Love in the Afternoon (1957 film)
Love in the Afternoon is a 1957 American romantic comedy film produced and directed by Billy Wilder, and starring Gary Cooper, Audrey Hepburn, and Maurice Chevalier.Ariane's father, who has tried unsuccessfully to protect her from knowing about the tawdry domestic-surveillance details in his files, notices her change of mood but has no idea that it proceeds from one of his cases.When Ariane comes to his hotel suite that afternoon, Flannagan is hurriedly packing to leave Paris, pretending to be on his way to meet "two crazy Swedish twins" in Cannes.[5] The director decided to cast Gary Cooper because they shared similar tastes and interests and Wilder knew the actor would be good company during location filming in Paris.[5] Talent agent Paul Kohner suggested Maurice Chevalier for the role of Claude Chavasse, and when asked if he was interested, the actor replied, "I would give the secret recipe for my grandmother's bouillabaisse to be in a Billy Wilder picture".[7][8] For the American release of the film, Chevalier recorded an end-of-film narration letting audiences know Ariane and Flannagan had married and were living in New York City.A four-piece band of musicians called "The Gypsies" entertains Flannagan and his various lovers in his hotel suite, since Frank says he's "not much of a talker" and lets music create the romance.The Gypsies stick with Flannagan through thick and thin, serenading him as he drowns his sorrows in drink while listening to Ariane's recording of her long list of lovers, joining him in a Turkish bath, and following him to the train station.Also heard are "C'est si bon" by Henri Betti, "L'ame Des Poètes" by Charles Trenet, and "Fascination", a 1932 song based on a European waltz,[2] which is hummed repeatedly by Ariane.[10] The debt Allied Artists incurred while making Friendly Persuasion prompted the studio to sell the distribution rights of Love in the Afternoon for Europe to gain more financing.[5] In his 1957 review, Bosley Crowther of The New York Times called the film a "grandly sophisticated romance ... in the great Lubitsch tradition" and added, "Like most of Lubitsch's chefs-d'oeuvre [masterpieces], it is a gossamer sort of thing, so far as a literary story and a substantial moral are concerned ... Mr. Wilder employs a distinctive style of subtle sophisticated slapstick to give the fizz to his brand of champagne ..."[14] In an undated and unsigned review, TV Guide observes that the film has "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," but felt it was let down by Gary Cooper, who "was pushing 56 at the time and looking too long in the tooth to be playing opposite the gamine Hepburn ... With little competition from the wooden Cooper, the picture is stolen by Chevalier's bravura turn".Throne notes that the character of Ariane is surrounded by men—including her father—who all affirm and support the prerogative of men to philander and flirt, while women are expected to remain chaste.
Saul BassBilly WilderI. A. L. DiamondAriane, jeune fille russeClaude AnetGary CooperAudrey HepburnMaurice ChevalierWilliam MellorFranz WaxmanAllied Artists ProductionsAllied Artists Pictures Corporationrentalsromantic comedybusiness magnateJohn McGiverLise BourdinParis Ritzfemme fataleCannesFascinationFermo Dante MarchettiMaurice de FéraudyC'est si bonHenri BettiAndré HornezCharles TrenetMatty MalneckScreen Writers GuildGerman languageScampoloScampolo, a Child of the StreetArianePaul CzinnerCary GrantYul BrynnerTalent agentPaul KohnerbouillabaisseYvelinesPalais GarnierParis OperaHôtel Ritz ParisNew York CityRichard WagnerTristan und IsoldeHans KnappertsbuschPaul WhitemanViennaHaydn Symphony No. 88Johnny MercerJerry ValeAllied ArtistsFriendly PersuasionEuropeLos AngelesNew YorkBosley CrowtherThe New York TimesLubitschJonathan RosenbaumBluebeard's Eighth WifeTV GuideChannel 41957 Writers Guild of America AwardsOutstanding Directing – Feature FilmDirectors Guild of AmericaList of American films of 1957Mirisch, WalterUniversity of Wisconsin PressAFI Catalog of Feature FilmsVarietyChandler, CharlotteSimon & SchusterCrowther, BosleyUniversity of Chicago PressABC-CLIOPhillips, Gene D.TCM Movie DatabaseThe Loves of ArianeFilmographyMauvaise GraineThe Major and the MinorFive Graves to CairoDouble IndemnityThe Lost WeekendDeath MillsThe Emperor WaltzA Foreign AffairSunset BoulevardAce in the HoleStalag 17SabrinaThe Seven Year ItchThe Spirit of St. LouisWitness for the ProsecutionSome Like It HotThe ApartmentOne, Two, ThreeIrma la DouceKiss Me, StupidThe Fortune CookieThe Private Life of Sherlock HolmesAvanti!The Front PageFedoraBuddy Buddy