Ferenc Molnar's play, ‘Liliom,' with its trip from Heaven and fantasy reconciliation on Earth, has certain sentimental stumbling-blocks which are not fully overcome in this musical version by Rodgers and Hammerstein. However, some Henry King partisans hold that his 1956 Cinemascope adaptation gets better and better with age and repeated viewings. Clive Denton writes in his essay on King published in “The Hollywood Professionals”:
“The story centres on Billy, a fairground barker, and Julie, the young girl who loves him and marries him till death do them part but goes on loving him, through their daughter whom he has not seen until given leave from heaven for one day to visit the Maine Coast once more. Henry King has taken and played fair by the stage show and added his, by this time long-accumulated, feeling for tenderness, sense of place and atmosphere and sincere involvement. Photographically, the major part of the film is stunning. The fairground is Fox's first visual expanse really suited to a CinemaScope panorama. There are still signs of technical deficiencies. Sets sometimes merge badly with location shooting and the colour - depending partly on which print one sees - is inclined to turn blue. All else is enchantment. Like so many King couples before them, Shirley Jones and Gordon MacRae convince us of a great and genuine love between them. The musical numbers and dramatic scenes are finely integrated....”