Love in the Afternoon (1957)

Director Billy Wilder salutes his idol, Ernst Lubitsch, with this comedy about a middle-aged playboy fascinated by the daughter of a private detective who has been hired to entrap him with ... See full summary »

Director:

Billy Wilder

Writers:

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

Stars:

Gary Cooper, Audrey Hepburn, Maurice Chevalier

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

Cast

Complete credited 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

Storyline

Director Billy Wilder salutes his idol, Ernst Lubitsch, with this comedy about a middle-aged playboy fascinated by the daughter of a private detective who has been hired to entrap him with the wife of a client.

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Plot Keywords:

hotel | love | private detective | playboy | music band | 

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Taglines:

It's more likely in Paris and more LOVELY IN THE AFTERNOON!

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance | Drama

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French

Release Date:

30 June 1957 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ariane

Filming Locations:

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

Box Office

Budget:

$2,100,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Allied Artists Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

130 min 125 min (cut)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Audrey Hepburn's character (Ariane) and Maurice Chevalier's character (Claude) are named after the film's scriptwriter, Claude Anet.

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Goofs

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.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Claude Chavasse: [voiceover] This is the city - Paris, France. It is just like any other big city - London, New York, Tokyo - except for two little things. In Paris, people eat better. And in Paris, people make love - well, perhaps not better, but certainly more often. They do it any time, any place. On the left bank, on the right bank, and in between! They do it by day, and they do it by night. The butcher, the baker, and the friendly undertaker. They do it in motion, they do it sitting absolutely ...

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Connections

Featured in Because I Said So (2007)

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Soundtracks

"C'est Si Bon"
by Henri Betti and André Hornez (as Andre Hornez)

User Reviews

Sparkling if a Bit Overlong Boulevard Comedy Shows Wilder and Hepburn in Top Form

There is likely no more romantic ending to a Hollywood movie than the one in this soufflé-light 1957 romantic comedy, where Audrey Hepburn tries to keep up with a departing train upon which Gary Cooper stands and listens intently to her babbling about her fictitious sexual conquests. Hepburn plays Ariane, a young cellist and the daughter of a Parisian private investigator named Claude Chevasse. She has an unbridled interest in her father's often tawdry cases, chief among them the affairs of Frank Flannagan, a millionaire industrialist and aging playboy who finds himself in various trysts with married women around the world. A certain Monsieur X has come to Chevasse to catch his wife in a suspected extramarital fling with Flannagan. Overhearing Monsieur X's intention to kill his wife and her lover, Ariane decides to warn Flannagan, and they embark on an afternoons-only affair under the pretense that she is as much a worldly bon vivant as he is. Things come to a head when Flannagan becomes infatuated with this mysterious "thin girl" and recruits Crevasse to find out who she is.

Master filmmaker Billy Wilder leaves his unmistakable stamp on this confection with a clever, ironic script co-written with his long-time partner I.A.L. Diamond in their first collaboration. The dialogue is full of their trademark sparkling banter, and leave it to Wilder to use a Gypsy string quartet to act as a chorus for Flannagan's sexual shenanigans. Hepburn is her usual impeccable self as Ariane and especially good fun when she layers the deceptions about her checkered past. Cooper played this type of boulevardier role in the 1930's under masters like Ernst Lubitsch, and it is quite enjoyable to see him come back to this milieu two decades later as an aging lothario. Looking weather-beaten after years of Westerns and adventure pictures, he was given a lot of grief because of the age difference between him and Hepburn, but I actually find the gap quite touching and Cooper surprisingly game. Maurice Chevalier is ideally cast as Crevasse even if has to play down his naturally effervescent manner. Granted the film runs a little too long at 126 minutes, but it is fine, light entertainment similar to Wilder and Hepburn's previous collaboration, the classic 1954 "Sabrina". The print transfer on the 2005 DVD is fine though not outstanding. Unfortunately there are no extras included.