Starring Charles Farrell, Rose Hobart and Estelle Taylor
Produced by Fox Film Corporation
Julie and her friend Marie are serving girls in a mansion. They do their work and are taken care of. There is a carpenter who comes once a week to complete odd jobs and ask Julie out on a date.
The girls' periodic trips to the local carnival help break up the routine and provide a welcome diversion. Julie particularly enjoys staring at the Liliom, a carousel barker. He seems to have eyes for her too, but its hard to tell. His job after all is to convince women to take a ride on the merry-go-round.
When Julie hops on the carousel this particular night, she receives all Liliom's attention. The owner of the ride also has a romantic interest in the carnie and threatens Julie to stay away from Liliom. He overhears and sides with Julie, beginning a night which leads to both love and the loss of both of their jobs.
Fast forward three months. Julie is living with her aunt and Liliom is sleeping on the couch. An old friend of Liliom's has a robbery planned and wants him in on the crime.
Will a pregnancy push Liliom to break the law? How far will Liliom go to take care of Julie and his unborn child?
As with many of the films from this era, Liliom has a lot going for it on the screen. The direction. The supporting performances. An interesting initial hook.
Unfortunately, this film has some fatal flaws as well.
Let's start with what shines. Liliom as filmed by Frank Borzage is absolutely beautiful to watch. The camera constantly plays with light and shadow. If it weren't for the subject matter, you'd swear you were watching a film noir.
Borzage's camera also heaps s lot of love upon Julie. There's a shot early on of her face in close up that is all you need to explain why any guy would fall for her.
Rose Hobart plays Julie not as a naive girl who is looking for adventure in her men, but as young woman who has had a hard life, but does not want to settle and be trapped in her choice of husband. It's a reserved, quiet performance that allows the emotion to come through.You understand why she might fall for the idea of Liliom given everything else going on in her life.
There are a few great supporting turns here as well. Estelle Taylor is sultry and tenacious as Liliom's employer at the carousel. Lee Tracy is slimy and shifty, but supremely confident playing Liliom's less-than-criminal-mastermind buddy. And H.B. Warner shows up in the final stanza bringing a healthy dose of authority to a critical role.
But now we come to the film's biggest liability: Liliom himself.
He's just a horrible human being. He defends Julie but then spends the next 15 minutes denigrating her or explaining how important he is. He then morphs into the worst kind of stereotype, unemployed, sleeping on his girlfriend's couch, contributing nothing to the household. Later, he gets angry and hits Julie.
The plot does him no favors as it sets him up with a false choice of sorts. Either he goes back to being a carousel barker or he robs a guy. That's it. Those are the only options. He for some reason wants to take Julie to America despite the fact that he does not seem to like her much.
Not helping at all is Charles Farrell in the title role. Liliom could have been played as macho with a code of honor. Instead, he comes across as whiny and entitled and sleazy. Every line reading seems calculated to make us hate him more.
There is a fun, out-of-the-blue twist at the end that I won't spoil here. Suffice to say it produces some of the film's best imagery and moments. However, the "why" of it feels completely unearned. And when you think for a moment on the film's final stance on domestic abuse, you can't help but feel icky.
Liliom has enough to recommend it, but just barely. Some great atmosphere and performances are swamped by a despicable lead character we are asked to empathize with.
*** out of *****
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