History Film / DarlingLili

A 1970 movie musical set during UsefulNotes/WorldWarI, directed by Creator/BlakeEdwards, with songs by Johnny Mercer and Music/HenryMancini.

Lili Smith/Schmidt (Creator/JulieAndrews), half-English and half-German, entertains London and Paris on the music hall stage during World War I while using her celebrity status to gather information from her military admirers. Her latest assignment is Major William Larrabee (Rock Hudson), an American AcePilot with access to vital information about how airplanes are changing the war. A chance reference to "Operation Crepe Suzette" makes Lili think she's stumbled onto a major secret; but the lead goes nowhere, and she begins to suspect instead that Larrabee is seeing another woman behind her back. The idea bothers her more than it really should ....

JukeboxMusical: A hybrid. Some of the songs are authentic World War I hits, and the rest are by HenryMancini and Johnny Mercer in the same style.

The notorious flop that nearly killed both Julie Andrews' and Blake Edwards' careers.

Lili Smith/Schmidt (JulieAndrews), half-English and half-German, entertains London and Paris on the music hall stage during World War I while using her celebrity status to gather information from her military admirers. Her latest assignment is Major William Larrabee (Rock Hudson), an American AcePilot with access to vital information about how airplanes are changing the war. A chance reference to "Operation Crepe Suzette" makes Lili think she's stumbled onto a major secret; but the lead goes nowhere, and she begins to suspect instead that Larrabee is seeing another woman behind her back. The idea bothers her more than it really should ....

CulturedBadass: Kurt von Ruger, Lili's [[TheHandler handler]].

Lili Smith/Schmidt (JulieAndrews), half-English and half-German, entertains London and Paris on the music hall stage during World War I while using her celebrity status to gather information from her military admirers. Her latest assignment is Major William Larrabee (Rock Hudson), an American AcePilot with access to vital information about how airplanes are changing the war. A chance reference to "Operation Crepe Suzette" makes Lili think she's stumbled onto a major secret; but the lead goes nowhere, and she begins to suspect instead that Larrabee is seeing another woman behind her back. This idea bothers her more than it really should ....

The production was plagued by problems at every step and only recouped a fraction of its cost at the box office. It has been to some extent VindicatedByCable, especially with the release of a [[ReCut director's cut]] on DVD in 2007. While the mixture of musical, romance, slapstick comedy, spy intrigue, and fighter plane action doesn't work for everyone, the film has some undeniable virtues: it is visually stunning, the aerial dogfights are spectacular, and it is a chance to see Julie Andrews at her peak.

BadGirlSong: "Your Goodwill Ambassador," though it's in the context of a performance.

CoolPlane: Loads of them. The aerial sequences were filmed in Ireland using World War I replica fighter aircraft, facilities, and support equipment originally put together for Film/TheBlueMax. ''Darling Lili'' utilized the assembled aircraft for thousands of flying hours and accumulated hundreds of hours of aerial footage over the course of two years. Pilots were drawn from the Irish Air Corps and civilian circles.

ButtMonkey: Inspectors Duvalle and Liggett share this dubious honor, coming in for most of the slapstick.

IgnoredConfession: Inspector Duvalle takes Lili's attempt to turn herself in as merely a GrandRomanticGesture ... until Inspector Liggett points out that she's [[INeverSaidItWasPoison mentioning some very specific details]].

SpeechImpediment: Inspector Liggett has a stammer.

HistoricalDomainCharacter: The Red Baron.

OldSchoolDogfight: Loads of them. (See "Cool Plane" above.)

Lili Smith/Schmidt (JulieAndrews), half-English and half-German, entertains London and Paris on the music hall stage during World War I while using her celebrity status to gather information from her military admirers. Her latest assignment is Major William Larrabee (Rock Hudson), an American AcePilot with access to vital information about how airplanes are changing the war. A chance reference to "Operation Crepe Suzette" makes Lili think she's stumbled onto a major secret; but the lead goes nowhere, and she begins to suspect instead that Larrabee is actually seeing another woman behind her back. This idea bothers her more than it really should ....

AcePilot: Several, including Bill Larrabee and TheRedBaron himself.

FallingInLoveMontage: For Bill Larrabee.

TheRedBaron: Averted. The nickname is never used in the film; instead, he's called Baron von Richthofen or just "the Baron."

The production was plagued by problems at every step and only recouped a fraction of its cost at the box office. It has been to some extent VindicatedByCable, especially with the release of a [[ReCut director's cut]] on DVD in 2007. While the mixture of comedy, musical, romance, spy intrigue, and fighter plane action doesn't work for everyone, the film has some undeniable virtues: it is visually stunning, the aerial dogfights are spectacular, and it is a chance to see Julie Andrews at her peak.

