largely charming romantic drama with light musical elements that rightfully scored big with audiences upon its original 1953 release. Several of the key and supporting performances are genuine highlights, the Technicolor cinematography is great, and the story itself is fairly engaging and moves at a good clip. Warner Archive's stunning Blu-ray scores high for its beautifully restored transfer, lossless audio, and an always-welcome assortment of vintage MGM cartoons as bonus features. It's firmly Recommended to fans and first-timers too.