#love in the afternoon 1957

[blacknarcissus]

La Mariée est trop belle (1956) et Ariane (1957)

[lady-jane-screams]

I am these three characters put together

[poppingmary]

Audrey Hepburn in a Givenchy - Love in the Afternoon - 1957

[audreyhepburninblackandwhite]

Audrey Hepburn’s publicity photograph for Love in the Afternoon (1957)

[lajoiedefrancoise]

Love In The Afternoon (1957)

[lady-mary]

[hazelwords]

Audrey Hepburn Summer!

Tonight’s watch: Love in the Afternoon (1957) (Photos and trivia from IMDB).

This movie turned out better than I expected. Love in the Afternoon is the third of three films in a row where Hepburn is paired up with a love interest much too old for her, as noted by my mom. At least here the plot is described as a May-December romance, with Gary Cooper’s character explicitly described as a middle-aged playboy.

The age difference did not play well to audiences at the time, and the film was a critical and commercial failure. Gary Cooper was so stung by the criticism that he got plastic surgery (which didn't work very well). This is a fairly spicy film for its time, and a line had to be dubbed in for the released version to make it clear to audiences that the characters did not have sex off-screen.

I liked how Hepburn’s character played on the jealousies of Cooper’s character, and the gag of him passing alcohol to his private band on a rolling cart was very entertaining. Maurice Chevalier as the detective father was excellent. (I adored the line: “If I were an Indian potentate I'd shower you with diamonds. If I were a cobbler, I'd sole your shoes, but... since I'm only a detective, all I can offer you is a detailed dossier.“)

While the age difference was distracting for the love scenes, I thought that Cooper did a good job portraying a man who dives into affairs quickly and dives out even more quickly. He was very affecting at the ending train station scene, and I wish the ending was different. (Er, spoilers!).

I wanted them to be parted, for the evident sadness and regret of Cooper’s character to linger. That would have driven home the emptiness of his life and give a sense that he is starting to really reckon with the results of his choices. But marriage? That felt tacked on, and for a good reason. Apparently, the voiceover, where we learn they are married, was done to avoid landing on the Catholic Legion of Decency's "Condemned List." Personally, I think she should have stayed at the station.

I took this film from the library, but it can also be viewed on Amazon!

[shy-girl04]

Audrey Hepburn and Gary Cooper

Love in the Afternoon (1957) dir. Billy Wilder

[rwpohl]

mayerling, anatole litvak 1957

[rhera]

PART I - PART II - PART III

— Love in The Afternoon (1957) The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) La Bête Humaine (1938) The Conformist (1970) The Pirate (1948) Marriage Italian Style (1964) The Devil Is a Woman (1935) Clue (1985) The Hunger (1983) Swing Time (1936)

[moonlightsdream]

Love in the Afternoon (1957) — dir. Billy Wilder    

[dailyflicks]

LOVE IN THE AFTERNOON 1957 — dir. Billy Wilder

[eternamenteaudreyhepburn]

Audrey Hepburn as Ariane Chavasse in Love in the Afternoon, 1957.

[audreyhepburninblackandwhite]

Audrey Hepburn resting on the set of Love in the Afternoon at the Studios de Boulogne in Paris, France in 1956 Photograph from Esquire's August 1957 story entitled "The Clarification of Audrey Hepburn" by Robert W. Marks

[lajoiedefrancoise]

Love In The Afternoon (1957)

[gatabella]

Audrey Hepburn, Love In the Afternoon, 1957