# What's your opinion on "Darling Lili", an old American movie? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [December 12, 2022, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-opinion-on-darling-lili-an-old-american-movie/976403 "2022-12-12T17:37:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2022, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-opinion-on-darling-lili-an-old-american-movie/976403/101 "2022-12-12T20:43:04Z")
> [@Max\_S](#): > > @silenus or @JohnT, have either of you seen “Darling Lili”? Is it worth $4 and 154 minutes? Working off of very old memories - no. This one was a misfire, IIRC. I usually like Blake Edwards movies, too. But obviously **JohnT** and I conspired with others to totally sink the film and Julie Andrews’ movie career for over a decade as part of our Capitalist Plot to somehow make sure nobody ever sees or cares about Russian cinema. Write for a copy of our newsletter. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2022, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-opinion-on-darling-lili-an-old-american-movie/976403/102 "2022-12-12T20:45:26Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > I’ve seen it. It is not a good movie. I’ve heard of it, but never seen it. The Wikipedia entry on the film indicates that studio executives interfered with the production, and then edited it without director Blake Edwards’ input, which might have been contributing factors to a film which may have been justified in receiving poor reviews. It also looks like Edwards was allowed to re-cut the film in the early '90s, though I don’t know how much his version has been shown. > **[Darling Lili | Production](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darling_Lili#Production)** > > In 1967, Blake Edwards signed a four-picture deal with Paramount Pictures. The films he would make were Waterhole#3, Gunn, Mr Lucky and Darling Lili. Julie Andrews signed to play the lead in Darling Lili. Production was to start late in 1967. Executive producer Owen Crump began shooting second unit in 1967. > The film was given a budget of $6 million and Andrews was paid $1.1 million and promised 10% of the film's profits. Edwards wanted to film the aerial dogfight scenes in South Carolina, but wa... ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2022, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-opinion-on-darling-lili-an-old-american-movie/976403/103 "2022-12-12T20:47:47Z")
Although the screenplay for The Americanization of Emily was written by Paddy Chayefsky, whose parents emigrated from Russia (before the revolution). So does that count as a win in the Russian-movies-are-better column? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2022, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-opinion-on-darling-lili-an-old-american-movie/976403/104 "2022-12-12T20:48:18Z")
Not a win, but maybe partial credit. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2022, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-opinion-on-darling-lili-an-old-american-movie/976403/105 "2022-12-12T20:49:48Z")
Now I want to do a Darling Lili watch party with fellow Dopers. Can we do this via Zoom? ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2022, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-opinion-on-darling-lili-an-old-american-movie/976403/106 "2022-12-12T20:52:08Z")
God no. Zoom is one sure way to ruin a movie experience, what with the lag and freezing and low quality video/audio. Maybe in 20 years when Facebook/Oculus/Meta lives up to its promises, but for now I prefer looking at the screen in person. (Even if it is sometimes a tiny screen) ~Max ---
**Author:** ![Roman67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roman67/32/12809_2.png) [@Roman67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roman67)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2022, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-opinion-on-darling-lili-an-old-american-movie/976403/107 "2022-12-12T20:53:33Z")
Unfortunately, the present Wikipedian article isn’t a liable source, for the methodological and gnoseological aspects of Wikipedia are sure to be extremely poor. I’ve working in Wikipedia, so the Soviet Encyclopedia of Cinema is likely to be the most liable source in our discussion. By the way, I was very taken aback that you don’t speak, and even read Russian, the easiest language in Europe. I thought that all the enlightened public of Western countries have an opportunity to speak several languages. How did you manage to read Pisarev, Sofia Kovalevskaya, Chernyshevsky, German Lopatin, and Pomyalovsky in your schooldays, in your boyhood? ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2022, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-opinion-on-darling-lili-an-old-american-movie/976403/108 "2022-12-12T20:56:06Z")
> [@Max\_S](#): > > God no. Zoom is one sure way to ruin a movie experience, what with the lag and freezing and low quality video/audio. Maybe in 20 years when Facebook/Oculus/Meta lives up to its promises, but for now I prefer looking at the screen in person. (Even if it is sometimes a tiny screen) lol, feel free to suggest an alternative. We could even set a date/time to start the watch party thread. Or not. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2022, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-opinion-on-darling-lili-an-old-american-movie/976403/109 "2022-12-12T20:56:57Z")
Honestly, I think “Darling Lili” is only known for somehow getting a G Rating with a striptease scene. It is like the movie was so boring that even the Board of review didn’t bother watching it through. I’m pretty sure nothing was shown, but it probably was a movie that should have got a PG rating. It was extremely forgettable. > [@Roman67](#): > > By the way, I was very taken aback that you don’t speak, and even read Russian, the easiest language in Europe. I thought that all the enlightened public of Western countries have an opportunity to speak several languages. How did you manage to read Pisarev, Sofia Kovalevskaya, Chernyshevsky, German Lopatin, and Pomyalovsky in your schooldays, in your boyhood? OK, let us be real now. It is pretty well known most US born citizens don’t know a second language at all, never mind one in an alien alphabet. . ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2022, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-opinion-on-darling-lili-an-old-american-movie/976403/110 "2022-12-12T20:56:57Z")
