Liliom is a 1934 French fantasy film directed by Fritz Lang based on the 1909 Hungarian stage play of the same title by Ferenc Molnár.

The film stars Charles Boyer as Liliom, a carousel barker who is fired from his job after defending the chambermaid Julie (Madeleine Ozeray) from the jealousy of Mme.

A rival barker named Hollinger tries to get Liliom in trouble by telling the jealous Mme.

Liliom's soul rises from his body when he is visited by two uniformed agents who identify themselves as God's Police.

When Liliom refuses to explain to the clerk why he beat Julie, he is first shown a silent film of one of his arguments with her, then again with a soundtrack of his thoughts.

Liliom approaches Louise and tells her that he knew her father many years ago, and that he was a violent brute.

The scales of justice tip toward the heavenly side and Liliom's name is slowly removed from the devil's tablet.

Liebmann was fired from Universum Film AG, his former studio in Germany after they purged the company of all Jewish staff.

[2] The French cast included Charles Boyer, who worked with Pommer on several French-language versions of German films.

The technical crew of Liliom included cinematographer Rudolph Maté who worked with Pommer as a second-unit photographer in Berlin.

During production, Lang zealously took to the project, annotating the screenplay with his own notes and ignoring advice from others.

[4][5] After production ended in early 1934, Lang spent 48 hours without sleep to finish editing Liliom before the film was to be shown to the producers.

[7] The French Catholic clergy protested Liliom on its initial release due to Lang's conception of heaven to be too contrary to the perception of the church.

[6] The original playwright, Ferenc Molnár, denounced the film because he did not receive screen credit on the poster.

[9] In Action Française, François Vinneuil wrote "the result is a heterogeneous spectacle... this French-Jewish-Hungarian collaboration doesn't create a breathable atmosphere".

[9] Jean Vidal of Pour Vous wrote that "A pace that's rather too slow spoils the movement of the film".