Liliom is a carnival barker, and spends his days attracting folks to the carnival. His life changes forever when he falls in love with a servant girl called Julie Zeller, and they move in together. Soon Julie discovers she is pregnant, which turns their worlds upside down. They dream of a new life together in America, but to do that, they're going to need an awful lot of money, so Liliom conspires to commit a robber - which goes badly....