This is my review of Darling Lili from 1970, starring Julie Andrews and Rock Hudson, and he definitely played second fiddle to her. She was the star. And if you're a Julie Andrews fan, like I am, you won't be disappointed. She was as beautiful, dazzling, and lustrously voiced as ever. And there is some very nice music by Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer. It's not like The Sound of Music or Fiddler on the Roof where practically every song is memorable. But, the top song, Whistling Away the Dark, is certainly a gem. It is one of my favorite songs in the world. It's a sad waltz, but sad music can be hauntingly beautiful, and it is. And there is another great song, I'll Give You Three Guesses that is simply delightful. It is upbeat, a dance number that is fun and catchy. And, there is a very clever dramatic element that goes with the song, for which I hail the writer, Blake Edwards, as well as Julie Andrews for the way she did it. It is will surprise the heck out of you, and you won't see it coming.
But, in some ways, Darling Lili is a very strange movie. It's a period piece about World War 1, in which Lili Smith is a well known and very popular British singer and entertainer. But, in reality, she is half English and half German. Her real last name is Schmidt, and she is a German spy.
I happen to be keenly interested in World War 1 because it was such a senseless catastrophe, and it set the course for the entire 20th century, and I mean its very bloodied course- by far the most bloodied and most savage century ever. So, any movie about World War 1, I would expect to have very tragic undertones. But, this movie is light, and at times, slapstick. For instance, there are two French intelligence officers who will remind you of Inspector Clourseau from The Pink Panther.
So, she's a German spy, and she gets assigned to romantically lure an American flying ace, played by Rock Hudson, who is commissioned with the British, and pry military secrets from him. I have to wonder why they didn't just make him British because there are no references to him being American. He never talks about America or his life in America. I have to wonder if Rock Hudson just couldn't handle the British accent. OR, perhaps, they just wanted him to sound like Rock Hudson.
So, they have this romance, and it's hot and cold because they are both being dishonest to each other, yet, they are both sincerely drawn to each other. And then it gets really treacherous for both of them, but the weird thing is: you know she's a German spy, and this is a war movie. So, all the while, I was dreading the expectation of seeing Julie Andrews riddled with bullets or somehow meeting her demise. Isn't that the way such stories have to end?
Well, I'm not going to tell you how it ends.
Attitudes about World War 1 are different from World War 2. The Germans were the enemy in both wars, but there is no comparison between the two in the way they are conceived and portrayed. World War 1 doesn't have the polarity of World War 2. The good and the bad aren't as black and white. This movie is pretty light and playful compared to World War 2 movies, although they did try to ratchet up the danger and suspense at the end with some success. But, the greatest appeal of the film can be summed up in two words: Julie Andrews. And that's the other enigma of the film: how do you root against Julie Andrews? She is so enchanting, appealing, and angelic that you just don't want any harm to come to her. They could never have made this movie in a World War 2 setting. In other words, supporting the Kaiser is very different psychologically from supporting Hitler.
Every movie has implausible elements, and this one has more than its share. But still, I give it 4 stars out of 5, and that's because of Julie, Julie, Julie.
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