Liliom learns his wife is pregnant and robs a bank. During the getaway, he is killed and given a chance to return to Earth. He quickly learns the only way to make his wife and daughter happy is to leave them with cherished memories.

Liliom, a merry-go-round barker at a Budapest amusement park, becomes enamored of Julie, a servant girl, and though under the influence of Madame Muskat, a sideshow entrepreneur, he marries the girl. Although he has not been a good provider, Liliom is spurred into action by the discovery that his wife is pregnant and eventually is influenced by his friend Buzzard, to rob a bank cashier so that he can take Julie to America.