Darling Lili

G

Released Jun 24, 1970

1h 54m

Musical

List

40%

5 Reviews

Tomatometer

69%

1,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

In World War I London, half-British, half-German Lili Smith (Julie Andrews) lets her German "uncle" -- a foreign agent and German military liaison -- talk her into spying. A dance-hall singer who is popular with the British troops, Lili uses her charm and racy numbers to secure the interest of flying squadron leader Maj. William Larrabee (Rock Hudson). Before Lili can pass on vital information, however, she finds herself in love with Larrabee -- who unfortunately discovers her real identity.

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Stefan Kanfer

TIME Magazine

Director Blake Edwards (Julie's new husband) seems to believe that if a man failing off a roof is funny, then two men falling should be hilarious.

Feb 8, 2018

Full Review

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Starring Julie Andrews, this preposterously plotted WWI musical was a huge artistic and commercial flop.

Rated: C

Aug 10, 2012

Full Review

Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

It seems to be not that bad if you view it more as a love story than as a war story.

Rated: B

Feb 6, 2008

Full Review

Tony Mastroianni

Cleveland Press

[Julie Andrews] is doing what she does best and what her fans expect her to do.

Feb 11, 2006

Full Review

Christopher Null

Filmcritic.com

if you thought The Sound of Music was hokey, wait'll you get a load of this

Rated: 1.5/5

Oct 16, 2005

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Audience Member

Despite some negative reviews out there, this movie was made in 1970. Rock Hudson was in his prime and Although we only see a little of Gloria Paul, WOW the striptease scene she performs is the hottest and most classic I have ever seen. Julie Andrews also does one. I thought this movie was very colorful and fun. Some fun scenes with world war 1 planes, a love story mixed in , I thought this is a very nice movie to be honest. Sound of music was a beautiful movie as well. This movie is a classic. Beautiful music!!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/24/23

Full Review

steve d

The acting is good but the story is nothing special.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Terrific comedy with music

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/09/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Julie Andrews stars as a singer living in England during WWI who is also a spy for the Germans. She seduces American officer Rock Hudson to gain vital information from him, and ends up falling in love with him. This project was directly spawned by the marriage of Blake Edwards and Andrews. Both were at the commercial peak of their careers, so studios were hopping to green light any collaboration between the two. Edwards was eager to show the world Andrews the way he saw her ... not the squeaky clean star of "Mary Poppins" and "The Sound of Music". This is a terrible film. I'm really not fond of Andrews, who always strikes me as a lifeless, phony screen presence. She has absolutely no chemistry with Hudson (they apparently hated each other), who can be a better actor than he is often given credit for, but not here. He's wooden and distracted whenever he's on screen. The film cannot decide what it wants to be. It was not a musical when William Peter Blatty wrote the screenplay. The musical numbers that are included sporadically not only don't further the plot, they often sabotage the narrative flow, Edwards seems to want to be doing a serious drama, but he includes a pair of French army intelligence agents that seem to have wandered in from a Pink Panther film.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/01/23

Full Review

Audience Member

This movie seems confused as to what genre it is. At times it is a musical, then a drama, then a farcical comedy, then a war movie, then a spy movie, then a romance. It's really all over the place. I think it works best when it is a musical or romance. I love silly comedy, but the comedy is so silly, it just doesn't fit the rest of the movie. Julie Andrews is wonderful, of course, and the songs she sings are beautiful (which explains the Oscar nominations for music).

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/09/23

Full Review

Audience Member

musical and a war pic all wrapped up in a love story set in WWI with all the WWI planes they couldn't make this today except with CGI

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/21/23

Full Review

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Blake Edwards

Director

Julie Andrews

Lili Smith (Schmidt)

Rock Hudson

Maj. William Larrabee

Jeremy Kemp

Col. Kurt Von Ruger

Lance Percival

T.C. Carstairs

Jacques Marin

Maj. Duvalle

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Synopsis

In World War I London, half-British, half-German Lili Smith (Julie Andrews) lets her German "uncle" -- a foreign agent and German military liaison -- talk her into spying. A dance-hall singer who is popular with the British troops, Lili uses her charm and racy numbers to secure the interest of flying squadron leader Maj. William Larrabee (Rock Hudson). Before Lili can pass on vital information, however, she finds herself in love with Larrabee -- who unfortunately discovers her real identity.

Director: Blake Edwards
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Production Co: Paramount
Rating: G
Genre: Musical
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 24, 1970, Original
Release Date (Streaming): May 1, 2012
Runtime: 1h 54m

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