Liliom

Liliom Ladowski, the rakish and charming barker at Madame Muscat's traveling carnival, attracts large numbers of admiring young females to the merry-go-round where he sells tickets. Hollinger, a rival barker, attempts to get Liliom into trouble by telling jealous Mme. Muscat, who is having an affair with Liliom, that he is flirting with two pretty customers, Julie and her friend Marie. Furious when Liliom teases him in front of the patrons, Hollinger pulls a knife on him and picks a fight, which Liliom easily wins to the applause of his admirers. Mme. Muscat then insults Julie and Marie, but Liliom comes to their defense and, threatening Mme. Muscat with a raised hand, demands that she apologize. Mme. Muscat promptly fires Liliom, and after he makes a date with Julie and Marie, Liliom leaves the carnival. When he meets the two young women later that evening, Liliom callously informs them that he intends to take only one of them out, whereupon Marie reluctantly leaves him the innocent Julie, who has just lost her job as a housemaid because she lingered too long at the carnival. Although the police warn Julie that Liliom is a lady-killer who will charm her out of her money and then leave her, Julie, who is hopelessly infatuated with Liliom, refuses their help. Sometime later, Liliom is living with Julie in the run-down trailer home of Julie's aunt, the kindly Mme. Hollunder. While Julie works in the photo studio run by Mme. Hollunder, Liliom spends his days loafing and his evenings drinking and carousing. Julie is frightened of Liliom's temper tantrums, during which he frequently slaps her, but she remains steadfastly loyal to him, believing him to have the spirit of an artist, and refuses the entreaties of a dull shopkeeper who is infatuated with her. Later, Mme. Muscat tries to lure Liliom back to the carnival by offering him a substantial raise. Tempted, Liliom considers leaving Julie until she shyly blurts out that she is expecting a child. Ecstatic at the prospect of becoming a father and desperate to earn some money quickly, he foolishly plans the robbery of a payroll truck with his cohort Alfred. On the night of the robbery, a suspicious Julie begs Liliom not to leave the house, but he grabs a knife and ignores her pleas. After meeting Alfred at the appointed time and place, Liliom feels pity for a poor, itinerant knife sharpener passing by and has second thoughts about carrying out the crime. However, it is too late, as the payroll clerk appears, and Liliom and Alfred spring into action. The robbery attempt is foiled when the clerk pulls a gun; Liliom attempts to escape, but, trapped by police in an alleyway, he decides to kill himself with the knife rather than surrender. Unconscious, Liliom is brought home on a stretcher, and dying, he repents, telling the sobbing Julie that he must face the judgement of God. As Liliom's soul rises from his body, two uniformed agents appear, identifying themselves as "God's Police," and order Liliom to follow them. On the way to Heaven, Liliom sees angels cleaning stars with huge sponges and, much to his surprise, spies the knife sharpener, who, he learns, is his guardian angel. Liliom and his guards reach Heaven, and he is taken to a special section for suicides and questioned by an officious angel-clerk, in a manner reminiscent of an earlier visit to a bureaucratic police station on Earth. When Liliom refuses to explain the reasons he continually hit Julie, the angel shows him first a silent film of one of his violent arguments with her and then the same film with a soundtrack of his thoughts. Liliom now realizes that he beat Julie because he hated himself so much for his cruelty and selfishness. The angel sentences Liliom to sixteen years in purgatory, so that he will be cleansed of his pride and violence; after this, he will be allowed one day back on Earth to visit his child, and his behavior on that day will determine where he shall spend eternity. The long-awaited day arrives, and Liliom is told before descending to Earth that his child is a daughter named Louise. One of the angels reminds Liliom to bring his daughter something beautiful, and Liliom surreptitiously steals a star on his way down. Approaching Louise, Liliom tells her that he knew her many years ago, and Louise talks about her father, saying that he was a wonderful and loving man who died in America. Liliom replies with the truth that her father was a callous brute, and Louise, upset and angry, refuses the gift of the star by throwing it into the gutter. Liliom follows the sobbing Louise home, and when she demands that he leave her alone, he slaps her hand out of frustration before disappearing. As Liliom makes his way back to Heaven, the angels sadly watch as the scales of justice tip toward the devil's side, and the devil begins to inscribe Liliom's name on his tablet. In Heaven, the angel-clerk is furious at Liliom for breaking the heart of a child, and Liliom responds that one can only love him as he is. Just then an angel-typist excitedly points to a scene happening down on Earth. Louise, her tears dried and with a look of understanding on her face, asks her mother if it is possible to receive a slap that doesn't hurt at all. Julie answers "yes," and mother and daughter embrace with tears in their eyes, as the scales of justice tip toward the right side, and Liliom's name is slowly effaced from the devil's tablet.