Love in the Afternoon (1957)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

Billy Wilder

Writers:

Billy Wilder (screenplay) and
I.A.L. Diamond (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

30 June 1957 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance | Drama

Tagline:

Love is a game any number can play... especially in the afternoon...

Plot:

Director Billy Wilder salutes his idol, Ernst Lubitsch, with this comedy about a middle-aged playboy...

Plot Keywords:

Paris | Hotel | Playboy | Private Detective | Love

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Golden Globes. Another 3 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Gary Cooper	...	Frank Flannagan
Audrey Hepburn	...	Ariane Chavasse / Thin Girl
Maurice Chevalier	...	Claude Chavasse
John McGiver	...	Monsieur X
Van Doude	...	Michel
Lise Bourdin	...	Madame X
Olga Valéry	...	Hotel guest with dog (as Olga Valery)
The Gypsies	...	Themselves

Runtime:

130 min | Spain:125 min (cut version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (re-rating) (2006) | Australia:G (TV rating) | USA:Approved (certificate #18536) | Canada:PG (video rating) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

Château de Vitry, Vitry-sur-Seine, Val-de-Marne, France

Company:

Allied Artists Pictures

Trivia:

To dispel any impression that Audrey Hepburn and Gary Cooper actually have sex in their many afternoon meetings in his hotel room, a line was dubbed into the release print. When his back is turned to the camera in Chevalier's office, Cooper is heard to say, "I can't get to first base with her."

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Ariane returns one of her father's files to a locked safe and opens it by banging it with her fist, a thin wire used to pull open the safe is visible.

Quotes:

Ariane Chavasse: Papa, you are a cynic!
Claude Chavasse: I guess I am.
Ariane Chavasse: You enjoy your work!
Claude Chavasse: I guess I do.
Ariane Chavasse: You'd enjoyed it even if you weren't paid for it!
Claude Chavasse: I wouldn't go that far.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Because I Said So (2007)

Soundtrack:

Ariane

A Movie that works with a miscast lead!

This has always has been my all time favorite romantic comedy. Thanks to Billy Wilder's creative genius this film works despite Gary Cooper being miscast as the leading man. Regrettably, Gary Cooper was not only too old, but lacked the charm and suaveness needed for the role. Cooper was also in the twilight of his career and was suffering from health problems when the film was made. Cary Grant or Gregory Peck would have been more appropriate for the role of Frank Flannagan, the womanizing jet setter who falls madly in love with the daughter of a detective who has been investigating him. Nevertheless even with a miscast Gary Cooper the film works ....thanks to the marvelous performances of Audrey Hepburn and Maurice Chevalier, who play the young innocent musician daughter and her snooping, pooping private detective father. The title song "Fascination" with original music by F.D. Marchetti and Franz Waxman serve as a romantic thread that runs tightly through out the entire cinematic heart throbbing experience. Billy Wilder's more noted films such as "The Apartment" and "Some Like It Hot" may have garnered more recognition than this film over the years, but in my opinion none of them have the charm that this film has to offer. In fact if one is willing to "What if?", and trade off Gary Cooper for Gary Grant for the role of Frank Flannagan, I suspect that that this film would have been right up there with the best romantic comedy of all time, "It Happened One Night".