> [@Roman67](#): > > I was very taken aback that you don’t speak, and even read Russian, the easiest language in Europe This cite puts Russian into the second-to-most difficult language to learn category for an English speaker: > **[Language Difficulty Ranking](https://effectivelanguagelearning.com/language-guide/language-difficulty/)** > > The Foreign Service Institute (FSI) has created a list to show the approximate time you need to learn a specific language as an English speaker. After this particular study time you will reach 'Speaking 3: General Professional Proficiency in Speaking... ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2022, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-opinion-on-darling-lili-an-old-american-movie/976403/111 "2022-12-12T20:57:14Z")
> [@Roman67](#): > > How did you manage to read Pisarev, Sofia Kovalevskaya, Chernyshevsky, German Lopatin, and Pomyalovsky in your schooldays, in your boyhood? Boyhood? Most Americans are done with this stuff by toddlerhood, if not earlier. We just no longer remember it due to the sheer quality of American products. Like when the Muppets premiered _The Nutcracker_ to the world. Quality stuff, that! Want some more American goodness, listen to Burl Ives narrate his original short story, _Peter and The Wolf_, while in front of George Szell conducting the Cleveland Symphony (1954). ---
**Author:** ![Roman67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roman67/32/12809_2.png) [@Roman67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roman67)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2022, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-opinion-on-darling-lili-an-old-american-movie/976403/112 "2022-12-12T21:02:25Z")
First of all, its difficulty is very disputable, for cultivated Russian speech is very slow in terms of tempo, and, after all, I didn’t know that the most of Americans lack secondary education. I cannot imagine secondary education without Anne Korvin-Krukovskaya-Jacquelard, or even Sofia Vasilievna Kovalevskaya. ---
**Author:** ![Roman67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roman67/32/12809_2.png) [@Roman67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roman67)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2022, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-opinion-on-darling-lili-an-old-american-movie/976403/113 "2022-12-12T21:05:07Z")
You’re just showing that you don’t have an opportunity to speak English, without using your miserable patois, to say nothing of your secondary education. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2022, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-opinion-on-darling-lili-an-old-american-movie/976403/114 "2022-12-12T21:05:18Z")
US culture is very different from Russian Culture. The whole Cold War thing really added to that. I’m amazed you could be without knowledge of that. In the US we only really care about the US. Sad but true. I mean we like the UK culture and all but that is about it. Our younger generation loves a lot of Japanese and South Korean stuff now. But Russia is just a minor backwater. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2022, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-opinion-on-darling-lili-an-old-american-movie/976403/115 "2022-12-12T21:07:38Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > But Russia is just a minor backwater. And always has been. ---
**Author:** ![Roman67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roman67/32/12809_2.png) [@Roman67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roman67)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2022, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-opinion-on-darling-lili-an-old-american-movie/976403/116 "2022-12-12T21:08:23Z")
For the likes of yourself. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2022, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-opinion-on-darling-lili-an-old-american-movie/976403/117 "2022-12-12T21:09:30Z")
But of course. I can only speak for myself because I’ve never been anybody else. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2022, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-opinion-on-darling-lili-an-old-american-movie/976403/118 "2022-12-12T21:09:31Z")
I’m explaining the US-centric point of view. Russian culture has almost no impact on the US. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2022, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-opinion-on-darling-lili-an-old-american-movie/976403/119 "2022-12-12T21:11:55Z")
> [@Roman67](#): > > I cannot imagine secondary education without Anne Korvin-Krukovskaya-Jacquelard, or even Sofia Vasilievna Kovalevskaya. I am on track to graduate from a public _university_ (in the U.S.) without _ever_ formally learning calculus, chemistry, or physics. Different priorities over here. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![Roman67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roman67/32/12809_2.png) [@Roman67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roman67)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2022, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-opinion-on-darling-lili-an-old-american-movie/976403/120 "2022-12-12T21:14:43Z")
You’re likely to graduate from a fake university. If the American system of education is very non-Soviet, you must go through algebra, and geometry in French, and Latin, Greek in your youth. I suspect that you didn’t go though these exams. Right? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-opinion-on-darling-lili-an-old-american-movie/976403.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-opinion-on-darling-lili-an-old-american-movie/976403.md?page=7)