Based on a Paul Gallico story, the film unfolds in the bright atmosphere of a traveling French carnival. Here Lili becomes a waitress, but she is fired after one night-for spending too much time watching Jean Pierre Aumont, the handsome magician with whom she is infatuated. Lili is grief-stricken until a lame puppeteer (Mel Ferrer) uses his little friends to woo her from her sorrow. Soon she is part of his act, childishly happy with the four puppets, but unable to deal with her moody master, whom she calls "the angry man." How Lili blossoms from adolescence to womanhood with the puppets as her guides makes for a beguiling, bittersweet movie every member of the family will adore!