1953 feature film
An absolutely perfect little film, "Lili" is probably Mel Ferrer's best known movie role.
He plays ex-dancer and crippled puppeteer Paul Bertholet opposite Leslie
Caron in one of her most famous roles as the titled heroine. A musical
fantasy based on a short story by Paul Gallico, Lili is a 16-year-old orphan
left unexpectedly alone in a harsh world. She attaches herself to a
glamorous magician called Marcus the Magnificent (played with just the right
touch of shallow charm and careless concern by Jean-Pierre Aumont) and guilelessly follows
him back to the carnival where he performs. When Marc's half-hearted attempt
to get her a job proves disastrous, the destitute Lili contemplates suicide,
but the lame puppeteer Paul - who's been watching from afar - uses one of his
puppets to lure her back to safety and straight into his impenetrable heart.
Paul hires Lili to be part of his act and the new show, which
features Lili interacting with his four puppets, becomes an
overwhelming success. But Paul is too bitter and
jealous to
express his love for Lili except through the puppets, and after a
particularly ugly argument with him, Lili decides to leave the show. Miles away from the carnival, she daydreams
that her only true friends - the four puppets - are walking beside her.
As she dances
with each of them, they transform one by one into their puppeteer, and she understands at
last that the puppets who love her are in fact Paul.
Much of the charm of Lili rests with the casting of the film and Charles
Walters' crystal clear conception of the fantasy that borders on reality.
Lili's dreams are expressed in dance sequences, immaculately choreographed
by Walters to integrate the real characters with their dance counterparts.
Ex-ballerina Leslie Caron is still as much dancer as actress in 1953, and
both her male co-stars have enough dance in their backgrounds to be
unerringly effective. Mel Ferrer in particular brings balletic elegance
and innate musical style to the final ballet that ends with a
heartbreakingly beautiful pas de deux honoring Paul's protective love for
Lili and her complete acceptance of it.
The movie was a huge hit for MGM, adored equally by critics and the
public, and garnering Academy Award nominations for Leslie Caron in the
leading role, director Charles Walters, a nomination for the film itself
and most significantly an Oscar win for the enormously popular song used throughout, "Hi
Lili," written by Bronislau Kaper. The song was sung in the movie
by
Leslie Caron as Lili and Mel Ferrer as the puppet Carrottop, and
residuals from sales of released recordings still accrue, indicating how
much
the music continues to be loved. Variations on the tune were used effectively for the
final ballet sequence, as well.
While many reviews indicate the film belongs to Leslie Caron, who is
truly inspired as the sweetly innocent Lili, the success of the film
owes as much to the intrinsically integrated ensemble. It's difficult to
imagine any of the roles with other actors. The final ballet owes much
to Mel Ferrer's dance background, but his radio experience and fluent
language skills also helped him create the unique characters of the four puppets,
all of whom were voiced by the actor. And the surly Paul with his
tortured romantic soul suited him perfectly. After 50
years, it's still the role for which Mel Ferrer is best known, a true tribute to his part in this flawless gem.
Ironically - given the film's enormous success - "Lili" was to become
Mel Ferrer's final starring role in a movie made in Hollywood. Although
he co-starred in two more movies for MGM they were filmed abroad, and it
was while shooting "Knights of the Round Table" in England that he met
Audrey Hepburn. After their marriage in 1954 he lived and worked
predominantly in Europe, never really capitalizing on his biggest cinema
triumph. "Lili" played a pivotal part in their romance, however. Apparently Ms Hepburn
became enamored with Paul Bertholet before ever meeting Mel Ferrer and it
prompted her to ask Gregory Peck to introduce her to him during the
summer of 1953 while all three were in London. Less than a year
later Mel Ferrer was seated next to Audrey Hepburn when her name was
announced instead of
Leslie Caron's for the coveted Oscar.
Although "Lili" has been released as a videocassette in America, it is
not currently in print and no DVD version has ever been released in the NTSC
format. European PAL versions exist in the DVD but not VHS formats.
However, all versions pop up with regularity on eBay.