TheRedBaron: Averted. He's usually called Baron von Richthofen or just "the Baron."

The notorious box-office flop that nearly killed both Julie Andrews' and Blake Edwards' careers.

Lili Smith/Schmidt (JulieAndrews), half-English and half-German, entertains London on the music hall stage during World War I while also secretly spying for the Germans. Her latest assignment is Major William Larrabee (Rock Hudson), an American AcePilot with access to vital information about how airplanes are changing the war. A chance reference to "Operation Crepe Suzette" makes Lili think she's stumbled onto a major secret ... but the lead goes nowhere, and she begins to suspect that Larrabee is actually seeing another woman behind her back.

DarkReprise: Early in the film, Lili performs "I'll Give You Three Guesses" as a cheery, wholesome song-and-dance number. After [[spoiler:discovering her jealousy of Crepe Suzette,]] she changes it to a striptease.

FallingInLoveMontage

TheFool: T.C.

JukeboxMusical: A variant. Some of the songs are authentic World War I hits, and the rest are by HenryMancini and Johnny Mercer in the same style.

YouCanLeaveYourHatOn: [[spoiler: Crepe Suzette]]'s hat, in particular, contains more material than the rest of her costume put together.

The production was plagued by problems at every step and only recouped a fraction of its cost at the box office. It has been to some extent VindicatedByCable, especially with the release of a [[ReCut director's cut]] on DVD in 2007. While the mixture of comedy, musical, romance, spy intrigue, and fighter plane action doesn't work for everyone, the film has some unquestionable virtues. It is visually stunning, the aerial dogfights are spectacular, and it is a chance to see Julie Andrews at her peak.

The production was plagued by problems at every step and only recouped a fraction of its cost at the box office. It has been to some extent VindicatedByCable, especially with the release of a director's cut on DVD in 2007. While the mixture of comedy, musical, romance, spy intrigue, and fighter plane action doesn't work for everyone, the film is visually stunning, the aerial dogfights are spectacular, and it is unquestionably a chance to see Julie Andrews at her peak.

IgnoredConfession: Inspector Duvalle takes Lili's attempt to turn herself in as merely a GrandRomanticGesture ... until Liggett notices she's [[INeverSaidItWasPoison mentioning some very specific details]].

IgnoredConfession: Lili's attempt to turn herself in is this ... until Liggett notices she's [[INeverSaidItWasPoison mentioning some very specific details]].

JukeboxMusical: A variant. Some of the songs are authentic World War I hits, and the rest are by Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer in the same style.

Lili Smith/Schmidt (Julie Andrews), half-English and half-German, entertains London on the music hall stage during World War I while also secretly spying for the Germans. Her latest assignment is Major William Larrabee (Rock Hudson), an American AcePilot with access to vital information about how airplanes are changing the war. A chance reference to "Operation Crepe Suzette" makes Lili think she's stumbled onto a major secret ... but the lead goes nowhere, and she begins to suspect that Larrabee is actually seeing another woman behind her back.

CulturedBadass: Kurt von Ruger.

TheSpymaster: Kurt von Ruger, who also functions as Lili's [[TheHandler handler]].

[[caption-width-right:342:Just one of many gorgeous dresses Lili wears.]]

Lili Smith (Julie Andrews), half-English and half-German, entertains London on the music hall stage during World War I while also secretly spying for the Germans. Her latest assignment is Major William Larrabee (Rock Hudson), an American AcePilot with access to vital information about how airplanes are changing the war. A chance reference to "Operation Crepe Suzette" makes Lili think she's stumbled onto a major secret ... but the lead goes nowhere, and she begins to suspect that Larrabee is actually seeing another woman behind her back.

YouCanLeaveYourHatOn: Crepe Suzette's hat, in particular, contains more material than the rest of her costume put together.

[[caption-width-right:342:Just one of many gorgeous dresses]]

The film was plagued by problems at every step and only recouped a fraction of its cost at the box office. It has been to some extent VindicatedByCable, especially with the release of a director's cut on DVD in 2007. Its mixture of comedy, musical, romance, spy intrigue, and fighter plane action doesn't work for everyone; however, the film is visually stunning, the aerial dogfights are spectacular, and it is unquestionably a chance to see Julie Andrews at her peak.

GorgeousPeriodDress

CoolPlane: Loads of them. The aerial sequences were filmed in Ireland using World War I replica fighter aircraft, facilities, and support equipment originally put together for TheBlueMax. ''Darling Lili'' utilized the assembled aircraft for thousands of flying hours and accumulated hundreds of hours of aerial footage over the course of two years. Pilots were drawn from the Irish Air Corps and civilian circles.