Love in the Afternoon (1957)
Runtime: 2 hrs 13 mins
Synopsis: Another May-December romantic comedy from Wilder starring Audrey Hepburn, this one pairs her with Gary Cooper in the City of Lights. Ariane Chavasse (Hepburn) is the daughter of a private detective (Maurice Chevalier), who has been hired by Mr. X, (John McGiver), a suspicious husband, to... Another May-December romantic comedy from Wilder starring Audrey Hepburn, this one pairs her with Gary Cooper in the City of Lights. Ariane Chavasse (Hepburn) is the daughter of a private detective (Maurice Chevalier), who has been hired by Mr. X, (John McGiver), a suspicious husband, to find out who his wife (Lise Bourdin) is seeing on the side. When he discovers the woman in the grip of millionaire playboy Frank Flannagan (Gary Cooper), he informs the predictably livid husband who loudly announces his intention to kill the interloper while Ariane is eavesdropping. She rushes off to warn Flannagan of his impending demise, which begins a series of afternoon meetings where she adopts the pose of a jaded lover and woman of the world. Intially amused by the ingenue's charade, the middle-aged roue gradually becomes interested in the young woman, and after she disappears, becomes obsessed with finding her. After he unwittingly tells the story to the girl's father in a steam room, the detective agrees to help Flannagan find her. Wilder's sophisticated romantic fable, shot in spectacular Parisian locations, including the Opera and the elegant Chateau de Vitry, is nearly stolen by Chevalier as the protective pere. [More]
Genre: Comedies
Starring: Gary Cooper, Audrey Hepburn, Maurice Chevalier, John McGiver
Screenwriter: Billy Wilder, I. A. L. Diamond
Composer: Franz Waxman
Producer: Billy Wilder
DVD Info
Release:
Jan 8, 2002
DVD Features:
- Region 1
- Snap Case
- Anamorphic Widescreen - 1.85
- Single Side - Dual Layer
Additional Release Material:
- Trailer - 1. Original Theatrical Trailer
Text/Galleries:
- Film Highlights - 1. Cast
- 2. Billy Wilder - Director
Buy It On DVD
Reviews
Love in the Afternoon had great locations going for it. It also had the winsome charm of Hepburn, the elfin puckishness of Chevalier, a literate script by Wilder and Diamond, and an airy feeling that wafted the audience along.
As Andrew Sarris says, not without its cruelties, but not without its beauties as well.
It was hard to get excited about such an overlong dreary tale, where Cooper was miscast and the champagne fizzles.
It's quite long, Hepburn sports one of her worst hairstyles, and Cooper and Hepburn's glaring age difference (28 years) is distracting, but this is a wonderful, charming romantic comedy nonetheless.
Generally regarded as a classic, probably by people who haven't sat through it.
Hepburn’s performance represents precisely why the Hollywood studio system lasted as long as it did.
This film was produced by Mr. Wilder for Allied Artists -- in black-and-white. It is a hit.


Top Critic